Not What, But How

By Mike Heaton

One conversation I have always found incredibly odd is when I am talking about vocations with other Christians in the United States. Put simply, a vocation is the concept of figuring out what God is calling us to do.  People often compliment me for following God's call with my work in Uganda.  I find this odd because they imply that it is my personal calling and that God likely has a different calling for them.  After spending the last three days in Uganda with some of the most poor and vulnerable in this world, I now know for certain that this is the wrong perspective.  It is not the "what," it is the "how" that need to be discerned.  We already know the what.   For Christians, Jesus already took care of this for us.  He told us, in no uncertain terms, that our vocation should be to care for the poor and vulnerable.  His only teaching on judgment was about whether or not we clothed the naked, fed the hungry and simply took care of the the most poor and vulnerable in this world.  That is it.  That is the "what."  The part that we must discern is the "how."  How will each of us serve the most poor and vulnerable in our world?  

After our job title on all of our business cards it should read "...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world"  For instance:  

Mike Heaton

Director of Advancment

...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world.  

It might also read:

John Doe

Corporate President

...because it benefits the most poor and vulnerable in our world.

The "how" may be different, but as a Christian we should all be doing the same "what."

Poverty should simply no longer exist in our current global society.  It is a complex issue, but we have the intellect and resources to end poverty in Uganda and throughout the world.  We can make this happen by simply doing "what" we were called to do.