Dive deeper
Watch Pastor Jared unpack the the fifth biblical leadership skill: purposeful vocation. ▸
WATCH - 35 MINUTES
Let’s get started
▾
READ - 10 MINUTES
By: Pastor Jared Herd
Go First in your
PURPOSEFUL VOCATION
Every generation has a moment of crisis. In our current moment, we are living in what sociologists are calling, “The Great Resignation.” Every month shatters the previous month’s record for the most job resignations in American history; there is no end in sight. While this may not seem like a crisis on the same level of a world war, it is a crisis of purpose. Much like sex, we tend to despiritualize our jobs. Unless we are in full time ministry, we tend to view work as a means to an end, not an end itself. We don’t pursue it as a deeply satisfying calling. I think the scriptures would challenge this view. I don’t think everyone has to think of their work as their calling, but I do believe we all have a calling within our work. If we are going to wake up every day on purpose, we are going to have to live by design. You have been placed in this world by a Designer to make it better. Your work is to initiate solutions that leave the world better than you found it.
If you ask most people why they have left their job, it often boils down to one word – Freedom. There is not a more American idea than pursuing freedom, but the problem is we often don’t know what to do with it once we get it. A job that allows us more freedom cannot be our purpose; rather, we should use our freedom to pursue a job that allows us more purpose.
YOU AREN’T MADE TO ENDLESSLY AMUSE YOURSELF WITH SPARE TIME. YOU ARE MADE TO GET DIRT UNDER YOUR FINGERNAILS AND ENGAGE WITH THIS WORLD IN PURPOSEFUL WORK, WHETHER YOU GET PAID FOR IT OR NOT.
In the same way it’s possible to get bored with any job, I also believe it is possible to find purpose within any job. In an age of constant movement and transience, I don’t believe we are called to live with one foot out the door. When you are firmly planted somewhere, you begin to bear responsibility for making it better.
If you are looking for the exit, you are earning a paycheck doing what will eventually be someone else’s problem. Going First means you take radical ownership and are radically present with what you are currently doing. If you are to leave, let that be God’s job. There is a barista down at the Starbucks down the street from my house named Sarah, and she creates an atmosphere of warmth for every customer that walks in. She owns every inch of that coffee shop.
It’s incredible how one engaged employee, regardless of their position, can tilt the atmosphere of the team and whole operation.
The opposite is also true. A few weeks ago, I went to visit a friend in a nice steakhouse, and the waiter was in such a bad mood, I couldn’t even taste the temperature of the steak. You are responsible for the energy you bring into the room. Go First in creating a room, team, or zoom call that everyone wants to be in.
I don’t know if you are called to do what you are currently doing, but you are called there right now. As a Christ follower, every room you walk into ushers in the presence of Christ, and there is power to your presence. There is a power to your current place.
I have always admired how cultures previous to ours attached geography to a person’s name. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci was named that because he was from Vinci, not because he was part of a Vinci family tree. Some historical titles denote the achievements of the individual, like Alexander the Great; others sought their greatness through their geography, like St. Francis of Assisi, or Jesus of Nazareth. Historically, greatness has been defined by finding a purpose in a place – no matter what the purpose or the place is. In our day, we don’t find purpose because we don’t stay in Assisi long enough. We have chosen a life of multiple locations, chasing freedom or money but not knowing what to do with either.
Going First is a mindset that places purpose over freedom and money. A life well lived is a life that says no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am going to make it better.
RADICAL OWNERSHIP, RADICAL PRESENCE
GET CURIOUS
GET CURIOUS
RESPOND - 5 MINUTES
It is quite possible that what you currently do for a living isn’t what you are going to do forever. If you don’t like what you are currently doing, the question isn’t, “What should I do next?” but rather, “What is God preparing me for?” Is He preparing you for greater things in greater places? You certainly see this time and time again in the scriptures.
In the story of King David, he had a job as a shepherd where he kills lions and tigers that would harm his sheep. In his faithfulness to kill a lion, God was preparing him to kill a giant. In his faithfulness as a shepherd, God was preparing him to be king. Your current frustration is probably pointing toward a preparation for something else. Get curious about what it is. You may be done killing tigers. At the same time, don’t wait on the world to tap you on the shoulder - initiate the new opportunity.
If I had to guess, you are exactly where God wants you to be. You could leave your job, but you can’t leave you. Your current problems will follow you until you face them. You don’t need freedom, you need purpose. Have you initiated purpose in the place you are in? The world you are living in is waiting on you to show up to it with your whole heart.
Every interaction has so much meaning inside of it. The briefest exchange of words and contact can change someone else’s world. Most people spend their lives complaining that someone else hasn’t created a world that they enjoy, whether at work, at school, or at the airport. We abdicate the responsibility that is ours.
You have enormous power to tilt any room you are in, regardless of your title. That is your purpose. Go First where you are instead of waiting on someone else to do it.
In my conversations with others, the greatest obstacle to finding purpose is our own success. It might be that we have achieved a certain amount of freedom and money, and we feel foolish wanting anything else. We are successful in the world’s eyes, but not our own. Often, our success means that our job doesn’t require anything new of us, and we grow stagnant in our souls while our bank accounts grow. This, too, chips away at purpose. Before you resign, you can find a way to reengineer your current job to be dynamic and fresh. In learning something new, you find purpose.
The older I get, the more I realize I value nostalgia over discovery. I would rather hear the song I’ve heard a thousand times than the new one my son wants to play for me. The same is true with work. We value knowing what we already know, not learning something new. There is a real power in discovery. To find your purpose, you have to live out of imagination, not memory. You have to step into the moment wanting to discover something new, and you will be made new in the process.
The life of discovery is the Go First life. If you have lost curiosity about how to grow or learn something new, you will live a life of default and someone else around you who is growing will begin dictating life to you. The life of discovery is how you have purpose.
It's your turn to Go First •
It's your turn to Go First •
WRITE - 5 MINUTES
Now,
GO FIRST
1.
If we had to guess, you are exactly where God wants you to be. You could leave your job, but you can’t leave you. Your current problems will follow you until you face them. You don’tneed freedom, you need purpose. How might finding your purpose actually bring freedom right where you are?
2.
Write down a mission statement for the job you have and how it is fulfilling God’s Kingdom purpose. What will be your new strategies on the job?
3.
How is God growing you into the likeness of Christ in your vocation? What evidences do you see? Complete this statement for each one: I am more ________ when ________.
congratulations! you did it.
Start living by design.
You want to be the leader God designed you to be. We want to help. Book your initiation appointment with a Go First coach now.