In the timeless words of the dysfunctional father in Twisted Sister’s classic video (click here to relive 1984!) … “What do you wanna do with your life?”.
For many of us, the ideas of calling, purpose, and meaning in life are tied up together, and they often hang over us like a dark cloud because we really don’t know what we should do with our lives. We want direction and meaning, but we just can’t seem to find what we are looking for (yep, another song from the eighties comes to mind). For many of us, we want to make a meaningful difference in the world, but we don’t know where to start.
Thankfully, the new book Calling and Clarity: discovering what God wants for your life arrived on my desk last week. In his very readable book, Doug Koskela suggests that there are actually three levels of calling for followers of Jesus. Koskela does a great job of identifying and describing the appropriate terms and concepts, and here is a brief summary:
- Missional Calling – A sustained and specific purpose that can find expression in many ways throughout your life.
- Direct Calling – Specific tasks that God directs individuals to do.
- General Calling – Those things to which God calls all people.
Koskela describes the specific features of each level of calling, offers discussion questions for individual or groups, and includes sections on both the process of discernment and the nature of the One who calls us.
If you need a readable, practical and thoughtful guide to help you in your journey toward a meaningful sense of calling and purpose, I recommend you get a copy of Calling and Clarity and read it for yourself. 🙂
Mark
Leave a Reply