Thoughts on Vocation

By Robert Blackshear

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     "But you are God's chosen generation, his royal priesthood, his holy nation, his peculiar people--all the old titles of God's people now belong to you. It is for you now to demonstrate the goodness of him who called you out of darkness into his amazing light" (1 Peter 2:9--J. B. Phillips).

     Some time ago I ministered to the youth in a local "Restoration" congregation in Missouri. My ambition in Christ was to serve him the best I could according to the measure of his grace. But somehow, the pressure of this work ate me up. I knew deep down that it was strictly not my bag. Some may say that I was too impatient, or that I lacked zeal backed up by faith. Perhaps so, but I dare say that all of us are in need of repentance from day to day. Nevertheless, I did some real soul-searching!

     I asked myself over and over, "For what am I best suited in the kingdom?" The answer seemed far away, yet it was within my grasp all of the time. I found out that I should repent. It was just that simple. I realized that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." What I came to grasp was the fact that God had to humble me so I could receive his grace.

     The conclusion finally reached me that we do not all have the same talents. I was not fit emotionally to be the paid servant of a congregation of saints. But being one of the Master's men I had to let him be the Master. I had to sell out to his cause. Jesus could use me at any professional level which best suited my God-given talents and his will.

     When I gave up being a servant to the youth, some of the brethren remarked that they hated to see me leave the ministry. I smiled broadly. "I'm not leaving, but am just getting started. Our big hang-up is that we think of ministers as men who hold the hour of worship in our church buildings on every first day of the week. We have reduced the ministry of Jesus Christ to the trust of a mono-homosapien." I concluded our discussion by saying, "Every Christian is a minister, that is, a servant. Our neglect of ministering to the needs of the community in the name of the Lord Jesus has caused that blessed name to be blasphemed by that same community which looks to Christians for service. And, by God's grace, my intention is to get out and act as a leavening force and preservative agent in the mouldy dough of society before it spoils completely."

     So I bought a barbeque place, smack dab in the middle of the downtown area

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of a Texas Panhandle city. I had great plans on how I was going to win my whole block to Christ. I was going to do this. I was going to do that. I took out the cigarette machine. I began reading scripture to my customers. I told them how fast they were traveling the road straight to hell. And they were, too.

     After business dropped off sharply and I failed to win the love and admiration of the community at large, I concluded that something was amiss. It was time for soul-searching again. I recalled some scriptures which helped me to do an about face. One of these was 1 Corinthians 3:9, "We are laborers together with God," not for him. When Jesus had spoken of my taking his yoke upon me, I had forgotten that a yoke has places in which two must pull. Jesus is pulling one side of the yoke. I should be pulling the other. But like a dumb ox I was trying to pull the whole load, and it was too heavy.

     Then there was 1 Corinthians 8:1, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." I was too puffed up to love anyone. Love couldn't even squeeze into the seams which held the puffs together. I recalled 2 Timothy 2:24, "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient..." I saw myself as a striver in the worst way. The love of Jesus did not have a chance.

     Out of this encounter came the resolution that God is big enough to handle every situation. My prideful self was torn down to the extent that I became as a little child for the first time in adult life. I had finally run out of impatience. I resolved to be content in my situation. "God, you take it! It's too hot a potato for me to handle." He took it so that I could take it, and since that time God and I have been handling hot potatoes together!

     I began loving, I started being patient, I started convincing people that Jesus was not hypocritically alive in my life. People came to me for counseling on marriage, divorce, reconciliation, family hang-ups over the generation gap, and opinions about scriptural questions. (I always carry a pocket New Testament).

     There was a young man working at a finance company down the street who ate at my place every day. He stopped coming, and one of his fellow-workers told me he was in the hospital. I made several visits to him to show my concern and to share portions of God's word to comfort and edify. Other situations like this arose and made it possible for me to help those in need.

     Now this ministry has not been inside a church building. It has been done where the dying public lives and works. I will not judge my brethren for what they do, or what they do not do. All I know is that the Son of man wants me to minister to men, and this is my vocation in life. Better still, it is life! I am no longer worried about what others do to me overtly or covertly. If you are being kicked from behind it is a sign that you are ahead. I will plant the seed wherever I am. I will trust God to give the increase.

     The whole point is that our Lord needs us where we are. Our businesses should be jointly owned by him and ourselves. If we are joint-heirs with Christ we need to count him in as the "major stockholder" in all of our concerns. Then we will reap dividends as a result of our mutual toil. May God grant his precious grace unto all of us is my prayer.