Before we go any further in this series on calling, I need to correctly define the terms. The words “calling,” “vocation,” “mission,” “vision,” “ministry,” “job,” and “work” can be confusing and almost head-splitting to differentiate. Few have criticized me for shallow writing. Therefore let me keep my reputation for being thorough and pedantic in this blog. I will explain the different terms associated with calling.
Wrapping These Terms Into a Nice Bundle
The good news is that many of the words we use to describe calling mean the same thing. For example, “calling” and “vocation” are synonyms. Both are derived from the same root word in Latin. “Vocare” is the Latin verb for “to call and is the same root word we use for “vocation” [1]. They both denote the idea that we are meant to do something in life, and that God has designed us to accomplish certain tasks on earth based on our unique wiring and experiences. Scripture states, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10, NIV).
Next, your “mission” is another indispensable part of your calling. Just like a grammatically correct sentence needs a subject and a verb, a calling isn’t a calling without a mission. Your “mission,” like calling, is the specific active assignment God has planned for you. Your mission consists of a set of tasks that you know you need to complete to fulfill God’s goals for you in life.
There’s no clearer example of the relationship between a calling and a mission than Moses and the burning bush. At the exact same time God called Moses from the fire and commanded him to free the Hebrews. “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Moses wasn’t just called by the Caller—he was called to something by the Caller. Moses’s calling was his mission, and his mission his call.
But wait, there’s more!
Where does the term vision fit in? Having a vision for your calling is looking at the big picture of your life. Your vision is you standing on the mountain top overlooking your life. From this aerie place, you can see what circumstances are in front of you and the future. On the summit, you see where you’re going next, what will happen, or at least what you want to happen. Vision helps you plan the trajectory of your unique calling or a season of it by seeing it before it happens. Moreover, vision gives you the ability to take daily steps for how you want your future to unfold. Graham Cooke says that we can bring the future into the present by the actions we choose today. Proverbs 16:9 states, “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
Overall, I can’t think of a helpful way to split calling, vocation, mission, and vision. So I’m wrapping them inside one shiny red box with a gold ribbon around it to signify that they are essentially the same thing.
Destiny is Tricky
Unlike the other words, destiny is trickier to associate with calling. In Latin, destiny comes from “destinare,” which is fixed, settled, or already determined [2]. One English definition of destiny is “the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.[3]” Meriam-Webster defines it as “a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency” [4].
Both definitions describe destiny as something that happens to you rather than something you create with God. In other words, the problem of destiny—and especially “fate”— is the idea that something is going to happen to you regardless of whether you like it to or not. Its cousin term, fate, is a more extreme concept that things will end up in a certain way beyond our control.
Do you have a destiny? If you put God into the equation, yes. God certainly has a plan for your life. Without Him, however, there’s no other magical force causing some ethereal destiny to occur, and there’s no universe pulling the strings of fate behind a closed curtain. If things are supposed to happen, it’s because they are good things that God wants to happen in your life.
Think of calling this way: God is the leader in the dance of your life. And any leader doesn’t control their partner; instead, they gently prompt them to turn or dip.
At best, destiny seems to be presumptuous, and at worse, it’s deterministic or fatalist. But it gets worse for this word. Destiny was actually the name of a pagan God as found in Isaiah 65:11-12:
“But you who forsake the LORD,
Who forget My holy mountain,
Who set a table for Fortune,
And who fill cups with mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword,
And all of you will bow down to the slaughter” (NASB).
As one commentator noted, the “Pagan god (Meni) mentioned in connection with another pagan god (Gad); presumably a deity of good luck or fortune” [5]. So the Bible only mentions the actual word “destiny” once and in a negative context.
Again, if you want to intentionally define destiny to be like calling, vocation, mission, and vision then I won’t excommunicate you. Only keep in mind that destiny always has a Designer. And He allows us plenty of wiggle room for you to figure out what you are supposed to do in life.
Jobs, Occupations, Careers, and Work
What about your job? Your job is whatever you do to make money. Therefore your job is wherever you pull into a parking spot at 8:00 am and clock into work for eight hours. Your job might be fixing pipes, building bridges, caring for men and women with special needs, or ringing up people’s groceries at the register. Similarly, your job can also be called your profession or your occupation. Your career is broader than your job because it includes the faucets of your job over time and the particular trajectory to your professional life. It is defined as “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life and with opportunities for progress”[6]
People frequently change jobs, quit, get fired, or decide to something else, but callings don’t change. Sometimes, they only last for a season, and, in this sense, you endeavored in it to competition, then you fulfilled that calling. For example, if you’re called to take care of an elderly family member and you faithfully do it until they pass away, that calling over.
Most callings last much longer. Whatever your calling is, you could have many jobs or specific roles in that season of calling. For example, I’m called for a lifetime to be a “fisher of men” (Mat 4:19). But saying that I’m called to a specific job would be inaccurate. There are a number of jobs I could do where I’d be faithful to this calling. I could be a missionary, pastor, or paid worker at NGO. But just because it’s my calling doesn’t even mean that I need to get paid for it. I could work out this calling while working alongside men in a factory or, as a teacher, witness to my colleagues at school. Or, I could minister in the inner city on the weekends with my church. To find your specific job within your calling, you’ll have to pray, think, and get counsel about what job or role will suit me best to accomplish this. I could
Likewise, the term “work” is not just your job, but the sum of the good you do on earth. We use it as “going to work” or “I can’t go to the mall because I’m working today.” Work, in this sense, is tantamount to your job. But “work” is actually a physics term. Work is calculated by multiplying the force used on an object to the distance it moved (W= F x D). The amount of work you do in life is measured not only by how much you’ve done at your job to achieve your company’s goals but by how far you’ve advanced God’s Kingdom and His purposes. If God’s Kingdom was a cement block, then how far did you push forwards in your 10,000 workdays.
Putting Everything Together
Calling, vocation, mission, and vision are mostly synonyms. They are umbrella terms used to describe the overall purpose of your life and specific tasks God has assigned for you to do. I don’t see any reason to separate them at this point.
Jobs, occupations, and careers, on the other hand, describe the particular professional and paid roles God has called you to for a season or the entirety of your life. So, “Is your job your calling?” In a Christian worldview, the answer is “yes.” Yet callings are much bigger than jobs.
Finally, use destiny and with askance because they can be tricky for the idea of calling.
Let me know your thoughts!
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[1] https://latin-dictionary.net/definition/39030/vocatio-vocationis[2] https://latin-dictionary.net/search/latin/destinare
[3] https://www.google.com/search?q=define+destiny
[4] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/destiny
[5] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Destiny. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 616). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
[6] https://www.google.com/search?q=define+career
