Calling is not a job title

This is a bit of a personal reflection this week, I hope it can speak to you and encourage you where you are this week.

I am having the great joy of beginning somewhere new, without a local title and with the expectation that I need to rest, for four days a week anyway. And, as I expected it would, it is reminding me what it is like to take things slowly and listen without a dog collar on. Although I rarely wore my collar, everyone knew who I was because I had been introduced to the community through emails, local magazines, community meetings and the big service to welcome me as the vicar. This is not always the case for other leaders in the Church, whether in other denominations or other roles. Being public and taking on a public position has its benefits, but being a little more hidden has its benefits too.

I know what it is like to share Jesus with and without a collar on, but I was missing being visible and being invited into people’s lives as ‘the vicar’, walking with them on their journey. Well, it has only been two months, so perhaps I need a little more patience, but I think the Spirit knew what I was feeling. Over the course of a week, the Spirit opened the doors wide to ministry again. What was most encouraging was going to the optician and having a beautiful conversation with a stranger about faith, life and the things of the Spirit. It was a joy. I have always known and lived as if calling comes before job title, but being reminded of it this week has been encouraging, and I have been encouraged by others who understand this.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic congresswoman in the United States. In response to a comment, from those with power who are uncomfortable with her politics, about her becoming a potential 2028 presidential contender, she said this:

“They assume that my ambitions are positional, they assume that my ambition is a title or a seat, and my ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go, Senate house seats, elected officials come and go, but single-payer health care is forever, a living wage is forever, workers’ rights are forever, women’s rights…” (link at 1:05:41)

This quote shows that her priorities are not power, but the people she serves. However we feel about politics, and about Cortez herself, I think she has got something right here. She knows her priorities, perhaps she even knows her calling.

Calling always comes before positional power. As Christians, when we are called, our identity comes from the one who calls, not the position, activity, people we are called to, or what we are called to become. I remember having a wobble about being ordained right at the last minute because I did not want to go after institutional acceptance and power. I knew that the Spirit could work through me and meet others without it. Then, at my priesting retreat, in a moment of prayer, God met me and made my calling clear. Before all the anointing from others, that was the moment that mattered. We know this from looking at Abram, David, Samuel, Ruth and Mary, amongst many others in the Bible. They all heard the call long before the moment of fulfilment arrived. Ruth is an interesting one, because her call was revealed through her character, in her choice to love, and Mary’s calling was to bear the Son of God and raise him. Not all callings have job titles. In fact, most involve our character, and it could be our ability to welcome, to have compassion, or to notice the forgotten that is our primary calling. Do you notice patterns in your life where God consistently works through you because of an ability or a character trait the Spirit has given you?

What seems fascinating to me is that those without faith who hear the word calling often do not understand what it means. The idea that we would design our lives around someone else doesn’t go down well. Other words like priorities, or phrases like ‘where we thrive most’ are used, all focus on ourselves. But a calling is about more than our personal priorities. It involves the one who calls, and when God is so often made strong in our weakness, our Christian calling can be anathema to the world. I am reminded of people puzzled as to why I was working in the rural rather than the urban space, or of someone sharing how her friends were puzzled when she stopped for a Big Issue seller, or of the moments when God has nudged me away from what looked impressive and towards what looked faithful. A life with Jesus has a depth that gives us purpose and direction, and in it we find callings of all shapes and sizes, to join in God’s beautiful plan.

What I have tried to say is this: being in public ministry has its perks, but being a little more hidden can be a blessing too. Calling comes before positional power. Our identity is not in the calling itself, but in the one who calls. And it is a privilege to live with the depth and purpose that comes from finding ourselves in God. These feel a little obvious, but we so often get caught up in ministry and forget that we are simply loved, made for a purpose and called by our God.

May you know the depth of Jesus’ call in your life.

May you have peace in the louder, titled moments.

And in the quieter, characterful spaces.

May you not judge yourself by the standards of this world

But know that God works wonders in your weakness

May you keep discovering where God has not only called you to what you do

But to who you are, and how you love.

May you know who has called you

And find your rest there

Amen.

Jo Allen

Joint CEO, Rural Ministries