Conversations about Calling
By Kathleen Perry
A
we worship. While we are more often concerned with what exactly this ‘call’ looks like for each of us, we “should be preoccupied with the more biblical question, What kind of God exists?”1 And, what does our language reveal about the kind of God that exists? In exploring the nature of the Triune God, we can learn far more about what being called means than spending time brainstorming the possible career options that lie before us. Therefore, it is imperative that we look critically at the way in which language can be used or manipulated to reveal certain agendas about God. This investigation in no way seeks to answer the questions of God’s character or give a definitive answer of the appropriate use of language in regards to calling. Rather, it seeks to raise the question and tease out the thoughtfulness that is necessary when appropriating human-created words to the boundless and limitless Trinity. We must treat the language with which we speak about God with an appropriate amount of care and nuance in accordance with the reverence that we treat God Himself.
s students at a university, our time is spent in preparation for a future life that seems perpetually immediate, yet slightly out of reach. Our classes are preparation for a graduate degree that looms on the horizon. Our summers are spent gaining work experience for the hypothetical career in which we envision ourselves. Even in our friendships, we wonder who will stretch beyond these four years into weddings, families and ‘real life.’ As Christian students, the way in which we talk about the future is steeped in language of calling. ‘Vocational’ discussion is common amidst the undergraduate Christian culture, extending beyond the conversation circles of ordination candidates within the Divinity school. Fittingly, the Pathways mission statement includes a description of where “students, faculty and staff join together…to hear the call of God on their lives.” Indeed, “PathWays is a community at Duke dedicated to listening to God’s call through theological reflection, community engagement and vocational discernment.” As one can see from this limited example, there is great variation in the words used to describe what exactly a call means. When we speak of the future in relation to the ultimate Creator and Sustainer, the words that we choose to use are Hauerwas, Stanley and William H. Willimon. Resident Aliens indicators of what we believe about the God that 1(Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989). 8 Religio Spring 2011