How to Follow Jesus and Not Go to Seminary

Over at What's Best Next they've run a bunch of good articles (I recommend their new series on "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job". I'm sure their post on "How to Set Up Your Desk" has also got to be an interesting read), but one that's stuck out to me recently has been a link to a talk that Tim Keller over at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC gave debunking the notion that spiritual vocations (mission work, pastoral positions) matter more to God than secular work. 

Back in seminary we used to have this joke about how in college ministries, you could put money on the best and brightest leaders ending up as future ministry staff workers. Now I'm sure many if not most of them were really being called into college ministry. But the numbers weighed heavily enough in one direction that one could reasonably make the argument that "successful" college ministries seemed to just perpetuate themselves rather than...

...rather than what?  

The argument can be applied to churches as well. Don't get me wrong, I would love for more people to consider and commit to full time ministry through the church. There is definitely a shortage of pastors and mission workers. But a good ministry should not live to perpetuate itself. Instead, a good ministry transforms the people in it, as well as the cultures and systems that those people are in. A good ministry is like a good water treatment system: it both circulates and treats the water so that it can reach the most number of people with the best possible water. It doesn't just pool up the water in a reservoir and keep it there forever. 

So, with that said, let me echo the call that Keller has made, though in my own words: go be an awesome _____________, following Jesus Christ daily in whatever fills that blank. If you're a student, follow Christ through your books, through your interactions with friends and classmates and teachers. If you're working for corporate, follow Christ through you meetings, through your phone calls, through what you do at your desk. If you're a sales person or even a business owner, follow Christ with the conviction that your company's bottom line is not the bottom line you are called to. 

This last point is the one I want to end this post by stressing. We as followers of Christ have the chance to make a huge impact on our world by not living for the bottom line. I was at McDonald's today and I noticed just how happy all of the workers seemed there, something I usually associate with good management. That led me to think about the potential for a follower of Christ to create an atmosphere where workers are treated well, where good leadership is provided, where customers are served as fellow human beings, not just cash cows. Because the rest of our culture has taken it for granted that the bottom line really is what it all comes down to, we as Christ followers have the chance to do something amazing: 

If Christ followers follow him, even when it puts them in conflict with "the bottom line", we could not only make a mark on our workplaces and communities, we could touch countless numbers with the undeniable impact of Jesus Christ. 

So...how in your current job/place is Christ calling you to follow him today?