Over the years in pastoral ministry one of the recurring questions I get from university students and young adults is something to the effect of: what is God calling me to do?  Oftentimes this conversation involves the individual's vocation or career.  Understanding one’s vocational calling can be a large and at times stressful discernment process.  However, I find that more often we become consumed with our “specific” calling at the detriment of living out our “general” calling from the Lord.

Every single follower of Jesus has been called by God in clear and uncertain terms.  Right before Jesus ascended to heaven he imparted this calling upon his followers: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a).

That means that regardless of your career (i.e. nurse, teacher, student, contractor, etc…) every single one of us has been called clearly by God.  Paul understood this calling better than anyone.  And in Ephesians 3:1-13, he provides some clear direction for us in regards to how we can live out our general calling from God in whatever career or season of life we find ourselves.

In these few verses Paul is taking a slight detour from his theological treatise on the gospel to unpack his calling from the Lord as an Apostle and a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Tony Merida in his helpful book Exalting Jesus in Ephesians points out several things that we can glean from Paul’s rabbit trail apply to our everyday calling as Christians.

1. A Christ-centered missionary follows the will of Christ.

   Paul begins by noting his condition (“a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” - v.1) and then closes by saying, “So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory” (v.13).  Notice how the will of Christ isn’t measured by comfortable circumstances.  Often we think when things are going smoothly and there’s no issues, conflict, or difficulty in our life that we must be right in the centre of God’s will.  Paul shows us here that God’s will might just lead us to some of the hardest places and into some of the most difficult circumstances. 

2. A Christ-centered missionary understands the message of Christ.

   In vv.2-6, Paul outlines the message that we carry as Christians. He writes, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (v.6).  Everyday…on the bus to work, in our cubicle, crawling on the ground with toddlers, cooking up a family meal, rehearsing the same lesson again to your class, framing a new house…we carry the greatest message the world has ever known.

3. A Christ-centered missionary is overwhelmed by the grace of Christ.

   In your everyday life are you overwhelmed by the grace of Christ?  God not only called you by His grace but sustains you by His grace.  Paul humbly acknowledges that he himself is “the very least of all the saints” (v.7b) and yet God’s grace called him.  Would we not grow tired of this truth that God has called us…ordinary, normal, everyday sinners into His family and on mission with Him. 

4. A Christ-centered missionary proclaims the incalculable riches of Christ

   God’s grace did not come to us to be pooled but to be piped out to those that God providentially places around us.  Paul says of his own calling that “this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” (v.8b).  Here Paul acknowledges that we can never grow beyond the gospel but everyday we only grow deeper into our understanding and belief in the gospel.

5. A Christ-centered missionary has a high view of the church of Christ

   Paul continues by acknowledging that we do not fulfil our calling in isolation.  The local church (“the bride” as Paul calls the church later in Ephesians) is a major emphasis for Paul in his letter to the Ephesians.  He clearly wants them to know, “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (v.10).  Today remember that God’s call on your life is a call to a new community who is engaged in God’s mission right alongside of you.

6. A Christ-centered missionary draws near to God through Christ

   Lastly, Merida points out the confidence that comes with this call.  He points to Paul’s words in verse 12: “we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.”  Let us never forget that our confidence in our calling never comes from something we do but from our faith in what Christ has done.  You can live out your call not timidly, or half-heartedly but with full confidence in Christ.