Wants and Desires
Is there such a thing as a person having a calling? I wrestled with this for a very long time. What is the difference between my just wanting to do pursue a profession and my being called to it?
Right out of college I became an engineer. I love technology. I like taking things apart. I like figuring out how things work, and seeing if I can make them perform better.
Here I am years later and I realize that the themes of technology (in the form of using technical tools and solid research methods), taking things apart and figuring out how to improve them have never left me.
Nowadays, though, I don’t take apart expensive machinery or industrial computers. Instead, I’m more interested in how people function, how we can find work that really matters to us. I like seeing people perform “better” in terms of seeing them with a higher quality of life.
Was I really called to be an engineer? If so, did I forsake that calling when I left formal engineering years ago?
My approach here usually follows a pretty straight forward path:
- I see a job or a role that looks pretty exciting, and seems like it would be fun.
- I search every last opening I can find in an attempt to land the opportunity.
- I get the deal, dive in, and have fun.
This was pretty much my approach for years.
Types of Calling
I do believe that people can be called to certain professions, but I don’t believe that is the only way that calling works. There are perhaps dozens of ways that people can be internally compelled toward a course in their lives. Some of which include a calling to:
- Specific geographies – the Serengeti
- Particular groups of people – the underprivileged
- A cause – clean drinking water, micro loans
- Using a certain set of skills – ZZZZZZZ
For me, I see myself falling in the latter category as I really enjoy applying my curiosity, my drive, my enthusiasm for good work, my technical bent, all of it in the name of making something or some process better for everyone. You see, I think the idea of being called to an occupation just doesn’t fit me because I could be happy in a wide range of jobs as long as I feel I am able to use my skills.
Not too long ago I had a contract position with a very large Fortune 500 company. I was happier in that job than I was in all the time I had been self-employed up to that point. I was so content in that role because I was using many of the same gifts and talents I listed above.
I was working with technology and people. I was able to learn what made this particular process work for the clients, and I was able to help them do something better and faster than before. You see? These are many of the same skills I loved using when I was an engineer.
The Spiritual Side of Calling
If you look at the first set of bullet points above I describe a rather me-focused approach my landing a job that I wanted. I want to bring this up again so I can contrast it with a very different type of calling.
Let’s call the first type of calling “I want” calling. I’m in the driver’s seat. I’m calling the shots.
The second type of calling I will call “I respond” calling, as in “This is being requested of me, so I’m responding”. Someone or something else is in the driver’s seat. There is a sense of serving the greater good. This second type of calling usually, but not always, involves more altruistic endeavors such as:
- Teaching
- Social work
- Nursing
- Animal care
- Child care
- Military service
The fundamental shift here from “I want” calling and “I respond” calling is that there is an internal desire being driven from some other source than money, ego, greed, or power.
The listener has somehow developed the capacity to hear what others are not wired internally to hear.
A very important sub-category of “I respond” calling involves when a person believes he or she is hearing from God.
The Call of the Wild Goose
I have been told that celtic christians used to use the term “the wild goose” when they referred to being on a mission from God (This is a far cry from our modern term, “wild goose chase”).
I will call this third type of calling “Invitation”.
Here, not only does the person have a sense of hearing, so to speak, but she also believes that God is the one doing the talking.
This is not limited to people who become pastors, missionaries, or who work for large para-church organizations. It