Matthew 4: Living God's Calling in Your Work

Introduction

How many people look at Monday morning with enthusiasm and joy? Sam opens this message with a quick survey. A journalist interviewed many people in different jobs for a book titled "People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do." His conclusion: most fall somewhere between "a reluctant acceptance and an outright aversion."

Are those the only options? Sam offers another: work as service to the glory of God, a calling that comes from him. Throughout September, Église Baptiste Toulouse Métropole spoke about God's call in its series "On t'appelle !" ("You're being called!"). As he reminds us, "vocation" and "calling" come from the same Latin word.

The text is Matthew 4:18-22, the call of the first disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. Jesus uses their trade to describe their future: "I will make you fishers for men." From this scene, Sam corrects two classic mistakes: underestimating work and overestimating it.

Message Outline

1. Fishermen Called to Become Fishers of Men

• Simon, called Peter, and Andrew cast a net into the sea. James and John mend theirs in the boat with Zebedee, their father. Jesus says to them, "Follow me," and immediately they leave everything to follow him.
• This scene raises the questions everyone asks: which career should I pursue? Is there more to it than this? Should I change jobs? How do I handle the arrival of a child, retirement, a layoff? Do I still have a calling?
• And the disciples' question: is God calling me to leave my job to become a missionary or a pastor? Are we all called to be fishers of men, or is that call reserved for some?
• Sam imagines Zebedee around a grilled-fish barbecue. A friend worries: "Fisher of men, what kind of job is that? Is it a permanent contract or not?" They would have done better to stay fishermen, "now that's a real job." Another is thrilled: no more smelling of fish, they are going to be "crowned, wrapped in glory."
• Two unbalanced views of work, which correspond to the two mistakes in the message.

2. First Mistake: Reserving Calling for the Religious

• Os Guinness, in his book "The Call," names this mistake the Catholic distortion. Very early on, Christian history distinguished the sacred from the secular.
• The distinction in itself is not a problem: Jesus makes a difference between a fisherman and a fisher of men. On Sunday morning, you are not doing exactly the same activity as on Monday morning.
• The problem comes when we start to see some as better than others. In the 4th century, a church historian wrote that Christ gave two rules of life: "the perfect life," that of monks and priests, and "the permitted life," everything else. This creates two categories of believers: the spiritual and the less spiritual.
• In the Gospels, the correction is already there. Jesus uses the image of fishing, often speaks of shepherds, vine-growers and farmers, and was himself a carpenter. By contrast, it was the religious people of his day who crucified him.
• Martin Luther, himself a monk, states that the works of the religious and of priests "do not differ at all in God's eyes from the works of the peasant plowing his field, or of the woman looking after her home."
• Paul writes to the slaves of Roman households: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men." Even under a pagan master, this work is spiritual service. "I glorify God on Monday morning doing my job" just as much as on Sunday singing hymns.
• Be careful with the phrase "serving God full time": it implies that a painter, an engineer, a stay-at-home mother or a nurse does not. "You all have the opportunity to serve God full time."

3. The Consequences of Underestimating Work

• Laziness and nonchalance, sometimes with spiritual excuses: "I'm late for work because I'm reading my Bible." Do you have two or three emails to answer? "That is how you serve Christ the Lord."
• Those who serve full time in the church are not exempt: "God is my boss, I take vacation whenever I want." We all serve the Lord, and we want to do it heartily.
• Envy or contempt toward those who do not have the same job: high or low salaries, intellectual or manual work. We all receive a call to serve God according to the gifts and abilities he has given us. "We don't want to make distinctions where God doesn't."
• A disconnect between faith and work: we affirm our convictions on Sunday, then live like the world from Monday to Friday.
• There is a Christian way of being a fisherman: an ethic (not overfishing), a way of talking to colleagues to encourage them and build bonds, without envying them. This sometimes takes courage, sometimes wisdom.
• Zebedee was fully in God's will by continuing the family business. He could glorify Christ just as much as Peter, James and John, who left fishing to follow Jesus.

4. Second Mistake: Reducing Calling to a Job

• This is the Protestant distortion. The Reformation restored value to every trade, but it could be exaggerated to the point of making work the primary calling.
• To say "calling" is to say someone is calling. If we forget the God who gives work and provides for our needs, "work itself becomes a god."
• The primary calling of the apostles, and ours, is "Follow me." We can follow him as a fisherman or as a fisher of men. The other callings remain secondary.
• Peter, James and John can change jobs because they had not made fishing their identity. They will, in fact, sometimes pick up their nets again, and this know-how will still be useful in the Gospels.
• If calling is reduced to a paid job, we measure success by salary, degrees and revenue. Yet you can succeed professionally and miss out on your life, your family and your eternity. "What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life?"
• Unpaid service also becomes hard to evaluate: being a stay-at-home mother, caring for an elderly parent, being a missionary supported by donations, being a volunteer. "Ask a stay-at-home mother whether she really doesn't work."
• And how do you live through retirement, illness, unemployment? If the main call is "Follow me," you can still follow Jesus and glorify him when your work changes.

5. Four Questions to Discern Your Work

• Does this activity allow me to honor my primary calling, following Jesus? Catching fish is compatible with following Jesus, joining the mafia is not.
• Does it allow me to honor my other responsibilities, as a father, mother or church member? These callings sometimes take priority over professional activity.
• Given the abilities, experiences, opportunities and circumstances God has given me, where can I serve others most usefully? Stendhal said: "Vocation means having your passion as your profession." Sam wishes this for everyone, but reminds us that you can be passionate about soccer without becoming Mbappé. You have to be honest with yourself.
• How does this activity allow me to take part in the church's primary calling, proclaiming salvation?
• With a reflection he attributes, with some reservation, to Tim Keller, Sam sums it up: the first question makes you look up, the second around you, the third within, the fourth far ahead, toward eternity.

6. The Most Important Project in the World

• Not everyone receives the call of Peter, James and John to be apostles, just as not everyone is called to go to Africa. But everyone must recognize what is at stake in this mission.
• "Jesus didn't come just to offer a career change," nor to promote sustainable and fair-trade fishing. He came to offer eternal salvation.
• At the end of "Candide," Voltaire has his hero conclude: "We must cultivate our garden." The theme has been biblical since Adam and Eve: work is a way to serve and to flourish. But the Bible says this is precisely what we fail to do: we lost the garden because of sin.
• The real problem is not inefficiency, unemployment or the distribution of resources, but our distance from God, our sin, our selfishness. Jesus worked "all the way to the cross" to offer eternal salvation.
• If you succeed in your career without being caught in the net of the Gospel, "what is all that for?"
• In this project, everyone has a role: some sent far away, others faithful in a job, others faithful at home and in their family. This unites the church and drives out jealousy, envy and contempt.
• "That doesn't necessarily mean tomorrow morning will be wonderful, but it means Jesus is there. You can follow him there, you can glorify him there."

7. The Rest of the One Who Succeeded in Our Place

• In his closing prayer, Sam reminds us that Jesus went all the way to the cross and that, through the anguish of his soul, he gave us full salvation and full forgiveness. "He succeeded in our place."
• We can therefore live in rest of soul and conscience all week long. "It's not what the boss thinks of us. It's not the quality of our work that makes us succeed for eternity. It's what you think of us."
• He prays for those who are looking for a job, who are thinking about a change or who are overwhelmed, so that each one may be a blessing to colleagues, company and city, as an image of Christ where God has placed them.

Key Takeaways

• Your primary calling is the call of Jesus: "Follow me." Your career comes second.
• No honest work is less spiritual than another: you can serve Christ the Lord on Monday morning just as much as on Sunday.
• Underestimating work leads to laziness, envy or contempt, and a faith disconnected from daily life.
• Overestimating work makes it an idol and leaves you without a calling on the day of retirement, illness or unemployment.
• Salvation does not depend on your professional success: Jesus succeeded in your place, and everyone has a role in proclaiming the Gospel.

Personal Application

1. On Monday morning, are you closer to reluctant acceptance, aversion, or service rendered to God?
2. Is there an area of your work where your Sunday faith no longer shows from Monday to Friday?
3. Do you look at certain jobs, salaries or roles in the church with envy or contempt?
4. If you lost your job tomorrow, or at retirement, what would remain of your identity?
5. Of the four questions (up, around, within, far ahead), which have you neglected most in your career choices?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 4:18-22
• Colossians 3:23-24
• Matthew 16:26
• Genesis 2:15
• Genesis 3:23-24

Frequently Asked Questions

Is calling reserved for pastors and missionaries?

No. Sam points out that Jesus values ordinary trades in his parables and that he was himself a carpenter. In Colossians 3, Paul even tells slaves that their work, done heartily, is service rendered to Christ the Lord. All believers have the opportunity to serve God full time, whatever their job.

Is my work my calling?

Work is a secondary calling. The primary calling is the call of Jesus: "Follow me." If work becomes your whole calling, you measure your life by salary and degrees, and retirement, illness or unemployment seem to strip you of any calling. Yet you can always follow Jesus and glorify him, even when your work changes.

How do I discern God's call when choosing a career?

Sam suggests four questions. Does this activity allow me to follow Jesus? To honor my other responsibilities as a parent or church member? Where can I serve others most usefully, given my abilities and circumstances? How does it allow me to take part in the church's primary calling, proclaiming salvation? Look up, around, within and far ahead.