Living Like Jesus is Supreme

The book of Colossians is all about the Jesus’ supremacy over everything. Whether thrones, dominions, rulers or authorities all things were created through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). This certainly includes our lives and the places where we live, work, and worship. This is how Paul concludes the book of Colossians — what the supremacy of Christ means for us at work and in the home.

Enter the Christian doctrine of vocation.

The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word for “calling.” The doctrine of vocation means that all Christians are called by God to live faithfully in three spheres: at home, at work, and in the church. It has to do with how God governs and cares for His creation by working through human beings. It also shows Christians how to live out their faith and become more like Christ in everything that they do and everywhere that they are.

The Three Spheres

According to Martin Luther, we have callings in each of the three spheres that God created for human life:

• At Home. This refers to the family. Marriage, becoming a father or mother, or being a son or daughter are all vocations or callings that are intended for love and service, making us more like Christ.

• At Church. All Christians are called to belong to a local body of believers. God “calls” pastors but He also calls elders, deacons, and all other members. As we often say, the church is not an audience; it is an army. Everyone has a part to play in the congregation.

• At Work. We are also called to our local communities, our jobs, and our surrounding culture. Therefore, we have vocations even in the “secular” arena, which is where Christians interact with non-believers and function as salt and light in the world. (Matt. 5:13–16)

These three spheres are all understood under the umbrella of the doctrine of the “priesthood of all believers.” This does not mean that every Christian is a minister leading a congregation or that there is no need for pastors. Rather, it means that one does not need to be a pastor in order to be a “priest.” Farmers, doctors, lawyers, mechanics, soldiers, pharmacists, husbands, wives, mothers, and children are all “priests” in that they are performing work, interceding in prayer, and bringing God’s Word into their everyday lives.

A “priest” is someone who offers sacrifices. However, because Jesus has been sacrificed once and for all, we no longer need any other sacrifice for our sin (Heb. 9:6). Instead, we are now called to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1) and “to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). This is what happens in the three spheres of home, at church, and at work

The Purpose of Vocation

The purpose of every vocation, according to Luther, is to love and serve our neighbors as Jesus loved and served us. Our vocations brings our neighbors into our lives whether it be our spouse, our children, our grandchildren, our fellow-citizens, the members of our church, or our customers at work. God wants us to love and serve them.

“God does not need our good works,” observed Luther. “But our neighbor does.”

John reminds us that “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Our relationship with God is based not on our works or our vocation, but upon Christ alone. God saves us apart from our works and then calls back into the world, into our distinct vocations and callings, to love and serve Him by loving and serving our neighbors.

Interestingly, this love and service typically does not include special “good deeds” but the ordinary tasks of everyday vocations:

• Parents changing their baby’s diaper, which Luther hailed as an act of holiness...

• Farmers plowing their fields so that people can have food...

• Contractors taking the raw materials of wood and cement and using them to make buildings...

• Software developers harnessing the technology of electricity to create computer programs...

• Teachers taking young minds and teaching it math or science...

• Custodians pushing a broom and cleaning a room...

• Mechanics restoring a car back to working condition...

• Artists painting a beautiful picture...

• Citizens casting a vote and elected officials making good laws...

These all can be offered as acts of love and service to our neighbors.

Vocation as the Mask of God

Luther stressed that God himself is living and active in and through vocation. He gives us our daily bread by means of farmers and bakers. He creates new human beings and cares for them by means of mothers and fathers. He protects us by means of lawyers and police. He proclaims His Word through the voice of pastors. Luther looked at places in the Bible where God takes care of a city or God feeds His people and asked the question, “How is God doing this?”

For example, consider a passage like Psalm 147:13 which says, “For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat.” God is taking credit for doing these things but Luther asked, “How exactly is God doing these things?”

How does God strengthen the bars of the city? Answer: by city planners, by politicians who pass good laws to protect the city.

How does God bless our children? Answer: by mothers and fathers, by teachers and pediatricians.

How does God make peace in our borders? by policeman and good lawyers, by the military. How does He fill us with the finest of wheat? By farmers and those who work in restaurants

Vocation, says Luther, is a “mask” of God: We see only the human face, performing ordinary tasks in everyday life, but behind that calling, God Himself is hidden and giving His gifts. This is the pattern for all work and nothing is out of that pattern.

The beauty of the doctrine of vocation is that it brings the Gospel into ordinary life. It takes the mundane routines of ordinary life and charges them with purpose, spiritual significance, and the very presence of God. This means that there is no boring, mundane task so small. There is no business mega-deal or public policy initiative so big that transcends this pattern God has set up. Luther would even say, “God milks the cows through the vocation of the milk maid.”