How God matters to your work…

The Trinity changes everything!  If this claim is so, how then are the implications worked out in the various realms of life?  How do we get beyond the discussions of the Trinity that we find in standard volumes of systematic theology?

Providing answers to these questions is a task taken up by theologian Scott Harrower.  In “A Trinitarian Doctrine of Christian Vocation” Harrower extends the “claim that ‘The Trinity Changes Everything’ into the realm of Christian vocation.”   His starting point is Fred Sander’s book, The Deep Things of God, which has “How the Trinity Changes Everything” as its subtitle.

To his credit, Sanders has applied his trinitarian insights to the key Christian practices of prayer and bible reading. However, our view is that “God’s life in us” entails greater outworkings in the human realm than just these two individual devotional practices. Indeed, such a limited view of the human response to God would be tantamount to falling prey to the individualism which Sanders so roundly rejects. If trinitarian theology is truly able to change everything (as Sanders’ subtitle claims), then surely the comprehensiveness of the triune-human relationship must capture the full sweep of our being. For this reason a theology of vocation plays a key role in spelling out a theological anthropology and the divine-human relationship. …

The implications of a robust theology of vocation are enormous. Few questions are more important than “Who am I?” and “Who (or what) am I here for?” This [article] especially focuses on our calling and identity as human beings in the light of the triune life and economy of salvation. …

The need for extending trinitarian theology into the realm of vocation is clear. Its benefits include the fact that such a view is more closely related to the witness of scripture and it also places the triune life of God as both the ontological basis and the relational source and goal for human life. A loss of focus on God when it comes to human vocation naturally leads to various theologies which place false calls upon our lives. After the fall of Adam, the relational and purposeful aspects of human nature are distorted. As a consequence, humankind’s relationships and work are irrevocably altered, and people fall prey to the tyranny of distorted, destructive, idolatrous pseudo-calls. Moreover, theology which is inexorably dependent upon God’s own life will expose the Abgotts, the false gods, in whose shadow we seek to live. More positively, a gospel-centered trinitarian theology will richly capture who God is and who we are as his people. This is because our human vocation is only truly understood in the context of conversion and regeneration, and for this reason must be seen within a trinitarian reality. Only a trinitarian basis for vocation can include the renewed call to be God’scovenant partners. Furthermore, the reception of this call and its enablement cannot be understood aside from the work of God through Christ and his Spirit.

“A Trinitarian Doctrine of Christian Vocation” provides an outline of a “foundational trinitarian theology of vocation.” Harrower develops his presentation around four calls from God on our lives—the “call to be co-worshippers, vice-regents, disciples, and gifted servants.”

Being in Right Relationship with God

The first aspect of human vocation is to be worshippers of God in the company of his image-bearers. This is the being-in-right-relationship aspect of vocation. …

Labor and Love

The second aspect of a trinitarian theology of vocation involves the call to be God’s vice-regents, “in Christ,” on earth. This involves the labor and loving aspects of human vocation. …

Vocation as Human Imitation of the Divine Life

The third aspect of a Christian view of human vocation is the call to be disciples of Jesus. This is the imitational aspect of vocation. …

Vocation as the Task of Discernment and Direction-Setting

The final aspect of vocation which we shall outline today is the call to be gifted servants. This is the discerning and directional aspect of vocation. …

The value of “A Trinitarian Doctrine of Christian Vocation” is hard to overestimate.  It’s a groundbreaking effort—a model of how a deeper understanding of foundational doctrines can provide a theology of everyday life.  It is a rich resource on identity and meaning for those who wrestle with issues of vocation against the backdrop of questions such as “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”

Dr. Scott Harrower teaches systematic theology and church history at Melbourne School of Theology in Australia.  “A Trinitarian Doctrine of Christian Vocation” was published in Crucible, an online publication sponsored by several evangelical organizations in Australia.