Theological Term of the Week: Vocation

vocation
A calling from God to a task or a relationship. The doctrine of vocation is the principle that the work people do and the relationships they have are assignments from God. He providentially cares for his creation through the relationships he places people in and the work he gives to them to do. Every honest task, no matter how mundane, and every legitimate human relationship (household, workplace, church, community, etc.) has meaning because it is a calling from God and serves his purposes.

• From scripture: 

  Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him (1 Corinthians 7:17 ESV).

  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27–28 ESV)

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke:1 

  Reformed teachings regarding work can be summarized in the following points: 

  1. God works, and we are called to bear His image.
  2. God derives satisfaction from His work.
  3. God provides for us through our work. 
  4. God has commanded man to work, and to work within the framework of His commands.
  5. God holds us accountable for our work and expects to be acknowledged through it. 
  6. God provides particular gifts designed to meet particular needs in the advancement of His kingdom.
  7. The fall radically affected our work. Work becomes toil; thorns and thistles frustrate our efforts; fallen man seeks to glorify himself rather than his Creator through work.
  8. Work is an individual as well as a social activity.
  9. God takes pleasure in beauty, and the Scriptures do not focus simply on the functional and utilitarian aspects of work.
  10. Christ worked as part of His active obedience, and the believer’s work through Christ is part of obedience.

Learn more:

1. Gene Edward Veith: The Protestent Work Ethic, How Vocation Transformed Society, Authority in Vocation
2. John MacArthur: A Theology of Work
3. Brian G. Hedges: Do You Think Biblically About Your Work?
4. Bob Thune: A Theology of Work (pdf)
5. Jerram Barrs: Work: A Holy Calling (pdf)

Related terms: 

• cultural mandate
• image of God
• providence

Filed under Anthropology

1The chapter from which this is taken is written by Ray Pennings.

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