Today’s Bible Study, Authored by Arthur Cincotti.
Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: Knowing Your Calling
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Knowing Your Calling
“Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” II Tim. 2:21
Everyone in the kingdom is called to something. Everything we see and read about kingdom dynamics has action. Christianity is not a spectator activity even though many churches fall into that rut wherein twenty percent of the people do ninety percent of the work. If Jesus said, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” then what right do we have to not be working? Paul said, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:10
Perhaps many Christians go static is because they don’t know how to participate or where they fit in. This is sometimes the fault of ignorance and sometimes of poor leadership that fails to draw someone out into their calling. A calling can be a tedious thing that is often equally revealed from the outside as it is from the inside. Peter says, “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure…” II Pet. 1:10. It sounds as though there is some process and work involved just to discover your calling.
Today’s study will hopefully nudge you down that road by giving some necessary tools helpful to discover your calling. Your calling is very much connected to your identity. Who you are will often determine what you do and where you fit in. Though much of Christian apologetics speak toward our identity in Christ it often speaks in vague generalities that are true of all believers. Say, for instance, that someone might encourage you by saying, “you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus,” That would be a true and powerful statement, but it is true of all believers. The question is, how does it reveal your place in the kingdom and identify your calling?
A positive first step is knowing yourself; or, for some, getting to know yourself. In his book, Authentic, Rob Reimer says that self-discovery is the first step toward moving toward deeper intimacy with God and others. If you are not discovering new things about yourself frequently, then life is probably flat and predictable. If you, in contrast, hazer to plummet the depths of your soul, then get ready for an adventure. This often involves asking yourself probing questions like, “why do I do the things that I do?” This will lead you down some motivational pathways.
In his curriculum for Greater Formation, “Discovering Your Unique Design” Christian coach Tom Griffith uses the acronym
S-H-A-P-E, to help get in touch with the full orb of who you are. “S” stands for spiritual gifts. They are gifts, so you might as well accept them and use them. They are for the glory of God and the benefit of others. A short list is found in I Cor. 12:1 and on, “Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:” Paul wants believers to know that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is intended to manifest through you. If you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are, then pray, and ask God, or ask Him for a gift that you have a burden for. It’s also wise to ask a spiritual mentor or leader who knows you, what they see in you. You can even ask Tom Griffith at his website GreaterFormation.com
“H” is for heart passions. What are you passionate about? If you’re not sure then make a note the next time you get angry, stirred up, anxious, or emotional in a conversation. Your emotions are your triggers. Passions can reveal themselves in quieter ways too. What do you spend most of your free time doing. If it’s playing video games, then get in touch with what that game satisfies in you. These are deep and probing questions that reveal who you are.
“A” is for abilities. I can get pretty passionate about music, but my abilities are rather scant. I don’t play any instruments and I sing poorly. Yet I have other abilities that bring me great joy that I am adept at, largely because I practice them.
“P” is for personality. Personality types differ substantially and you should be in touch with and aware of what yours is in order to function in harmony with it. Tom recommends a variety of personality tests. They can be remarkably accurate and starkly revealing. Prov. 139:14 says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
“E” stands for experiences. Someone has said, “we are the lump sum of our experiences.” I disagree but will concede that our experiences genuinely shape us and mold us. What a kaleidoscope our individual lives can be. You can take all of the above; giftings, abilities, personality etc. and reproduce them in a different backdrop of experiences and get a very different result. Taking some personal inventory by contemplating the corridors of your life can be eye opening. You may discover strongholds that need to be dealt with. You may also discover passions that have lay dormant for lack of attention. “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Prov. 27:19
Rob Reimer says that the next step toward greater intimacy is “self-disclosure”. Knowing about yourself is terrific. You’ll pass your own test, but the real fun comes from sharing what you have discovered. Every artist, every adventurer, every scientist, every thinker, takes their greatest joy in sharing what they have discovered. God is the author of your story and it’s going to be a best seller. It’s totally unique and filled with dramatic highs and lows. Think about who’s going to play you in the movie version.
God already knows who you are. There is no discovery in God, but He wants to lead us down this path because the more we know about ourselves the more we will know about Him; His character, His ways, and His design are revealed, in part, through self-discovery. Rom. 12:2 is a familiar verse that says, “...be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
In his book, Living Fearless, and through his ministry Identity Exchange, Jamie Winship help people abandon their false identity, something most of us have spent years nurturing, and discover their “true self.” He asks, “In what ways is your false view of yourself, however real the mistakes you’ve made in the past, diminishing your capacity to hear and respond appropriately to the God who calls you by name and whose Word is ready to slice through all the lies you’ve come to believe about yourself?”
“You cannot know God in any deep way from a false identity.”
If you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, then Rob Reimer would ask, “are you living your life like a deeply loved person?” Jesus did as He set the example of how to live righteously before the Father. Even on the cross He was still loving on people because that was His character and it overflowed. He and the Father are one, and Scripture tells us that, “God is love.” I Jn. 4:8 Jesus told Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?” Jn. 14:9,10. The word that John’s writings will introduce soon is, “abide.” “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” All this speaks of identity. Paul brings more clarity when he says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:20
I’ll close with Jamie Winship, in Living Fearless, who says, “the Trinity is continuously inviting us into a deep, transformative life-union within the Godhead…Let’s try what Peter did and personally observe and experience what happens when we abide in life-union with Christ. You see, a person doesn’t learn to abide. A person abides and then learns what happens as a result of abiding.”
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