Called by God
Katherine Poythress
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Features
When junior Isaac Brown answered God's call to the Middle East as a medical missionary, it was not a sudden discovery or a mysterious voice calling to him in the night, he said.
"I wouldn't say it's as much like a discovery as it is a gradual understanding," Brown said.
Chairman of Philosophy and Religion Thomas Burke said God calls non-Christians as well.
"If you take a theological view of the world, in a sense everybody has a vocari," Burke said. "Everybody has a call from God, because God is providentially directing the world."
Burke said vocation, like marriage, is part of God's plan for all of mankind.
"Marriage isn't just for Christians," Burke said. "Marriage is for everybody. Vocation is the same way, because vocations are the way in which society works, operates, and life prospers."
God's call comes to people in different ways, and a number of factors can help people discover their calling, Burke said.
"The first indication might be a real desire to fulfill whatever need that profession or calling would serve," Burke said.
Brown said his interest in the Middle East was probably influenced in part by his father, who served as a medical missionary in Yemen when Brown was 5 until he was 13.
Brown did not sense his calling to the mission field until he visited his one-time home in Yemen, when he began to develop a special concern for Yemen's indigenous people.
The feeling intensified after he returned to the U.S., he said.
Although Brown does not doubt his calling, he said he is learning to be flexible. Though he does not expect God's plan for his life to change, he realizes he may not understand every aspect of his calling and must be prepared to adapt to continuing revelation, he said.
"I feel a little overwhelmed at times, but where I am now is where God has me, and it's a matter of focusing on this step that I'm in," Brown said.
Burke arrived at his vocation by doing just that, he said.
"I didn't feel called to any particular place or any particular kind of work," Burke said. "I was just pursuing a Ph.D. and thought that I would probably go into teaching. And I eventually did, but went into ministry along the way, and frankly, I enjoy them both."
Burke said he is not certain every person is called to a particular work, but it might be possible for someone to have several options that would fit equally well into a divine plan.
"I think one thing people should realize is that a calling is not some mysterious thing," Burke said. "It can be - such things do happen now and again - but most people are going to find their calling in the give and take of life."
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
"I wouldn't say it's as much like a discovery as it is a gradual understanding," Brown said.
Chairman of Philosophy and Religion Thomas Burke said God calls non-Christians as well.
"If you take a theological view of the world, in a sense everybody has a vocari," Burke said. "Everybody has a call from God, because God is providentially directing the world."
Burke said vocation, like marriage, is part of God's plan for all of mankind.
"Marriage isn't just for Christians," Burke said. "Marriage is for everybody. Vocation is the same way, because vocations are the way in which society works, operates, and life prospers."
God's call comes to people in different ways, and a number of factors can help people discover their calling, Burke said.
"The first indication might be a real desire to fulfill whatever need that profession or calling would serve," Burke said.
Brown said his interest in the Middle East was probably influenced in part by his father, who served as a medical missionary in Yemen when Brown was 5 until he was 13.
Brown did not sense his calling to the mission field until he visited his one-time home in Yemen, when he began to develop a special concern for Yemen's indigenous people.
The feeling intensified after he returned to the U.S., he said.
Although Brown does not doubt his calling, he said he is learning to be flexible. Though he does not expect God's plan for his life to change, he realizes he may not understand every aspect of his calling and must be prepared to adapt to continuing revelation, he said.
"I feel a little overwhelmed at times, but where I am now is where God has me, and it's a matter of focusing on this step that I'm in," Brown said.
Burke arrived at his vocation by doing just that, he said.
"I didn't feel called to any particular place or any particular kind of work," Burke said. "I was just pursuing a Ph.D. and thought that I would probably go into teaching. And I eventually did, but went into ministry along the way, and frankly, I enjoy them both."
Burke said he is not certain every person is called to a particular work, but it might be possible for someone to have several options that would fit equally well into a divine plan.
"I think one thing people should realize is that a calling is not some mysterious thing," Burke said. "It can be - such things do happen now and again - but most people are going to find their calling in the give and take of life."
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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