What comes to mind when you think of the term vocation? I’ll wager that for many of us, we think of career choice. That’s important, but I want to convince you that career choice comes not first, not second, and not even third when it comes to discerning vocation, or calling.

ACU’s mission is to “educate students for Christian leadership and service throughout the world.” To the extent that any student graduates without the knowledge that you are called to know and love God and without the motivation to follow Jesus and be part of His church and its work, even if you become very successful and influential in your career and do much good for the world, we have failed in our core mission.

Catholic teaching on vocation includes three levels: the universal call to holiness, the call to a particular state of life, and the call to specific duties. Let me suggest a series of questions, loosely based on that threefold division, that may help in discerning our vocations.

Universal vocation

Am I ready to follow Jesus? If you are reading this (unless you’re an AI bot), your essential vocation is to worship, know and love God. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

God is near to you, ready and waiting for you to reach for Him and find Him (Acts 17:27). Jesus stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20). God wants everyone to repent and be saved through the knowledge of Christ (1 Tim. 2:4). Paul’s ministry invites his hearers to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).

There is no one to whom this universal calling does not apply, and there is no more important or life-giving vocation you can seek.

What local church am I called to join? Those Christ calls to Himself, He calls into the church. When you become a follower of Jesus, you are brought into His body, the church (Eph. 4:4-5; 1 Cor. 12:27). Unique among communities and institutions, the church is the community and institution Christ founded, His bride and body, the community of people God calls according to His purpose, who proclaim Christ’s kingship to the nations and await His coming to judge the living and the dead.

The specific church you are called to be a part of may depend on proximity and adherence to the “faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). But the calling to be part of the body of Christ and join with other believers in shared witness to Christ is second only to, and bound up with, the universal calling to follow Him in holiness.

State of life

Am I called into ministry? The ministry of the church, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments, works of mercy and charity, and building up of the body, is sacred. I beg you not to believe the trendy idea that secular work, good and noble as it can be, is just as holy as the church’s ministries. Yes, everyone is equally part of the body. Yes, we serve God and our neighbor in our secular vocations. But there are those called into special ministry in and for the church, set apart for unique and holy work (Eph. 4:11-13). Please, for the sake of the church and the world, consider and respond if that calling is to you.

Am I called into marriage? God’s very first commandment to human beings, men and women, was to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). Most people are called into the state of marriage, an institution God blessed us with for companionship, care of children and, most importantly, as a signpost pointing toward union with Him (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:5; Eph. 5:25-33).

Yet not everyone is called into the state of marriage, and Paul notes that remaining single allows for undivided focus on the work of God’s kingdom (1 Cor. 7:25-28, 32-34). At the same time, it is better to be married than consumed with lust, so we should remain single only if we are able to be self-controlled (1 Cor. 7:9, 37). Each of us must prayerfully discern our particular callings in this regard.

Specific duties

What are my duties to my family, fellow church members and neighbors? Each of us has unique responsibilities in the church and in society (1 Tim. 5:8; Gal. 6:10). Each of us is called to work for the good of those around us; the specific way we do that is something we must discern with God’s help.

What is my career choice? The Bible really does not speak much about it. Biblical authors talk about work, but they typically speak in generic terms. The thrust of Paul’s teaching on the subject seems to be that God can use you for His good purposes, whatever field you work in. We do have a duty to work: “If anyone will not work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Paul enjoins us to “aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” (1 Thess. 4:11). He says, “Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men” (Col. 3:23). Paul used his own labor to save churches he worked with the expense of a salary (1 Thess. 2:9).

True, we should prayerfully discern our giftings, and how they might help build up the body (Eph. 4:7-16) and serve those in need. We trust that God places people in the right places and times for His good purposes (Est. 4:14). Yet the degree of attention we give career choices and career paths seems wildly out of proportion to the attention the biblical authors give it. In our discernment and daily lives, I would urge us to focus more of our attention and energy on the universal vocation and particular callings in the central parts of life, without neglecting the important, but peripheral, matter of career choice and professional accomplishment.

Our work should be subordinate to and in the service of our universal and particular callings, and we can achieve that in a variety of professional settings. Our chief vocation is to follow Jesus. If we commit our lives to following Jesus, even if we have no career achievements, our lives will have been well spent.

If, on the other hand, we achieve every career goal and our greatest professional dreams become reality, but we do not follow Jesus, our lives will have been wasted. We may have gained the world, but if we have not followed Jesus, we will have lost our souls. May it never be.