“Taking a job just to make money…is probably going to be corrosive, even if you use the money for charity rather than sports cars.” This is what David Brooks, in a fascinating commentary in the New York Times “The Way to Produce a Person”, says about vocation. He discusses vocation in relation to two important, and often competing, forces that drive us in our work. The first force is the desire to do something meaningful with our lives. Most of us want our work to count for something. We want to help the common good. We want to make some sort of difference. For Christians, we want to participate in what God is doing to redeem his world. The second force is the need and desire to make money. We work to get a paycheck – not only to feed our families but to also bless others with our financial resources. Brooks cautions that if you choose a vocation to make a lot of money and give it away, you may be choosing something “corrosive.” The work will shape you, perhaps even away from your deepest convictions. The work, since it is not directly tied to those convictions, can shape your affections away from your present passions. And, most chillingly, “I would worry about turning yourself into a means rather than an end.” If we choose vocations that are connected to who we are and what we are made to do, we will find ourselves not only finding satisfaction in life, but being used by God in amazing ways. Brooks says it like this: “I’d think you would be more likely to cultivate a deep soul if you put yourself in the middle of the things that engaged you most seriously.” washingtoninst.org/5012/david-brooks-on-vocation/
Posted on: Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:05:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015