Letter from a Christian Dad to His Kids about Choosing a Vocation

This year I sent my final child off to college.?(And let me say that the empty nest with my wife, Steph, is outstanding!)?I knew all three of them would soon be facing their first career choices about academic majors, summer internships and starter jobs.?While I’m on board for whatever they choose, I wanted to send an unsolicited email to encourage them toward choosing a life of service, in whatever form.

They have since forwarded the missive to some of their own friends, and it has sparked quite a debate in their circles, so I figured it was safe to share it with a wider audience.?I usually write here on LinkedIn about leadership issues.?If you are a parent, one of the most critical influence roles you’ll ever play is mom or dad to your child who was born with infinite potential.??

My intent in publishing this is not to force religious dogma on uninterested people. There’s already enough of that in this world.?Nevertheless, this note is written from my perspective as a Christian father.?Whether you are a person of faith, strictly a materialist or somewhere in between, maybe something below will prompt some career/life path discussion between you and your kids.

Hi kids,

You love God and want to serve Him, but what does that mean for your career after graduation??

One snowy morning in the second semester of my senior year in college, I found an envelope in my mailbox that I had been anticipating for months.?An accept/decline letter from the law school of my dreams.?All of my future plans bound up in one little parcel!

It weighed like a brick in my hand, as I carried it back to my apartment, too nervous to open it.?Law school had been my ambition since high school.?And it was a good plan – a top tier legal education, ten years at a BigLaw firm, and then who knows??Maybe a jump into politics or running a company.?It seemed like God had cleared a path for me with more open doors than I deserved.

?But my college years had been a spiritual awakening for me, the first time in my life when my faith had truly become my own.?In my college church, I had been mentored and urged to lead others.?During that season, I discovered I had gifts for counseling, public speaking and leadership.?I traveled to Europe, Asia and Australia on service trips.?

Everyone told me the same thing:?“You need to be a pastor.?You should devote your life to serving others.”?And therein was my dilemma – I loved God and meeting the needs of others, but I also loved business.?Ministry was the “more noble” career path, I was told, but I couldn’t shake the idea that God wanted me in the marketplace.?I was hoping for some clue in the law school letter I was holding.

Well, enough about me.?What about you three??Do you ever feel pulled between the career paths of full-time Christian service and a secular marketplace career??It’s really a false choice.?God views either avenue as equally as important for accomplishing his goodness in the world.?That’s why in John 17, Jesus prays that the Father wouldn’t take us out of the world.?Jesus goes on to tell his followers that he is sending us out into the real world, just as the Father sent him.?

As you make a decision about your career path, here are FOUR OPTIONS for dedicating your career to making a difference in the world outside of the traditional definition of full-time pastor or church worker.

1) The Weekend Warrior.?These are people who have a full-time job that just doesn’t lend itself to expressing their spiritual calling in any way, so they will have to look to opportunities on the weekend or outside of work hours.?God may have you in a job for a season that is mostly about getting a paycheck.?Sure, you can work as if you are working for God, but maybe you just don’t see in your job description a real opportunity to serve in a way you feel called.?But, if you look thoughtfully, God is opening up doors for you to pursue your calling outside of 9-5.?I have a buddy at church who is a CFO at an IT firm.?And he says, “Wow, it’s kind of hard for me to live my faith through Excel spreadsheets.”?But what gets him going is feeding the hungry, so he invests his time outside of work in a food pantry.?In fact, you can probably think of many people who may have Monday-Friday gigs that don’t let them do much ministry, but they make an enormous impact in their free time.?This honors God.

2)?Salt and Light.?This category of people is very similar to the first group.?Work’s just okay, or maybe you even love it, but it doesn’t exactly afford you the chance to do something big for God. Nevertheless, your work puts you around customers, vendors, co-workers and others who you have an opportunity to serve and love on a personal basis.?Consider that maybe God wants to use you to show deep friendship to the people who work around you.?God sends you every Monday as a trusted confidant, an encourager, maybe even as a healer.??Building off the metaphors Jesus uses in Matthew 5, you are “salt and light.”?In your marketplace career, God is sending you to bring relational flavor and illumination.?Some of you might have the chance to influence whole companies or even countries as you act as salt and light.

3) Hands and Feet.?This concept comes from a quote by the great 16th century mystic nun, Teresa of Avila.?"Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now."?Maybe one of you will choose to live missionally in your career by working in a role that allows us to devote the best hours of your day to meet physical, spiritual and emotional needs in the world.?Your vocation is to spend as much time as possible being the hands and feet of God, doing what he would do.?I’m not necessarily talking about going to seminary or moving away to some missionary hut in Botswana.?I’m talking about more intentionally using your education, training, experiences and passion in a work that is directed at a specific need.?You stand in a long line of Christian activists throughout history.?During the Roman Empire, Christian activists charged into the urban desolation during the two centuries of plague, and cared for the sick and dying, and innovated medicine and sanitation to stop the pandemic in its tracks.?Christians like Anselm and Aquinas preserved literacy in the Dark Ages.?Throughout history, God prompted ordinary activists like you to face down injustice in the name of love.?William and Catherine Booth adopted the plight of the poor in inner city London and founded the Salvation Army.?Elizabeth Fry reformed prisons.?Schweitzer built hospitals in Africa.?Susan B. Anthony’s faith motivated her crusade for women to vote.?Wilberforce stood firm in his faith and brought down the British system of slavery.??Maybe God will use your training and experience in a similar way?

4) Entrepreneurs.?Some of you are called to start a for-profit business that actually meets physical, spiritual and emotional needs in the world – either for your customers, your employees, or some other stakeholders.?I believe this a movement from God that is happening in your generation – young leaders saying, “I have an idea for a business, but it’s not just about making money.?It’s about making impact, too.”?Maybe you’ve heard about a guy named Blake Mycoskie , who, in 2006, was vacationing in Argentina.?He set aside one day on his trip to volunteer with an organization that delivered shoes to poor kids in villages outside of Buenos Aeries.?That’s where he got the idea to start TOMS Shoes, a company that makes great shoes.?It’s for-profit, but every time you buy a pair, a pair is donated by the company to some impoverished part of the world.?Blake’s company has become a cultural icon, and has been adopted by many celebrities and pundits.?What many of them don’t know is that he is a committed Christian, and sees entrepreneurship as a part of his spiritual calling.?Maybe for one of you, God has wired you up to start new things, and one day, he very well might prompt your heart or drop an opportunity into your lap, and ask you to step out in faith.?

Kids, God has good work for you to do in the world both today (this very minute), and in your future career.?That could take the shape of a traditional minister or missionary role, but don’t believe that your impact could be any less in the business or professional world.?Aside from your salvation, your Calling is the most important question for you to explore.?Please reach out to mom or me if you want to dialog this future.?We won’t have perfect answers for you, but we will show up with some great questions!

As for me, I tore open the law school letter that day, and found that I had been accepted.?Instead of attending, God led me down a career path of helping leaders start companies and advance in their careers so that they can influence culture and the business world.?

Dad

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Postscript -- Gray Beasley is about to graduate from Mays Business School - Texas A&M University , and embark on a career at Paycom .? Aiden Beasley serves his country as a cadet at United States Air Force Academy .?Melia Beasley (who apparently is not on LinkedIn yet!) serves her community at 美国德克萨斯A&M大学 .??As Dr. Seuss would say, "Oh, the places they'll go!"

#parenting #vocation #missionalbusiness #volunteer