Calling

I’m finding it very difficult to know where to start. I was thinking about going through and describing all my past jobs and why I took them, and what I liked and didn’t like about each one. Similarly, why I went to business school, what I liked and disliked about that experience. I went through this exercise in preparing for summer internship interviews in 2008, and I may do this again in a later post just to remind myself. But I thought I’d begin by writing about calling.

A long time ago, Tim Keller presented a good framework for understanding calling in a vocation. He said that you have a calling if you have affinity, ability, and opportunity. Affinity (you love/like it, it makes you get up in the morning, you feel a certain satisfaction from doing the work). Ability (you’re good at it and others around you confirm that you’re good at it, compared to others, it comes a bit naturally to you). And opportunity (it does something meaningful in the world, it helps you meet your basic needs, etc, doors are opened to you.)

You can listen to Tim Keller talk about this in the free Q&A section of the Redeemer web site.
http://www.redeemer.com/learn/resources/keller_qa.html

I’ve always found the general framework extremely helpful, but I’ve found the application of it quite difficult, particularly on the first two points. I think it’s a privilege to love what you do and be good at it. And I think not everyone gets to enjoy those two points to a high degree. So, it’s hard to decide how important those two factors should be for me. When I look back on my short career, I think there were 2-3 moments when I really enjoyed the work I was doing – and this coincided with what I was good at.

First, when I was a watch analyst in government, I monitored world events and reports coming in from around the world and distilled it and provided this information to senior policymakers in a timely manner. (This is same skill set I’m currently using to update the LINcredibles web site.) While I enjoyed this work, it also came with the “any monkey could do this job” feeling (even though that’s not necessarily true). It is true that you didn’t need to be smart and the job didn’t require high level thinking. But I was better at it than others because I could tolerate boredom and repetition better than others and I had a much higher sense of urgency than others. I basically could stare at a computer screen and click refresh often forever, while others would get tired of it very quickly. I’m not necessarily proud of this, but it’s a trait / skill I have, not sure why.

Second, when I was a consultant to government agencies, on two occasions, I helped newly formed groups come up with new processes and procedures to meet their goals and objectives. These jobs were enjoyable because I felt like I was making some tangible difference in the world. Something didn’t exist before, and now it did because of my work. Third, when I was a consultant to a water company, I helped design and develop a new collection program to collect unpaid water bills from delinquent customers. I also helped create a safety net program to ensure the poor, elderly, and disabled continued to get water service. Again, felt good because this was $x million that the agency didn’t have before, and now it did because of our work. I think I enjoy more operational roles rather than the stereotypical consulting jobs where you come in and provide some recommendations and leave. I think I would find that dissatisfying. Even though it’s less glamorous, I want to be the guy doing the actual work. I ended up quitting consulting and going to business school because I felt like I hit a wall in terms of what I knew how to do. Other senior people came up with the ideas, and I was just one of the people doing the work.

[No transition.]

I think it’s great when some people I meet have a clear sense of calling, and I think some professions lend itself to that more easily: pastor, doctor, nurse, teacher, etc. In these professions, it’s a bit more tangible to see how you are helping others or making the world a better place. I think for me, the sense of calling will likely be less tangible because I am not inclined to take those other professions. But, after working in investment banking, I think I need to have a sense of calling in my profession that is a bit more tangible than “I help hospitals raise money and save money by issuing bonds”. I think the tangible impact to individuals is too far removed. Also, the argument of “I’m going to make a lot of money, so that I can give a lot of money to my church and causes I believe in” doesn’t motivate me enough to stay in a bad job. Maybe it could be different if I was giving away millions of dollars, but not when I’m giving away thousands of dollars. The impact is so minimal to tolerate it.

I admire some of the people I know who have a “semi-secular” job, but are making a noticeable “kingdom” impact. Examples are: an uncle who works for a seminary bookstore and has run it so efficiently and well that it makes money for the seminary and provides excellent service for its customers. He helps provide quality Christian literature to the masses. (http://www.wtsbooks.com/) Or a friend who founded a non-profit in China that encourages efficiency and transparency in Chinese philanthropy. (http://blog.socialventuregroup.com/). She is helping to ensure that the poor and marginalized in China are not left behind in China’s transition to capitalism. That’s pretty cool stuff.

I am wondering if I need to work in a field that gives me more of a tangible feeling of helping others. One idea I’ve thought of in the past is: being a financial planner that helps average people make good decisions saving for retirement (basically just invest in a diverse set of low cost index funds). I know LINcredibles isn’t a job, but one reason I absolutely love working on this during my time off is because I truly believe Jeremy Lin’s story could have a tremendous impact for evangelizing in China and Asia (so long as it doesn’t turn into a prosperity gospel that is preached). And while our overseas readership is limited, I still think popularizing God’s faithfulness to him is worthy.

It’s be great to hear about how others have determined their sense of calling in their professions and also feedback on my conclusion that I need to find a line of work that is a bit more tangibly beneficial to society.