Calling

The question was: “How do you know if God is calling you towards something? Are there any signs that you can be looking for? How do you know that you're not just trying to convince yourself?”

This is a fabulous question.  Calling is something that we all wrestle with.  We want to be doing what the Lord wants us to do.  However, we often don’t get a clear voice that tells us explicitly what to do.  Generally, we’re left to exercise wisdom and discernment.

Our usual way of handling things is to pray about it some, think about it a lot, and then make a decision, hoping that we’ve made the right one.  However, I want to dispute this framework.  Yes, there are sometimes clearly choices that we should/should not make, murdering someone is not a good choice for instance.  But most of the time, decisions do not have a clear answer.  Both options could potentially work out just fine.  The framework that we often use when dealing with calling and God’s will is one which has us needing to “get it right”.  The assumption is that if you go “the wrong way”, somehow your life will be on Plan B.  In this case, God is not a very powerful or wise God.  He has somehow allowed you to bungle your life despite his promise that he has a perfect plan.  When we put it this way, questions about calling become much less angst-filled.  The pressure is no longer on us to “get it right” because we trust that the Lord will get us to where we need to be regardless of our failings as decision-makers.  Remember, this doesn’t absolve us of the responsibility to weigh options and choose wisely.  It just frees us up to enjoy God’s plan instead of fretting over choices.

Now, let’s move to more practical things.  What should we take into account when we make decisions?  How do I differentiate God’s speaking and my heart speaking?

Ok, so let’s head into a framework that can help us at least gather information and sift it a bit.  This is by no means the be-all-end-all of decision-making.  A good decision-maker with regards to calling and God’s will simply exercises wisdom and discernment.  Much of this is a judgment call at its core, so this could be helpful or completely unhelpful.

****Disclaimer: I stole this from James Forsyth/Liz Cozart who take it from Paul Jeon, so credit goes to him/her/really him/me because I was in that class too/David who pointed out to me where I had gotten it from.

 So as we think about decision-making there are 5 things in which to keep in mind as we sift options.

1. Affinity – Do you feel a draw to whatever?  If you are not passionate about the thing that you are considering as a potential calling, that’s a pretty big data point.
2. Talent – Can you actually pull it off?  Are you equipped to do what you need to do in that particular calling?
3. Community – What does your community think about it?  Do they think this is a good idea?  Do people who know and understand you well think that this calling is a good fit?
4. Opportunity – Do you have an opportunity to actually transition from where you are now to pursue this calling?
5. Responsibility – How does the calling affect the responsibilities that you have?  For example, does the airline piloting job that you have dreamt about call you away from your wife and kids?

Sometimes we have an affinity for something (zeal to help the underprivileged in Africa), but little or no opportunity (you’re a middle school student).  Sometimes we have opportunity and no affinity (great job, but you’d hate it).  Sometimes we have both affinity and opportunity, but it would wreck our current responsibilities (dream that does not allow you to pay off your student loans).  Basically, we’re looking for all of these 5 things to be in accord.  We want to have an affinity, talent, our community supporting it, opportunity, and the absence of conflicting responsibilities.

If you have run options through all 5 of those, and you still come up with multiple choices, congrats!  You are able to choose!  Sometimes the Lord allows us to just choose.  The short hand of all of this is that if you’re seeking after the Lord, being wise in seeking good counsel.  If your desires are in line with the desires of the Lord (read your Bible and pray to figure this out), feel free to choose what you want!

Now for the question about convincing yourself.  We tend to second guess everything.  If you’ve done your diligence, then trust that you’ve explored your options and choose already.  Generally, if you get good counsel (I mean good counsel, not convenient counsel), and you listen to it, you shouldn’t second-guess things.

This is a great topic, but one that is hard to personalize while writing through a blog to an anonymous person.  Feel free to come talk to me in person about this.  I’d love to walk with you as you explore what you feel like you’re being called to.

Blessings,

~Frank

Mark 11:12-14

The question was: “So what exactly is going on in Mark 11:12-14?“

Great question!  It’s always great to dig into Scripture!

So, first there always must be background and context.  There are two big things that we need to keep in mind:

1. Triumphal Entry – Jesus has just entered into Jerusalem at the beginning of chapter 11.  His triumphal entry on Palm Sunday signaled the beginning of the Passion Week.  This also signals a big shift in Jesus’ ministry.  The big shake up from “the way things were” is about to be upon us.
2. Build up – Mark has been building to this point.  If we look at the structure of the book, we can see that Mark is marching the narrative toward Jerusalem and the Cross.  Indeed, the Cross casts a shadow over the whole book.  We are picking up the story pretty close to the seminal event of the book.

Let’s dive into the story.  It’s Monday of Holy Week, and Jesus is heading back into Jerusalem after spending the night in Bethany, which was just down the road.  On his way back into Jerusalem, Jesus is pretty hungry.  He sees a fig tree on the side of the road and it’s in leaf.  However he doesn’t find any fruit there.  So he curses the tree.

A little later that day, Jesus heads into the Temple area.  He sees merchants and money changers selling to those in the courts.  They would be selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money since the temple tax and offerings had to be paid in the local currency.[1]  Their presence is understandable, but their business practices are not.  They would frequently price gouge and engage in unethical/unfair practices to make extra money.  This is why Jesus refers to them as a “den of robbers.”

So what’s a fig tree got to do with anything?  The scenes at the Temple and the fig tree are meant to be understood as parallel events because of their close proximity to each other both chronologically and textually.

Let’s go back to the fig tree.  For those of you that are not intimately familiar with fig trees and their fruit production patterns, the text says that it was not in season for figs.  So it wouldn’t be unreasonable for the tree to be absent figs.  However, some fig trees do bear fruit out of season.  One of the primary signs that a fig tree has fruit is the presence of leaves.  So in essence, the fig tree is falsely advertising that it is fruitful, when it actually is not.

So if we understand that the point of the fig tree episode is to point out hypocrisy, it’s easy to see the parallel with what happened at the Temple.  The Temple is the designated spot for God’s chosen people to commune with Him.  It is a holy site, and one that is supposed to be a blessing to the people.  It is through the Temple that widows and orphans are taken care of.  Righteousness and forgiveness were also supposed to be mediated through the Temple.  Indeed, the Temple had all the outward trappings of righteousness and holiness.  But like the fig tree, the Temple was not a place that had fruit.  Those who were wrapped up in Temple life, Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious elite, looked impressive, but ultimately were fruitless.

In addition, Jesus’ curse against the fig tree also goes against those at the Temple.  He now takes away the special place that the Temple had.  Rather, Jesus signaled the big shift where our bodies have become Temples for the Holy Spirit rather than a temple building (1 Cor. 6:19).

There is another parallel as well.  The fig tree represents hypocrisy.  We are all used to seeing hypocrisy in others, especially in those outside of our circle of beliefs.  The Pharisees and Sadducees thought that their external righteousness was sufficient.  But even in the Temple, the designated place for communion with God, there was hypocrisy and unfruitfulness.  We are like this as well.  We, who claim to be Christians, are hypocrites.  We do not obey God’s commands, and arrogance and self-righteousness are often our calling cards.

But thank the Lord for the Gospel.  Yes, Jesus brings judgment upon the hypocritical fig tree and the hypocrites that he finds in the Temple.  But just a little later on that week, he brings judgment upon himself so that hypocrites like you and me might have life.

Jesus is both judge and savior.  His love is displayed through his justice.  We put on the I-have-it-together face at church, at school, and everywhere else.  But inside, we’re a mess.  We all know it.  We are hypocrites to the core.  But it is for sinners that Jesus died.  This passage gives us a great view of how much God doesn’t like hypocrites, which also gives us pause to contemplate the greatness of his love to send his only son to die for such as these.

I hope that was helpful.  Let me know if you have any other questions.

Blessings,

~Frank

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[1] Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible reference note for Mark 11:15