God is still in the business of calling people to serve Him. We read about it repeatedly in Scripture: at the burning bush, on the road to Damascus, and in a still small voice, God gave direction and called His people to serve Him. But what about today?
God may not speak in this phenomenological manner but nevertheless, He is speaking. He convicts and calls through His Word; He captures our minds with needs or opportunities which touch our hearts; and He speaks to us through friends and leaders who awaken a sense of calling. Through prayer we communicate with God and He may move us to act to obediently follow a course of action.
At Grace Christian University we have initiated a strong emphasis on career. From the time a student begins their studies at Grace we endeavor to link their course of study to their work in the world. We begin by asking students about their unique gifting by God and their sense of His calling on their lives. We recognize that Scripture commands each person is to serve the Lord as an act of worship in their vocational calling. God calls some to preach in pulpits, and others to speak the truth of God’s Word in the offices and worksites of society. All are called to serve Him!
The place we seek to align our studies is for God’s calling and gifting to meet the many career opportunities in the world. This is vocational calling from God–right at the corner of Calling and Career.
We believe Grace students and alumni who can find this “place” will sense the peace of God in their lives and awaken each day ready to serve Christ, pronouncing, “I was made for this!” With this vision, work is no longer drudgery or obligatory, rather it becomes God’s place of service to live out His will. This gives each one power to live out the heartbeat of God in this age of Grace: to glorify God by loving people, and allowing God to reconcile men and women to Christ as His ambassadors in this world (II Corinthians 5:17-21). It is at this corner of our vocational calling where we live out God’s love for His Church the Body of Christ and reach those not yet found, and live on mission with God in the world.
Let’s not just find “our happy space,” but rather God’s vocational calling – the space on the corner of Calling and Career.
Ken B. Kemper, President
