Scripture makes clear that Christians are to be the salt and light of the world. Exactly how, though, do we carry that out?

Though we are not saved by our good works, the Bible teaches that God expects them from Christians. What, exactly, does He want us to do, and where does He want us to do it? According to Scripture, God providentially governs and cares for His entire creation. How does that play out in human societies, given the reality of sin?

Today, in our highly secularized world, Christians also face other questions: Should Christians get involved in politics? How can Christians recover Christian marriage? How should Christian parents raise their children? How can Christians live out their faith in the workplace? One central theme of the Reformation goes a long way in answering these questions: the doctrine of vocation.

Live as You Were Called

As has happened with other theological terms, the word vocation has been taken over into secular vernacular and given a much-restricted meaning, becoming a synonym for job or occupation. Christians, too, have absorbed that secular meaning, so the assumption is often that the doctrine of vocation has to do with how Christians can glorify God in their work.

The theological concept includes that, but the doctrine of vocation—as developed by Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Puritans, and other Reformation theologians—is much more. It amounts to a theology of the Christian life or, put another way, a theology of how to live in the world.

The word vocation simply means “calling” or a “call,” so passages that use these terms teach us about vocation. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7, the Apostle Paul uses various derivatives of “calling,” culminating in this key text: “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches” (1 Cor. 7:17).

God assigns us a life, and then God calls us to that life. This is the doctrine of vocation in a nutshell. Notice that nothing is said about choosing a vocation or finding your true vocation or being fulfilled in your vocation. We may experience or struggle with all that, but vocation is fundamentally God’s doing.