God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life by Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a wonderful book. It is easy to read and shows that the Christian teaching of vocation can answer today’s questions about our purpose in life.

It is almost imperative that I write a book report post and then follow-up with a couple of topics that the book raises. :)

Veith starts off defining the Christian concept of vocation. From the Latin for “calling,” vocation describes the various states that we are placed in and the responsibilities they include: family, employment, citizen, church, etc. For example, in the family hierarchy alone I have responsibilities as husband, father, and son. To do what is pleasing in God’s sight in these responsibilities is a proper discharge of my vocation. Vocation is the way God has determined that he works in our lives and provides for us, rather than constantly “zapping” things out of nothing. As Lutherans like to say, “God works through means.”

In the fourth chapter, “finding your vocations,” Veith notes that while we do have some say in the things we want to do, we don’t have much choice in the talents that we have. Discovering our talents and seeing how we can use them is part of finding our vocations. Even though we are looking for vocations, we are always in one or more now: if you’re a student, you study, for example. One doesn’t have to be in the employment of a church to serve God.

Another intriguing point Veith makes is that the non-Christian and the Christian both perform the will of God. Both may enjoy the good feeling of a job well done. It is through the Christian’s faith that his works are actually good.

Vocation has a religious connotation. A pornographer may be exercising his God-given talents for film making and artistry, but he is working outside his vocation. Likewise, a soldier serves God by killing in service to the people he protects, but he works outside his vocation when he takes personal vengeance on someone.

I have heard it mentioned in some circles that when we fail, it was because we didn’t pray enough, or we didn’t have enough faith, or we didn’t explicitly invoke the name of Jesus in our task. Veith takes a different tack that contains both Law and Gospel. Sometimes we fail. We live in a sinful world. Only a Christian can take suffering and bear it as a cross. The cross gives meaning to life. “God is working through what we do. We are merely His instruments. When we realize this, we can relax,” he says.

The author concludes with a chapter on resting from our vocation. Sometimes, we are called to do something else, such as retirement. Eventually we will receive that final call, when God has determined that all our life’s work is done. Our vocation can also give us another kind of rest, in knowing that what we do does have a purpose, serving God by serving our neighbor.

There are a lot of self-help books that are out there, and in the practical “left-hand” kingdom, there may be portions of those books that are helpful. This is the best book I have read thus far that addresses what we do from a proper Christian perspective. It makes no stretched claims based on paraphrases and verses taken out of context. This is a good book, readable to even confirmands.

Dr. Veith, by the way, has a wonderful blog, Cranach, where he blogs consistently on vocation and society. It is on my RSS reader and on my blogroll, and he doesn’t disappoint. :)