THE CHRISTIAN and HIS CAREER

Do not be mistaken! Work is not a consequence of the Fall. Work is a goodactivity ordained by God. God sets the example when He created the world in sixdays. And then He commanded Adam to name the animals and to tend the garden:making the most primitive occupation that of a taxonomist cum gardener! Work ispart of our moral obligation towards God. The Fourth Commandment, which weusually associate with rest, actually involves a command to work too: “six daysshalt thou labour” (Ex 20:9). Work was not a curse that came with the Fall, butthe hardship associated with work is. It is in view of this fact that theApostle Paul mandates work for the Christian: “if any would not work, neithershould he eat” (2 Thes 3:10).

It must be admitted, however, that though the Bible has much to say about thetheology and ethics of work, it does not say much,—at least not directly,—aboutcareer development as we understand it today. The Bible was written at a timewhen society was not as complex as today. Most people in days covered bybiblical history simply did what their parents or guardians were doing unlessGod called them to do something else. Jacob and his family were shepherds justas Isaac and Abraham were. Joseph became prime minister only because Godprovidentially ordered that he be sold to Egypt. David was a shepherd too aswere all his brothers. He became king only because God specially sent Samuel toanoint him. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus was a carpenter for thegreater part of His earthly life as was Joseph, his adoptive father. Peter andAndrew were fishermen because their father was a fisherman. Paul was probably atent-maker because his family was in tent-making business. Nevertheless, theBible gives us many principles, which we may apply in the matter of handlingour career. What are these principles? Let us consider them under four mnemonicheads: Calling, Choice, Control and Change.

Calling

The first principle concerning his career that should be clearly understood bythe Christian is that every legitimate occupation is good and important, and istherefore not to be despised.

It is a biblical notion to think of the job that God has appointed to us by Hisprovidence as being God’s calling for us. Writing to the Corinthians, theApostle Paul says: “But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hathcalled every one, so let him walk” (1 Cor 7:17). It is therefore not wrong fora Christian to encourage another to walk worthy of his vocation, meaning thathe should give of his best as a Christian in the occupation that God has calledhim into. This is despite the fact that Paul is not primarily referring to ouroccupation in Ephesians 4:1, where he exhorts us to “walk worthy of thevocation wherewith [we] are called.” Rather, Paul is referring to our call tobe a Christian—individually and corporately. The Christian conduct must beconsistent with his calling to be Christ’s. However, God does individuallyappoint to us temporal estates and circumstances to live in. The Christian mustwalk worthy of the Name of Christ in whatever estate or occupation that God hasset him in.

Thus, every legitimate occupation must be regarded by the Christian as good,and not to be refused or regarded as unimportant. Not everyone is called to bea minister of the Gospel. It is wrong for para-church leaders to tell theirimpressionable student members during emotional rallies that they shouldconsider “full-time ministry” as their first career choice, or that unless Godindicates otherwise they should “enter the ministry.” It is a fallacy to thinkthat the “full-time ministry” is a higher calling if, by that, you understandthat all other callings are unimportant. Every call is a call of God. It is byGod’s divine appointment and decree. Calvin says it well:

The Lord bids each one of us in alllife’s actions to look to his calling.… each individual has his own kind ofliving assigned to him by the Lord as a sort of sentry post… no task will be sosordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shineand be reckoned very precious in God’s sight (ICR 3.10.6).

Some of us may be called to be manual labourers, delivery persons or clerks. Wemust not despise these callings. Some may be called to be systems engineers,lawyers, doctors or managers. We must not esteem ourselves better than others.

Realise that God calls us differently because He makes us differently. Our dutyis to determine our own calling. But how? This is a subject that cannot beanswered in a few sentences, but simplistically, three things should beconsidered. Firstly, consider your gifts or talents. For example, if you findyourself having a logical mind, then you may want to consider a career incomputer science. Secondly, consider your personal interests and inclinations.If you are a person who loves nature but hates to deal with machines, it wouldappear that a calling in engineering would be unlikely. Thirdly, consider theneeds of the society that God has set you in. If more persons would bear thisin mind there would probably not be so great a shortage of nurses in thisnation and around the world.

But what if you are already in a particular career line: How do you know ifthis career represents God’s calling for you? Well, remember that the occupationalcalling is not a permanent calling, unlike your calling to be a Christian. Inother words, you must work in whatever job you are in as God’s calling for youfor the moment, and so serve “heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men”(Col 3:23). However, I believe that there is a sense in which a Christian candiscern, albeit subjectively, that God is calling him to a different career.This is the way in which a person called to the Gospel ministry today may beprompted to take the first step towards preparing for the ministry. The samewould apply, to some extent, in a call to change career.

A friend of mine, who was doing his masters in science, was convinced that Godwas calling him to be a lecturer in the polytechnic. His reasoning was noble,and included the fact that a teaching career would afford him moreopportunities to witness for Christ. Not too long after launching into ateaching career, however, he was convinced that God was calling him to adifferent vocation altogether. How so? Because he was by nature a very reticentperson who has difficulties expressing himself verbally when called uponwithout preparation. He was good at writing, and presentations. But he found itdifficult when it came to answering questions or teaching interactively. Hefelt like a salmon trying to swim upstream. In the end, he relented, and tookup a research position which suited him much better.

Choice

Although the choice of career is often tied to one’s choice of available jobopenings, it is helpful for us to distinguish the two aspects in regards to ourcareer development. We have spoken about choosing a career in very broad terms,and about the call of God as it pertains to the kind of occupation that one maytake. But in reality, the call of God (cf. 1 Cor 7:17) pertains not just to thekind of occupation that one may choose, but to the actual job instance that oneis working in.

So, after considering our occupational calling in so far as the kind of careeris concerned, it is necessary for us to consider whether we should take up aparticular job that we are being offered, or which job we should take up if weare given two or more options.

Again, as the Scripture does not have direct statements on how we are tochoose, I would like to suggest a few guidelines.

Firstly, you must consider if taking up a particular position may force you tocompromise on the ethical and moral standards of the Word of God. For example,a Christian should as far as possible shun jobs that will require him to workon the Lord’s Day. Similarly, a Christian should not take up any publicrelations job if it is known that he will be required to entertain clientsaccording to their fancies.

Secondly, you must consider the effect of a particular job upon yourresponsibility as a member of the church. The Christian must not dichotomisehis calling to be a Christian from his occupational calling. As a Christian, hemust give great priority to his place in the local assembly. In other words, aChristian ought not to be attracted to any jobs that would take him away veryfrequently on short business trips over the weekend. I have personally known ofa brother in the Lord who had backslidden because his frequent travels took himaway from congregation worship and fellowship much of the year.

Thirdly, the Christian with a family must also consider if the particular jobwill involve much overtime so that there is little time left to spend with thefamily. Christian fathers must remember that they are not only to be theprovider, but the pilot, pastor and policemen at home. A father who is anexcellent provider but fails in all the other duties is a failure overall.

Fourthly, it would be wise to know if there are other believers, hopefully withlike convictions, in the company before considering a particular company. Theadvantage of having believers as colleagues is rather obvious for they would atleast share some similar values with you, and in times of crisis, you couldhave someone to confide in, who can understand the situation intimately. Now,of course, this does not mean that you should take a job only if you know thatthere are other believers in the company. But unless you know that theunbelievers are not openly antagonistic to Christianity, difficulties willsooner or later surface.

Fifthly, it would naturally be prudent to compare the material remunerationsuch as pay, leaves and other benefits. This should not be the primaryconsideration, but it would be irresponsible not to consider it at all, unlessit is not going to be the primary means of your livelihood.

Control

No matter how carefully we choose our careers and jobs, however, there isalways the likelihood that after a while things are different from what we haveexpected when we enter into the job. It is helpful therefore for us toregularly pause to examine where our jobs are bringing us and how our Christianwalk is being affected. Yes, our jobs are bound to have an influence on ourChristian walk since we probably spend more time at it, than at home or atchurch.

May I suggest the following questions to ask when we pause to evaluate ourjobs: (1) Do you have to work overtime or bring work home frequently so thatyou have little time for your family, for personal Bible reading and study, orfor the stated appointments in church? (2) Do you find that you are nowtravelling so frequently that you are experiencing harmful disruption to yourfamily and church life? (3) Are the pressures at work so great that you arebringing your frustrations back home, and therefore are becoming short-temperedtowards your spouse, parents or children? (4) Is your mind pre-occupied withwork all the time so that your thoughts tend to wander during private or publicworship? (5) Do you find yourself having to return to the office regularly onthe Sabbath days? (6) Are you loosing interest in your job or finding itdifficult to do your work “heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col 3:23)? (7) Do youfind your job to be something which is rather redundant or contributes nothingat all to the well-being or needs of society?

If you answer positively to any one of the above, you know that all is notwell, and you should take positive steps to do something about it. For example,if you have so much work that it is beginning to affect your Christian walk, itwould not only be prudent but responsible to request for an assistant.

Of course, while waiting for the situation to change, you should commit thematter to the Lord in fervent prayer; and also make some time commitments tochurch and home so as to minimise the detrimental impact of the poor situationat work. This may mean some compromise on quantity and even quality at work. Ofcourse compromise should be a last resort, but as Christians we should realisethat it is more dangerous to compromise our spiritual well-being than tocompromise our performance and increment at work.

Change

But what about a change of job? I once heard someone preach that “if you feellike changing job, just go ahead, don’t think too much.” I do not think thatthis is the right attitude for a Christian. Loyalty is a virtue which thebeliever ought also to cultivate. Loyalty to employers is certainly implied inthe command to serve our employers in “singleness of… heart” (Eph 6:5; Col 3:22; cf. 1 Pet2:18). Changing jobs should not be taken lightly as it often involvesdisruption to the company as well as ethical questions of moral obligationsthat may arise because of the expenditure involved in training, etc.

With this in mind, some reasons for changing jobs are not quite justifiable.For example, it would not be right to change to another job simply because theother job pays more. We must watch out against covetousness (1 Tim 6:6).Another poor reason for changing jobs is encapsulated in the excuse: “I do notlike my colleagues.” As believers we must make every effort to “live peaceablywith all men” (Rom 12:18).

Good reasons for considering changing jobs are: Firstly, when you are convincedthat the Lord is calling you to a different career or when there is anopportunity for career advancement. Remember that it is not wrong to make useof opportunities which may better your outward estate. The Apostle Paulsuggests this when he says: “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein hewas called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thoumayest be made free, use it rather” (1 Cor 7:20–21). Paul was referring toopportunities of freedom for slaves, but the principle applies also toopportunities for career advancement by employees. Secondly, it may be time toconsider changing job if your Christian walk is being adversely affected byyour workload, and no re-arrangements could be done in your current company torectify the problem. A third and excellent reason for leaving your current jobis,—in the case of a woman,—to be a homemaker; and—in the case of a man,—toprepare for the Gospel ministry.

Naturally, as far as possible, all plans to leave a current employment shouldbe discussed candidly with our present superiors or employers. Also, as far aspossible, all obligations of training, handling over, bonds, etc., should besettled way before the “last day” at work.

Conclusion

Though the Christian is not “of the world,” he needs be in “in the world.” Andbeing in the world makes the question of career development not irrelevant.Christians must not succumb to the principles and motivations of the world,such as fame, honour, wealth and luxury, when making decisions and evaluationsconcerning our careers. Rather, let us seek the Lord’s wisdom that we may knowhow to handle our careers in a Christ-honouring way that we may indeed remainnot of the world, but rather salt and light of the world.

—J.J. Lim