May 14, 2001

EDITORIAL:
May graduates sense their calling
___Listen intently, and you will hear the strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" wafting somewhere in the distance. This is the season for graduation. Many colleges already have held spring commencement exercises, and high schools will follow in the next couple of weeks.
___For many members of the Class of 2001, the sound of the traditional graduation march soon will be replaced by the lure of the siren song of fortune, if not fame. Culture has conditioned them to pursue careers that offer wealth and security.
___Unfortunately, this trend has produced a negative impact on vocational options such as the ministry, service organizations and the non-profit sector. That fact was considered at a recent forum, "Called to Service: The Future of Public Life," at Brandeis University.
___"Vocation is a calling," noted Ismat Kittani, special adviser to the secretary general of the United Nations. "It means you've got something inside you that drives you, something beyond your daily life and family and making a living. ... If you don't have that extra feeling that you're doing something that could make a difference, you will be a very miserable person."
___The drive to make a difference seems to have diminished during the past four decades, added Ted Sorenson, a policy adviser to President John Kennedy.
___"Our in-boxes were stuffed with applications" of recent graduates seeking service jobs, Sorenson recalled. "People were more interested in working on the 'New Frontier' than in Wall Street salaries. All that is quite different today, I'm afraid."
___Some observers of the graduating generation would differ with that assessment. They describe today's young adults as one of the most passionate, selfless, other-oriented generations in recent history. Still, that generation sits atop a crevasse of cynicism and even hopelessness developed during a young lifetime in which scandal and corruption have dominated the news.
___So, we will watch these graduates of 2001 carefully, anticipating how they will turn out and where they will choose to make their mark.
___We will hope and pray they will remember work is worthy of their best efforts. Of course, not all work is worthwhile; we could do without taverns and adult bookstores and jobs that demean and destroy God's creatures. But all honest, helpful work deserves dignity and respect.
___This generation will do well to understand that work should be an act of worship. As God gives us ability, talent and opportunity, we truly worship as we express our gratitude and hope by doing a good job, whatever that job happens to be. The Baptist Faith & Message reminds us, "Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel and a binding stewardship. ... They are therefore under obligation to serve (God) with their time, talents and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others." We are made to serve and glorify God. When we work with pure motives, maximum effort and grateful hearts, we begin to fulfill that calling.
___And "calling" is an important word. Too often, young people are encouraged to seek careers based on their earning potential, defined in dollars. A Christian mother recently jokingly said of her daughter's decision to become a schoolteacher, "I wish she would pick a career that would compensate her better." All parents can understand that sentiment. But if the graduates of 2001 realize compensation is comprised of more than cash, they may become our greatest generation.
___Although almost all work can be honorable, let us pray that many of the best and brightest of the Class of 2001 will enter the ministry, the helping professions and the non-profit sector. These are hard, often-thankless jobs, and most don't provide big paychecks. But they are vital to our future as a people, and many of them will play a pivotal role in the kingdom of God. And let us pray that Christian young people everywhere will see themselves as called, whatever their vocation, to be people of God, chosen to minister, blessed to serve God and others.
___That will be their greatest lesson--and the benediction upon their young lives.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com


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