1. Seeing Your Calling
If you are reading this, it's likely that you have been enlisted. Those who hear and respond to the call of Christianity are "called up" and enlisted just as much as any enlistee in the physical military services. Yet many believers do not fully grasp the extent of the calling they have been given.
Most Christians understand that they were "called," but many do not see that rather than just a calling to be personally "saved," the call we receive is an ongoing one to active duty. That is why the apostle Paul tells us that God "… saved us and called us to a holy calling" (2 Timothy 1:9 ESV, emphasis added). Being "saved" is only the first part of being called, in the same way that receiving a military service draft is only the first part of being "called-up"! If you can imagine a military recruit who is called up or volunteers, but never reports for duty or does anything further, you can see the situation. Christians are called to do something – to take part in a work – to serve (Galatians 5:13, Hebrews 9:14, etc.).
But many think that that kind of "calling" is just for Christian "professionals" like pastors or missionaries. In actuality, as Christians, we all receive the same calling. When the apostle Paul wrote "For you see your calling, brethren…" (1 Corinthians 1:26 NKJV), he did not differentiate between "professional" Christians and others. So being called is not just something that happens to people who go into the clergy or go to a distant third world country on missionary or medical work. There is no part-time option in the Christian faith – we are either warriors of the Way called to active service or we are not.
But Christians clearly do serve in many different ways, and often we are called to a particular type of service. Notice what the apostle Peter wrote: "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others…" (1 Peter 4:10). And Paul wrote that "…Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service…" (Ephesians 4:11-12, emphasis added). These scriptures show both different specialties – "pastors," "teachers," etc. – and also the fact that all the people of God are called to serve – not just those doing the teaching or pastoring.
Just as there are many areas of training and occupational specialties within the military – from airmen to analysts, from cargo managers to cryptologists, from Delta Force warriors to doctors – there are many "professions" within the Christian calling, and many of them, in fact, are similar to their military counterparts. Metaphorically, those called to the mission field might be said to be the "marines" or "special forces" of Christianity, those called to study and teach are the "intelligence specialists," those called to counsel and guide or help believers in other ways are analogous to other specialties.
Just as in the armed services, there are positions in God's service for everyone – and whatever physical job we may do, it can often be a part of our calling if we make it so (Colossians 3:23). As a matter of fact, the word "vocation" we use to speak of our physical job in life is based on the Latin word vocatio, meaning "calling." We just need to come to see it that way.
Whatever our normal day-to-day work may be, we may find that we can also serve in other significant ways. Many military or Christian specializations require a great deal of job-focused training, but we don't have to have specialized training to support those doing those kinds of work. For example, we can support missionaries in many ways, both spiritually and physically, without going into the mission field. Is that kind of support work really that important? Ask a paratrooper if the person who packs his "chute" is doing vital work!
But whatever job we do, at work or in our own time, we need training. All military personnel undergo some type of basic training, and the Christian must undergo that kind of training, too. For the Christian, "basic training" is all about how to live and serve
– it's training that can go on for a lifetime, but much of it we can learn and apply quickly if we set ourselves to do so.
Paul exhorts us: "…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1), and we can take that as encouragement to train – to develop the skills and abilities we were called to use. That's why the chapters in the first part of this book aim to help you see some of the ways you can train to better fulfill your calling as a warrior of the Way.