Scotch College

Chaplain's page

Whatever you do

Careers Night has come and gone once again. Judging by the difficulty of parking in the streets around the school it was a huge success. No doubt boys and parents face this process with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

Some people have viewed select work (minister, doctor, nurse and teacher) narrowly, as a vocation or 'calling'. Something which can be done to serve God. Most other work has been variously classified as a 'career', 'profession', 'occupation' or even just a 'job'. This careless approach can be a terrible mistake. Terrible because it devalues the daily work of most people, taking from them the dignity of serving God in their daily work. And it is mistaken because most work may be rightly described in all of these ways.

Work subdivided into its small tasks becomes a 'job'. Currently my job is writing this Great Scot article. From the point of view of the activity it entails, work becomes an 'occupation'. This 'job' makes my occupation a scribe, or writer!

My 'profession' is my work from the point of view of what knowledge or skill I offer (profess). I was praying recently with friends, when one of them, a solicitor, asked God 'Please be with us in our work'. It seemed to me a timely request because I had been thinking about work as Christian 'service'. The special knowledge my friend professed was 'the law'.

A 'career' is work thought of from the point of view of the course or progress that it may involve. Lawyer to judge, teacher to principal, intern to consultant and so on. A vicar's career may lead to Archbishopric and a priest's to Cardinal or even Pope but a Presbyterian minister is, alas, in the flattest of all career paths, and always a minister!

What did my friend mean when she asked God 'be with us in our work'? Well, most work can be done in the service of God. We might wish to exclude some activities which are inimical to life as embraced by Jesus. eg., prostitution ('go and sin no more', a life of crime ('you shall not steal'), weapons manufacture, ('swords into plowshares'?). The general idea is clear though the list is more difficult to develop than one might at first think. The power of God to redeem even the most unlikely of 'work' is uncanny.

In the 1981 movie 'Chariots of Fire', an exultant Eric Liddell said 'When I run I feel God's pleasure'. His credentials were considerable, his life extended to missionary service in China and ended in a wartime Japanese interment camp. How could Liddell allege that his athletic activity could be to God's glory ? The answer lies in the first letter written to the Corinthians and emerges from a debate about food offered to idols (an obsolete 'job' not open to Christians!). The conclusion of the matter is 'whatever you do, do all to the glory of God' (10:31).

Clearly this embraces more than our work. Nothing is excluded. In particular, the life of the Christian community in Corinth is to model the 'glory of God': in interpersonal relationships (1:10-4:21), sexual morality and family life (5:1-7:40), relationships with unbelievers (8:1-11:1), community life (11:2-14:40), even managing money (16:1-4). So, eating, drinking, whatever, glorify God!

Christians have always believed that education serves a bigger purpose than getting one a job, or even a career. The 'glory of God' is a unifying purpose that will integrate all of life (in the face of postmodern dissolution and unconnectedness). All school activity, not just religious observances and social service but academic work, sport, adventure activity, music, art, drama, even social functions can serve this over-arching purpose. This is why the school motto begins with 'Deo'. My prayer is that each boy finds not just a career, but his vocation.

Rev. Graham Bradbeer