Purpose and Calling

What's the purpose of our existence on earth?  Do all of us have a special calling from God?  These are questions we should ask ourselves at one point in our life's pilgrimage.  Certainly, man is born to work by the sweat of his brow to earn a living to support, at the basic level, his family, whether immediate or extended.  If there is more than enough, he could also help to support charities or organisations serving the needs of the wider community.  Work, of course, takes on many forms.  Some are tedious, menial and mundane; while others require the use of our intellect or having what is known as business acumen.  Whatever it is, God has given to mankind "the ability to produce wealth" (Deut 8:18).

So we can say that the general purpose of man is to work for self sustenance and the sustenance of others.  The apostle Paul instructed the Thessalonians, "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." (2 Thess 3:10) and the Ephesians, "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need." (Eph 4:28).  God wants us to be engaged in honest and decent work; He is against us obtaining wealth through unscrupulous means (Pr 11:1).  However, assuming we are making an honest decent living, there comes a point in our life (mid-life or quarter-life crises) whereby we question the meaningfulness of our current work.

As to the specific type of work we should be doing, it would be a matter of one's calling or giftings God has endowed us.  I want to say that most work requires time, energy and effort to get things accomplished and would not seem to be very pleasant.  So if you're thinking of a comfortable cushy job that pays well, think again - it may be just a figment of your imagination.  Look at Paul, who was appointed by God to be a herald, an apostle and a teacher to the Gentiles (1 Tim 2:7).  He didn't have it so easy; in fact, God warned him that he would suffer much for His sake (Ac 9:15-16).  Even though Paul travelled a lot to bring the gospel to many lands, he worked as a tent-maker to support himself (Ac 18:2-3).  He also received financial support from others to help in his ministry (Phil 4:18). 

This brings me to my next point; God may call some of us to be end-time financiers for the work of His kingdom.  The wealth of the sinners will be stored up for them (Pr 13:22).  Jesus was supported by the wealthy during his time on earth - with a colt (Lk 19:30-31), akin to a mode of transportation; with a place to hold the Passover (Lk 22:10-12) and a place for Him to refresh Himself (Jn 12:1-3).  Whatever may be our specific calling where work is concerned, God has created us anew in Christ to do good works.  This entails establishing right relationships in the office between employers and employees (Eph 6:5-9).  Even in a situation where there is oppression and unreasonableness, Peter tells us that employees who are submissive to their employers find favours with God (1 Pet 2:18-19).  This is one way we can impact and influence lives for God. 

So looking beyond our current work/job, we ought to examine our attitude towards the relationships we have with the people in our home or place of work.  There may not be a perfect job for us, though, many would contemplate a life that is carefree.  There is, however, a perfect attitude that we ought to cultivate:

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  Phil 2:5-8 (NASB)  

"For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps."  1 Pet 2:21 (NASB)