The day before I came on Young Life staff, I made three observations that I referenced in my journal. “This is incredible, I get to tell kids about Jesus. I get to grow deeper in my faith and... I’ll get paid for it!” Maybe you have felt or written something similar. Basically, two of my favorite things- Christ and Kids- were in one place. From that day on, I have been privileged to live at the INTERSECTION of my Vocation and my Avocation.
AVOCATION: A passion or hobby
VOCATION: A career or calling
Over the years, I have witnessed the up-side and downside of living in the intersection. The gift of doing what you love and the challenge of loving what you do. There is the challenge of navigating personal boundaries, work schedules that go far beyond 40 hours and emotional and physical fatigue. Ultimately, it is the gift of living into CALLING. Not necessarily to an organization like YL or even a community or a zip code but to a person- Jesus Christ. That is why Frederick Buechner is famous for observing, ‘The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’
I was lucky to receive the following counsel in my first year in occupational ministry. “Make sure your ministry flows out of your life in Christ.” It seemed logical and simple to me until I experienced the opposite of having “my life in Christ flow out of my ministry.’ Now,If you have made it this far into the article, reflect on the question below.
(Question) Take two minutes to write down one personal example of how you have lived in the guidelines of the first statement above vs. the second statement. Draw some personal observations and conclusions.
This may help, ROBERT FROST, the Pulitzer Prize winning American poet, known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech wrote a 9 stanza poem in 1934 called ‘Two Tramps in Mud Time’ which represents a beautiful celebration of work as your joy. In the 9th stanza he highlights the complementary nature of the two words we have been discussing.
My object in living is to unite
My AVOCATION and my VOCATION
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For heaven and the future’s sakes.
It’s all there. Deep gladness and deep hunger, task and hobby, & love and necessity. We are spoiled people who live at the intersection between Christ and kids. I would be lying if I did not acknowledge, at times (and perhaps in this current season), that our calling can feel like a job, and the day to day tasks that were a joy could now feel futile. That is a dangerous place for people in ministry to live because if mission becomes a job then suddenly there are requirements, boundaries, and limits. Conversely, if it is a Calling, there is no hurdle too high, no challenge too extreme and no disruption to encompassing.
Let’s encourage each other to live in the middle of the intersection between Vocation and Avocation. The privilege is ours and nothing compares to the view from the middle of an intersection. Traditionally in the Church, intersections are the place that SACRAMENTS live. The cross between the earthly and the divine. We should be able to see further into both worlds. I’ve included a morning prayer (morning resolve) that I say every day. It has been helpful to me to remember the uniqueness of Calling.
**BONUS If you are one of the first 10 YL areas to respond by EMAILING ME then we will send morning resolve cards to you for each of your Volunteer leaders including Committee. If you are interested in the Robert Frost poem in its entirety, you can find it HERE.
Written by: Ken Tankersley kenbtank@gmail.com