Of the many legacies of the Protestant Reformation, few have had a greater and more complete impact than the rediscovery of the biblical understanding of vocation. Before the Reformation, the only people with a vocation or call were those who were involved in the work of the church. full-time: monks, nuns or priests, as Gene Veith writes in the book Deus em Acao (published in Brazil by Crist Culture:
Common occupations of life, such as being a farmer or kitchen assistant, making tools or clothes, being a soldier or even a king, were recognized as necessary, but worldly. These people could be saved, but they were trapped in the world. Serving God fully, living a truly spiritual life required a full-time commitment.
- Looking beyond uninsent traditions.
- In their return to authority and the sufficiency of God’s Word.
- Reformers discovered that full-time ministry was a vocation.
- But by no means the only vocation; they saw that each of us has a vocation and that every vocation has dignity and value in the eyes of the Lord.
- We can all honor God in the work we do.
However, this old tradition is never so far away, and if we do not constantly return to the Word of God and let it correct us, we will soon return to it. It is encouraging to see today that many Christian pastors and authors explore what it means to be a common Christian who does a common job in his life in common. It is encouraging to see such leaders affirm the value of all vocations. The questions that every Christian faces at one time or another are: plumbers, cooks, doctors and businessmen are less Christian because they are not in the ministry of “full time” What about Christian mothers and housewives?Can you honor God, even through very ordinary lives?Can we honor God through ordinary lives without tactically promoting a dangerous kind of spiritual accommodation?What does it mean not to conform to this century and transform ourselves by renewing our spirit (Romans 12:2) in this vocational field?
Unsurprisingly, the Word of God addresses these issues. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul answers questions he has received from the people of the Church of Thessaloniki, and apparently one of the questions they asked the Apostle was something like: How can we live?a life that pleases God (see 4. 1-12)? They had been informed of God’s command in creation: that God created us and put us on this earth to exercise dominion over it as representatives of it. They had been informed of the Great Commission of Christ: that their people should bring the gospel to earth. confines of the earth, and that more and more people will come out of darkness to enter the light, they must instruct them in the things of the Lord.
This church knew these great commandments, but was waiting for specific instructions from Paul. What would it be like to live and obey these creation mandates and the Great Commission, for ordinary people, in ordinary places and times? -time department? Will we have to move around the world? What is the life that pleases God?
Paul’s response is fascinating and perfectly consistent with the doctrine of vocation. His answer addresses three questions: sexual morality, the local church, and work.
Life under control
The first thing Paul tells the church is that if they want to live a life that pleases God, they should avoid sexual immorality and instead seek sexual purity 😕 Because it is the will of God: his sanctification, to refrain from prostitution; Can each of you know how to own your own body in sanctification and honor? (1 Thessalonica 4. 3-4). The Thessalonians had to reject worldly falsifications of sex and relationships and instead seek mercy in such areas.
Community life
The second thing Paul is telling this church is that if you intend to live a life that pleases God, you must commit to loving people in your local churches: “God taught yourselves that you must love everyone else. others [?]. But do we urge you, brethren, to make more and more progress?(v. 9-10). While Christians should extend their love to all men without discrimination, they should focus their love especially on the brothers and sisters of their local church.
Life at work
Paul’s third point is particularly important for ordinary Christian work. He asks these Christians to strive to live in peace, to take care of what is their own, and to work with their own hands, as we command them; so you can behave with dignity with the outsiders and you don’t need anything?(v. 11-12). If the Bible told believers that full-time ministry is a greater or better vocation, if you told us that the best Christians are those who sell everything they own and move to the other side of the planet, one would expect it. here; However, we didn’t find him. We found something completely different.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul gives very simple instructions that transcend time, geography and culture. He tells the Thessalonians to live in peace, to take care of what is theirs, and to work with their own hands. When he tells them to live in peace, they intend to be content to be strangers and go unnoticed. Here is a paradox: they must work hard to be silent, or they must aspire to be free of worldly ambitions. You must be satisfied with your luck and know that it is with this contentment that you can better honor God. When Paul tells them to take care of what’s his, his intention is to focus on their own work and avoid being curious that they’re busy with anything but what matters most. And when you tell them to work with their own hands, their intention is for them to continue the work they are involved in, even (or mostly) if that job involves manual service. He could call all this because his work had intrinsic value simply because it was his call: his divine call.
As far as we know, Paul was not writing for a group of new Christians here; he did not give them the basic instructions to guide them during their early years, until they finally graduated from better and more difficult things. strong and spiritually mature, and yet Paul’s word is very simple: you honor and glorify God through your perfectly ordinary lives.
Life on a mission
If instruction is not enough, and before moving on to other things, Paul explains the importance and effect of doing these things simply, do you want them to do so, so that you may be worthy of strangers and do not need?Something? (4. 12). Here, Paul shows that Christians live God’s desires for them through their common work and common life. This peaceful life, this life of taking care of themselves and working hard, allows them to comply with the Great Commission. After all, if you do these things, if you seek sexual purity, if you love and work hard, Paul assures you that you will walk properly in front of strangers. Not only that, but they will also show love for their Christian brothers and sisters.
Let us be clear: this is not a call to accommodation or a call to say as little as possible, it is a call to be faithful exactly where we are and to know that God is satisfied with his people when he lives his life together. There will be those who will be called to the Full-Time Ministry of the Church as a vocation. There will be some who will set aside manual work to be trained and assigned as full-time pastors, depending on the support of others.
Some will stop working with their hands to reach the missionary field; this is good and honors God; but it is not a greater or better vocation, nor a safer way to please God; we please God, we rejoice in God, when we live. as ordinary people in everyday life, we use our ordinary circumstances to proclaim and live an extraordinary gospel.
This book is a call to experience the joy of ordinary Christian life. Michael Horton shows that the attempt to seek great experiences in spiritual life has left many Christians disappointed and disappointed and invites us to regain a sense of satisfaction in these simple and common things of Christian life.
This article is part of the August 2014 issue of Tabletalk magazine
Translation: Joel Paulo Aragono da Guia Oliveira Releído: Yago Martins. © 2016 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: We can all honor God in the work we do.