Labor Day is a time to rest and honor the value of work in our society. For Christians, it provides an opportunity to reflect on a deeper truth: work is not just employment, but an expression of God’s call on our lives. But what exactly does this “calling” look like? Few have helped the church think through this more than Contributors Os Guinness and Hugh Whelchel. Below, we break down some of their thoughts on Christian calling and focus on three key concepts: primary vs. secondary callings, impacting culture through our calling, and how Christians think about the fulfillment and completion of their calling.
Primary and Secondary Callings
Os Guinness, in The Call, writes:
Our primary calling as followers of Christ is by him, to him, and for him. First and foremost we are called to Someone (God), not to something (such as motherhood, politics, or teaching) or to somewhere (such as the inner city or Outer Mongolia). Our secondary calling, considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, like, and act entirely for him. We can therefore properly say as a matter of secondary calling that we are called to homemaking or to the practice of law or to art history. But these and other things are always the secondary, never the primary calling. They are “callings” rather than the “calling.” They are our personal answer to God’s address, our response to God’s summons. (pg. 31)
This distinction—between a primary calling to God Himself and secondary callings in the different spheres of life—sets the foundation for a faithful Christian vision of work.
Hugh Whelchel, founder of the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, explains this model with clarity in his Praxis Circle interview:
What Os says is that our primary calling as Christians is to become disciples of Christ. That’s our primary calling. We all share that together. But he says out of that primary calling flow four secondary callings. And these secondary callings are the way that this primary calling works itself out in the real world. It’s how the rubber meets the road. Right? And those callings are our calling to the church, our calling to family, our calling to community, and our calling to vocation.
For both Whelchel and Guinness, every Christian lives with all four secondary callings in play at once. It requires intentionality and balance, so that no calling dominates at the expense of the others or—more importantly—the ultimate calling of being a faithful disciple of Christ. In this context, “calling” is not an abstract idea but the very real rhythms of daily worship, work, relationships, and service.
Calling and Culture
Another important aspect of the Christian calling that Guinness and Whelchel push us to see is that these secondary callings include the world beyond church walls. Many, if not most of us, work “secular” jobs and go about our lives within a “secular” society. While Christians might feel tempted to retreat, both Contributors hold the conviction that to truly fulfill the command to be “salt and light” to the world, we must commit to an engagement and application of our secondary callings within the world.
Whelchel puts it plainly:
I don’t think we say “All culture is good culture.” I don’t believe that. In fact, I believe most of the culture is bad culture. So how do we make an argument to change the culture from A to B? I think we need to be able to do that. You’ve got to understand where we are.
I’ve seen things written of late with the tendency to just go put our head in the sand, go become a monk, etc. I just don’t believe that’s the answer, I don’t believe that’s what we’re called to do. It’s hard to be salt and light when no one can see what you’re doing.
So I think what we have to do is understand what the culture is, understand the effect that it has on people, and then we have to understand that the only counter influence to the culture is Christ. He’s the transformer of culture. So how do we let him use us to do that? That’s tough, that’s heavy lifting, but that’s where we need to be.
Guinness echoes these same thoughts in this clip of his Praxis Circle interview. Christians cannot live out their callings by hiding, nor should we if we want to see true cultural change happen in our society. To be faithful to Christ is to live in the world with His transforming presence, bringing truth, justice, and love into the fabric of culture.
Leaving a Legacy
When thinking about work and a life well-lived, the idea of leaving behind a legacy often comes to mind. Both Contributors give a unique perspective on the final stages of our calling and what that should look like for the believer.
Guinness, when asked about the concept of leaving a legacy, takes a strong stance:
People in their fifties, sixties are challenged to think through what is their legacy they’re leaving to their children and the next generation. And that’s come into the church too. But I don’t even believe it’s the right question because I think we do what we do and legacy is when the Lord says, “Well done good and faithful servant.” In other words, we’re doing it before one audience, the audience of one, and we have no idea what we’ve achieved in this life. And any measurable outcome we can look to in this life is probably wrong.
And you think of someone, the greatest Christian in our generation was Billy Graham, preached to millions, but who knows if some lady in Mississippi, who’s a terrific prayer warrior, hardly anyone knows about it. In the kingdom, she may be more powerful than Billy Graham. So, I personally never think of legacy, always just try and get on with being faithful with my calling. And then, one day when I meet the caller, our Lord, then maybe I’ll know what my legacy is, but I couldn’t care less what people think about it today.
Likewise, Whelchel was not motivated by legacy to complete the work that had been set before him (though he certainly left a lasting one). Here lies the deep convergence between the two men: our callings are not measured by worldly outcomes or remembered legacies, but by whether we have been faithful before the audience of One.
This Labor Day, we are reminded that every aspect of life—our work, our service, and even the unseen moments—can be invested with eternal meaning when lived in response to God’s call. Guinness summed it up best in The Call, saying “Secondary callings matter, but only because the primary calling matters most.” (pg. 31) Have a wonderful holiday weekend, and go forth with purpose!
