Various Passages

Below is a sermon manuscript from November 9, 2025. Watch the sermon here.

Introduction

What did you want to be when you grow up? Many of us have high aspirations, usually spectacular and lofty. Sometimes we keep asking the question, or at least joke about it—what am I going to be when I grow up? Or maybe, “what am I supposed to be?” These questions can come up when you are looking for a job or wondering if you are in the right one.

Another question related to this is: how do we have it all? How can we be successful in every area of our lives? How can we keep all the plates spinning flawlessly day after day? My attempt this morning is not to give a sure-fire way to answer these questions. Instead, I aim to apply some of the wisdom we have gained from the series and start framing how to think about these questions.

Ephesians 2

If you have your Bibles, would you turn with me to Ephesians 2?

Ephesians 2:10 says that God has prepared good works for us to walk in. Throughout this series, I hope you have seen how our callings can be avenues for these good works that God has prepared. This extends beyond evangelizing co-workers, as important as that is. It’s understanding that doing work itself is good and benefits our neighbors. The Christian also does this work in faith. A new creation reality is taking place. We are working in faith, knowing that God is at work through ordinary callings. Throughout this series, we have shown how good works can come from our various callings and how God uses them.

Today, there may still be questions. How do I know what work or how to work out the callings? If this is true, great, but what does that mean on a day-to-day basis? For this final message, I want to focus on two questions or key areas that will help give practical shape to what we’ve been discussing. These are: How do I know my calling? And… How do I balance my callings? Maybe you are in the midst of a job change; maybe you are a teenager or college student thinking through what God has for you in life. Hopefully, this message will help bring clarity. For all of us, we have various things that we are called to right now; knowing how to balance them and when things can go wrong will be helpful.

Live for Jesus as you Find Your Calling

First, the question: How do I find my calling? I am thinking of this specifically as it relates to our paid work or jobs. As we look at work, I want to look at two categories for thinking through this question. First, what are the non-negotiables? Second, what are some additional things that would be nice but not necessary? For this section I am drawing heavily on Sebatian Traeger and Greg Gilbert’s book, “The Gospel at Work.”

The Non-Negotiables

1. Is it lawful?

Another way to put this is, does the job glorify God? I framed it as “is it lawful” because it presses home our point that we have been making throughout the series: all lawful jobs glorify God. Here’s how we said it earlier in the series, “the closer you are to giving direct approval to sin, the more Christians need to stop and think about their calling.” We can’t know all the possible ways that our work might lead to sin, but we should be careful to avoid work that directly causes sin.

2. Does it allow me to live a godly life?

1 Peter 1:14-17 talks about what God’s ultimate call means for our life, he tells them not to act like their former way of life, “15, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Will it mean unfaithfulness in other areas of life?

There are some things that we are good at that we might want to pursue, but will rob us of other responsibilities. Are you able to be faithful in other callings if you pursue this job?

Someone I know was looking to pursue a career in coaching. He worked as an assistant coach at a lower-level college football team. But, as he witnessed the other coaches around him and friends who went into that field, he started to question if that would be the right fit. He loved the game and wanted to be all-in, but he also saw how that personality type could shipwreck families in that career field. That doesn’t mean that others can’t do it and be faithful in other areas of their life, but he knew for him that would be very difficult to avoid.

Would this job cause you to sin?

There is also the question of compromising Biblical morality to do well in a career field. Some jobs cater to compromise. Wisdom from others is helpful to know your limits and what would be a good fit. Just because there are temptations doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue something that is part of work in the fallen world. But if you know yourself to be weak in certain areas and more prone to cave to temptation, it’s better to pass on the job than fall into temptation. This is different than the first question. The first causes sin and should be avoided by everyone; this question might apply differently to different people. It also might apply differently based on the circumstances surrounding the specific job in question.

A good example of this is Burk Parsons. He is the pastor at the late R.C. Sproul’s church. When he was young, he was approached to be a part of the Backstreet Boys. He joined them at first but quickly grew convicted. They had fabricated the story that they all knew each other and made fake backstories for each group member. That, combined with other ethical questions about the group, Parsons chose to quit. But his decision wasn’t without its detractors. He writes,

Many of the Christian friends and adults around me said it seemed like it was a door that God had opened for me (herein lies the danger of “open-door” theology: Just because a door is seemingly open doesn’t mean we should walk through it, and just because a door is seemingly closed doesn’t mean we shouldn’t knock it down and walk through it). Their reasoning–almost persuasive–went like this, if God had really called me to ministry, and if God had given me certain talents, and if God had opened this door to a potentially worldwide audience, then God must want me to do it. It was an open door–why not do it? The advice from many Christian men and women, many seemingly excited and jealous for my opportunity, was to go into it and see if I could have any sort of voice for God in the world through the entertainment industry. Of course all my friends thought it was just cool and that I would be crazy not to do it.^[1]

Parsons is wrestling with the ethical questions surrounding the work, and others are bypassing them entirely. What is also at play in this story is that there was godly counsel from someone in his life who challenged him to see some of the ethical dilemmas. While a calling to sing and perform is not necessarily out of bounds, given the circumstances, Parsons realized that to go forward in this particular instance would mean moral compromise. Here, his ultimate calling held its rightful place over a potential subordinate calling.

Are there any solid churches in the area?

Another aspect that should be considered is whether there are any solid churches in the area. If you are called a Christian, you are also called to be a part of a local church. Sometimes it can be harder to find a solid church than it can be to find a solid job.

Too often, we can be enticed by location or “perfect fit” and not take time to consider whether we will be spiritually nourished. Hebrews 11:25 tells us not to neglect the assembling together; sometimes, we neglect the consideration of assembly when looking at job opportunities.

3. Does it provide for my needs and allow me to bless others?

1 Timothy 5:8 discusses the importance of working to provide. Paul writes, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” Traegar and Gilbert write, “If you choose a job that uses your gifts but doesn’t pay enough to provide the basics for yourself and your family, the Bible says you are living in sin. Believe it or not, money is a must-have.”^[2]

Let me give an illustration:

I knew of a couple where the husband felt called into a particular field that didn’t pay anything. But, this was his dream. He would spend more on gas money to get there than he would make. His wife was working three jobs to make ends meet so that he could pursue his “calling.” This is a faulty view of calling. It is placing a subjective subordinate call above the ultimate call.

Nice, But Not Necessary

Hopefully, you have noticed something in this method. We have started with the clearly revealed or moral will of God to set the parameters of our next discussion. Too often, when we ask questions like this, we start by trying to discern God’s sovereign will, come up with an answer, and then try to manipulate and rationalize his moral will to fit our answer.

What you might have noticed as we worked through those questions is that you have experienced some of them yourself. Maybe you have changed jobs because of low pay, or left a job because you knew you couldn’t faithfully continue there. Whether you realized it or not at the time, God was directing you. You were walking in the good works which God prepared beforehand.

1. Does it take advantage of my gifts and talents?

When we consider this question, it is appropriate to think of our specific abilities and talents. God has designed us each differently, and we each have strengths and weaknesses. There are some things that are just out of bounds because of our first three questions, and there are others that don’t make sense because of other considerations. If you are 4’11”, you probably aren’t going to be a basketball player, for instance.

Even if it doesn’t align, we still pursue competence.

A few weeks ago, we talked about the importance of competence in the workplace. We need to distinguish between competence and gifting. Competence means you are trying to get better at your job to which you have been called. Gifting means that something comes easy to you that might not to others. While gaining competence is something all should pursue regardless of gifting, pursuing competence within an area of your giftedness happens with less effort. Interestingly, God often uses this to direct us and lead us from one thing to the next.

Gene Veith writes,

A fellow college professor told me about one of his former students who just could not keep his grades up. He was dedicated and determined, though, so he kept enrolling in classes, retaking those he failed and studying night and day. Finally, exhausted, he realized he had to take a semester off. He took a job, for the time being, doing what he really enjoyed – namely, working on cars. As an auto mechanic, he found himself rising in the ranks at the garage, taking on more responsibilities, and earning more and more money. He felt that he should go back to school, but he could not bring himself to quit his mechanic job. He was apologetic to his professor, but he should not have been. He had found his vocation.

2. Is it something that I want to do?

Hopefully, when we start to think through our calling differently, what we want will align with what God wants for us. We want to do work that brings Him honor and glory; we want to do work that steers us away from temptation, and we want to use our gifts if that’s what God desires for us. But because of our sin, we think of our desires first, and the other categories don’t come into play.

Sometimes we can even sit on our hands, waiting for the perfect fit without pursuing what opportunities God has given us. Proverbs 12:11 speaks to this: “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.” This gets repeated in Proverbs 28:19, ^“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.”

Our callings are in the hands of others. We are not called to something until we are actually doing something. If I desire to be an engineer, I cannot just declare myself an engineer tomorrow. Multiple steps need to take place. I would likely need to enter school, in which I am dependent on teachers; I would need to pass certain examinations; I must find employment and have someone willing to hire me, or have the competence to make it through self-employment, which would be dependent upon other connections and people willing to buy my product or work with me. 

In today’s world of opportunity, some are more aware of how dependent we are than others. Some have easily found employment in areas they desired, while others have struggled. In this, it’s important to think of another factor.

Discern Your Gifts/Talents

For these final two sections, think about how this plays out practically in the day-to-day. It starts with God’s gifting and equipping individuals uniquely. Then, as we mature, we are able to notice and discern some of the things that we are good at or gravitate towards. This can also happen through the company of other Christians who affirm different things they see in our lives. Then God provides opportunities to exercise and sharpen these gifts. Sometimes these opportunities give more evidence of something we are gifted in, and other times they reveal that our discernment was off. As we grow in gifts, God gives wisdom to be able to use them appropriately in ways that glorify Him and work for the good of our neighbor.

I bring this up now because, even if we aren’t able to work in a place that best uses our unique gifts and abilities, it is still helpful to try to discern them. God hasn’t promised that we will be employed directly related to our personality and gifts, but we are created to bring Him glory and love our neighbor. Because of that, we can recognize that our unique gifts can be used outside of employment.

Put it more succinctly, God doesn’t promise work that matches our gifts, but He calls us to glorify Him and love others – and our gifts can serve that purpose beyond any job.

Live for Jesus as you Balance Your Callings

Whether we have the ideal fit for our paid calling or not, we all have various callings in this life. With that, our callings can sometimes butt into one another; time can make it challenging to do them all well. We can ask ourselves, “How do I balance it all?”

Know Your Callings

Our objective callings are those things which we are really and truly called to, and there it is evident to anyone. Paul outlines the callings of singleness and marriage in 1 Corinthians 7. How do you know that you are called to be married? Because you are. He urges them to stay as they are and remain faithful in verse 17.

You have several callings as well. Some of you are wives and mothers. Others are brothers and cousins. You are citizens and church members. You know your callings by where you are right now in life. Too often, we assess what we do by what we desire to do. We think in terms of addition rather than living faithfully within the callings we currently have. Addition isn’t necessarily bad, but it can be a way of avoiding what we are called to do.

Distinguish Between “Must Do” and “Can Do” Within Our Callings

You might have noticed something as we talked about knowing our callings. We can have several callings within the circles that we have been using.

When we talk about balancing, it can be helpful to distinguish between “must-do” callings and “can-do” callings within each circle. Can-do callings are things that we feel called to, but there is more freedom in actually pursuing them or not. You may be called as your child’s little league coach, but that should be distinguished from your primary duties as Father. You can be a coach or not, and still be a faithful father. But you can’t neglect to instruct your children in the way of the Lord or seek to provide for their physical needs and be a faithful father.

A check for this is to ask, “Can I remove or change this calling and still be faithful to my ultimate calling?”

Understanding the difference between these will help you when you are overloaded and need to tweak your callings to be faithful in the “must-do” areas of your life. The inability to distinguish between these areas can create unnecessary conflict and burden.

The goal is not necessarily to give as much margin as possible. Like working out, sometimes if we don’t have enough stimulus, we will regress and not have the same capacity. There is a balance between overtraining and undertraining. The terms for this in lifting are minimal effective volume and maximum recovery volume.

In our callings, we should be careful not to overdo it, but we also need to watch out for neglecting the opportunities God has given us. This requires wisdom, discerning with those close to us, how do we, like that Apostle Paul, pour ourselves out for the glory of God, while not being worn out in the process.

Be Careful of a Straight Hierarchy Approach

A common approach is to prioritize our lives. You may have heard this before. First God, then family, then church, etc. In doing this, we create a hierarchy of what matters most. But is this the best way to look at it? I believe this approach creates tension where tension doesn’t need to exist and oversimplifies our complex responsibilities in this life.

Let’s take two examples: family and church, and family and work. When we create a hierarchy, it can lead to unnecessary complications.

Family and church

You might hear someone say, “I’m skipping church today because I need to focus on my family.” Even in a hierarchical system, this statement has problems. It assumes that entertainment with family is more beneficial to family health than worship with family. But, in how we’ve been explaining things, it’s even more problematic. It says that faithfulness in one area of life means that I need to be unfaithful in another area of life. We are neglecting our calling as church members to fulfill our duty as a family. The better thing is to ask what is leading to the tension in the first place. Is there anything outsized in its sphere and “can-dos” that are usurping the “must-dos”?

Family and work

Another tension that might exist is between family and work. We can pit them against each other as if it’s a zero-sum game. To be at work means that we are not with our family, for instance. But, being at work is a specific way that we have been given to provide for our family. We are called to be faithful there as well.

A danger exists, though, when the lines blur when they shouldn’t. There are some jobs where you can clock in and clock out, and little can be done outside the work time hours. Others could continue endlessly. Here, there is a danger in never clocking out. Even when there is a physical clock out or physical distance, there is a mental engagement that can be dangerous. I fell into this trap very recently with my family. The issue wasn’t work versus family or not recognizing a hierarchy, but it was failing to pursue the highest obligation at the moment.

Let me put it another way, if I were performing a funeral for your loved one and facetimed my family up front while you were giving a remembrance, that would be a failure in my calling. I couldn’t say, “Well, my family is most important.” At that moment, my highest obligation was to the task at hand. It isn’t as simple as a hierarchy; it requires wisdom.

Keep Ultimate and Subordinate in their Proper Place

To understand this, we need to recognize that we have seen in the previous point how finding our calling can reveal an imbalance of Ultimate and Subordinate callings. This is perhaps the biggest challenge and tension that we face – living under the Lordship of Christ in all of life. 

Multiple Callings Mean Multiple Subordinate Callings Pulling at Us

What does it mean to be faithful right now? This question is one that doesn’t have an easy answer. There is no ten-step process for what to do in a specific situation. Instead, we need wisdom. We need to understand what it means to be faithful in each area of our lives. In doing so, we can also recognize a difference between going over and above and being faithful. Sometimes, because of the multiple callings in our lives or the demands of those callings, we simply need to strive for faithfulness. This is one of the reasons that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7, singleness can be preferred. In verse 34, he says that our allegiances will be divided. This divided pull can remove some of the potential fruitfulness in one area.

Elevating What is Easier

When we have multiple things pulling at us, a temptation can be elevating things that are easier for us. We place them as ultimate, and make everything submit to them. Think about it. In many areas, we are bringing order out of chaos, but it can be easier to bring order out of chaos, working on a project for work, than bringing order to the chaos waiting at home. So we stay late to “get ahead,” when really it is a stall tactic to neglect our duty at home.

Of course, this could be different for another person who may be using their family as an excuse to neglect faithfulness at work. We have to be careful of assuming the worst in others and justifying ourselves. Instead, we should examine our lives and assume the best in others.

Doctrine of Vocation as Justification for Workaholism

We can even use this doctrine of calling to justify workaholism. Sometimes working a ton of hours isn’t a virtue but a sign of a vice. Sometimes it’s a lack of being diligent throughout the week. Other times it can be pride in not wanting to delegate or failure to simply rest with a days work. Rest is a good and proper gift that should not be neglected. Our pride doesn’t want to rest; it wants to accomplish and show its merits. But rest is an act of humility. It’s an acknowledgment that we are finite. Proverbs 23:4 says, “Do not toil to acquire wealth, be discerning enough to desist.”

Right now, as you come to worship each week, turn off the mind from a focus on what needs to be done tomorrow or later this afternoon and engage in being a faithful worshipper. One indicator that work or anything else is in the driver’s seat is if we cannot slow down to worship our Creator.

Our Ultimate Calling Guides our Subordinate Callings

The question is not, “What do I want to do, or how do I want to balance things?” But, how do I live faithfully for the Lord right now? As Colossians 3:23-24 tells us, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Our obligation is to the Lord ultimately. We serve him in the specific areas of life that he places us. It is often choosing the better over the good at the moment. That can change depending on our subordinate obligations. It means that we are not supplanting God with something subordinate, no matter how badly we want to justify it. One of my favorite quotes is from Eugene Peterson; he says, “If succeeding as a Pastor means failing as a parent, you’ve already failed as a pastor.” We cannot sacrifice our callings at the altar of other callings. Instead, Christ alone must reign over them.

We began this series with two different approaches to calling, if you remember. 

I recently saw two videos from public figures who professed faith in Jesus Christ. The first was from sports commentator, Skip Bayless. Here is what he said about his calling. 

“A guy who has a chance to be Tiger Woods, maybe even Michael Jordan, was questioning what it all means on the Eve of a major championship that he had never won? My initial reaction was, R.I.P. Scottie Scheffler as a major championship winner. He had doubted, he had questioned, he had asked why. He was, I thought for a moment, done. You know me, I am all about the GOATs being cold-blooded sports killers. Being obsessed with winning to the detriment of everything else in their lives. Win or else, win or bust. Win or go home to nobody.”

Bayless went on to say that he had wrecked his first marriage because of his pursuit of career, but that was ok because this is what God called him for, it was why he was on this earth.

The second was from Jared Allen and the speech that he gave as he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He said that if this is all that he does in life and the only thing people remember him for, then he failed. He said that his wife and daughters were his greatest gifts.

Two competing visions for what it means to be called by God. One is singularly focused, the other has a broader understanding of call.

Hopefully, by now, you see how each of these aligns with Scripture.

Conclusion

As we go to live out the good works prepared beforehand this week, let us not forget the context of Ephesians 2:10. Right before that verse, the foundation for that kind of living comes from the fact that we have been saved by grace and it is not of our doing but a gift of God. We live out our callings as new creations in Christ Jesus, not in order to earn salvation or merit God’s love. Christ, you’re right, standing with God is not dependent on the work you do tomorrow. Your right standing is not dependent on how good you’ve been at balancing your callings. No, your right standing is now sitting at the Father’s right hand. His hands still bear the marks of victory that he accomplished on the cross for you. You are called to him by him, and this week, you get to live for him. Live in his victory, doing the good works which the Father prepared beforehand by the Spirit who indwells you.

Let me end with this,

If this is not true of you, if you know personally that you have never trusted in the finished work of Christ for your salvation, don’t leave here today without responding to His call. I invite you to trust in Christ. Turn from your sins and trust in Him alone for your salvation. There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved. 

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^[1] “To Backstreet (and Back) – An Interview with Burk Parsons, Part 2 | Tim Challies.” Accessed November 5, 2025. https://www.challies.com/interviews/to-backstreet-and-back-an-interview-with-burk-parsons-part-2/.

^[2] Traeger, Sebastian, and Greg Gilbert. The Gospel at Work: How the Gospel Gives New Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018, 77.

^[3] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Co 15:58.