If Only: Living God's Call Right Where You Are

Introduction

A family we met in Lyon sold everything, left everything, and hit the road in a van with their kids, convinced God was calling them to a radical step. Jason Procopio admired their faith, but he also sensed what he believes is a mistaken conviction, widespread in the Church since Anthony the Great in the 3rd century: that to truly live for God, you have to change your circumstances. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 7:17-24, this message answers a simple question: do you really need to change your life to live the life God is calling you to?

Message Outline

1. God has called us

• Almost every verse in this passage mentions God's calling, verses 17, 18 (twice), 20, 21, 22 (twice), 24.
• This calling is not a call to a job or a life situation. God is not destining you to become a doctor, a lawyer, an opera singer, or even a cashier at the corner store.
• It is the call to follow Jesus, to belong to Jesus, to radiate the glory of Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:2, 1:9).
• All Christians are saints, set apart for God, not a spiritual elite, but all those who have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• This calling is radical. You cannot be too radical in how you respond to it. It deserves everything.

2. God has called us to live for him right where we are

• Three times Paul repeats the same principle: that each person should remain in the condition they were in when they were called (verses 17, 20, 24).
• This is not social conservatism that would freeze everyone in place. It is that God's calling is so radical that it makes social status spiritually inconsequential.
• First example: circumcision. Even the distinction God gave to Israel no longer defines anything before Christ, all the more so the name you carry, the family you come from, the school you attended.
• Second example: slavery. In Corinth, one in three residents was a slave. Paul says: if you can become free, take the opportunity. But if you cannot, do not be troubled. You are free in Christ, and your present situation is an insignificant parenthesis compared to eternity.
• What matters is not what your situation is, but how you live within it for God. Any situation that is not inherently sinful (thief, drug dealer) becomes a place where you can glorify God.

3. Freedom, radicalness, ordinariness

• "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men" (verse 23). The most dangerous slavery is not external, it is slavery to others' opinions and the world's standards.
• Understanding that you can live for God in any situation, even an ordinary or difficult one, is what true freedom looks like.
• Sometimes faith leads to a drastic change (going into missions, changing jobs). But often it calls us to radical consecration in the midst of completely ordinary circumstances.
• You can be just as consecrated to God at the corner store or in a call center in the Paris suburbs as on a mission field in the Amazon.
• To the question, "If only I could change X, then I would have the life I was made for", Paul's answer is clear: your life is already the one you were made for, if you live it there for God.

Key Takeaways

• God's calling is not a job or a life situation, it is the call to follow Jesus and be set apart for his glory.
• What defines you is no longer your situation or social status. It is God's calling that defines you.
• Executive or laborer, banker or baker, married or single: these categories are spiritually inconsequential in light of eternity.
• Do not be troubled about your situation. If you can change it for good reasons, do so. If you cannot, know that God gives you the resources to live for him right where you are.
• True freedom is being free of shame about your status because the King of the universe purchased you at the price of his own blood.

Personal Application

1. How would you complete the sentence: "If only I could change X, then I would have the life I was made for"? What does that X reveal about what truly defines you?
2. Do you experience your work, your studies, your family situation as a place where God's calling can be expressed, or as an obstacle to your spiritual life?
3. Where do you look for your identity apart from Christ: your job title, your socioeconomic status, your marital status, your achievements?
4. Is there a command of God that your current situation confronts you with, one that you dodge by dreaming of changing your circumstances instead?
5. Are you enslaved to others' opinions or the world's standards, even though Christ redeemed you at a great price to set you free?

Verses Cited

• 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 (ESV)
• 1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV)
• 1 Corinthians 1:9 (ESV)
• Matthew 19:21 (ESV)
• 1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

Further reading

• Church Announcement: How to Write It Clearly
• How to Follow Up with a First-Time Visitor
• 50 Social Media Post Ideas for a Church

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to give up everything to truly follow Jesus?

No. God sometimes calls certain people to radical change (going into missions, changing their life), but most of the time, he calls us to live for him exactly where we are. The radical call is not to change your circumstances: it is to belong to Christ. This call can be fully lived out in an apparently ordinary life, with an ordinary job and family responsibilities.

Am I a second-class Christian if I'm not in full-time ministry?

Absolutely not. Paul says three times in this passage that each person can remain in the condition they were in when they were called. The pastor, the missionary, the Bible school intern do not have a higher level of holiness than the employee, the cashier, the stay-at-home parent. What matters is not your job category or title: it is obedience to God's commands, whatever your setting.

How do you live out God's calling in a marriage or a season of singleness that feels heavy?

Paul directly answers the Corinthians who thought they needed to leave their marriage to be more consecrated to God, that is a mistake. When change is not possible, God gives the resources to live for him right where you are. And for those who are single and feel "unchosen," the message is the same: everyone who believes in Jesus has been chosen and called by the King of the universe. That is the only choice that will last into eternity.