And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways… – Luke 1:76
I remember wanting to be an art director. I envisioned myself working for an advertising company, creating all these creative ads that would swoon people’s heart to buy a black shampoo that nobody had ever bought before. And since I was a Christian, I thought that I could glorify God as an ad executive by putting up billboards around the Philippine archipelago with the phrase “CHRIST IS LORD.”
But lo and behold, God had other plans for these kinds of ventures. I did not get to be the first do the black shampoo commercial, as Rain advertised the Clear black shampoo, with the theme, Black Valentine while I was still learning how to layout ads in Far Eastern University (his one-liner, “my name is Rain” still gives me the goosebumps!). I was not able to put up billboards with “Christ is Lord” quotes around the Philippines (thankfully Canon Press did so in the US as part of their marketing campaign for Doug Wilson’s book, Mere Christendom).
No, when God’s calling for me unfolded, I found myself bearing the title of an executive for my late father’s non-profit, Kapatid Ministry, and also a pastor, one of the pastoral staff at Llano Christian Baptist Church. Needless to say, what I had in mind for my future while I was the gung-ho Christian college student and what has actually happened to me was totally opposite.
I did not get to be what I wanted to be.
And I’m thankful for that. Just as John the Baptist is thankful.
When he was born, his parents’ friends and neighbors, well-meaning as they were, wanted to name him with a name that would fit Zachariah’s lineage. Zachariah was a priest, and during that time, it was expected that if you were born in a priestly family, you would be a priest, or do something in relation to temple worship. This was their heritage, and so it would have been fitting for John to be part of that heritage.
Not only was it their heritage, it was also one that ensured a stable future. To be a priest during that time ensured that you won’t go dirt poor. You will have something , whether through the offerings, or through monetary gifts, from worshippers that will help sustain your future family. If Elizabeth and Zachariah’s family would be having a reunion year after year, their conversations would have ranged from identifying who are the biggest donors to examining which temple service would bring the most blessing.
That probably was what was expected for John.
Except, Elizabeth and then Zachariah insisted, that the John had a different calling.
He was not to be a priest, but a prophet, one who would prepare the way of the Lord. He was going to be the forerunner of the coming Messiah. He will prepare the way of the Messiah by calling people everywhere to repent and return to the Lord.
Again, needless to say, probably many people around them would have wondered what has gotten into the minds of his parents.
And when John came out of the wilderness after many years, wearing weird clothing and eating Kapampangan delicacies (yep, locust is a delicacy in Pampanga), they probably thought that John reaaally missed out his calling.
But look at the kind of calling God had for John, and we can learn a thing or two about the kind of calling God has for you and me.
- God’s calling was all about God, not about the called. John’s calling was not ultimately about John, it was about God. John was to be a prophet of God. A mouthpiece of God. He didn’t get to add his own opinions or self-effacing knowledge to what God will tell him to say. He is only to proclaim what God says. So is with your calling and mine – it’s ultimately about God, and not us. This fact can bother a lot of people who wants the kind of calling that would make them as famous as BTS (no, not the burger). We want our calling to display our smartness, talent, proficiency, guile, resourcefulness. But not for John, and not for those called by God. Yes, at the end of his life, John wouldn’t have a tombstone that would say, “Here lies John the Baptist, smarter that the guy who thought of E=MC2.” Yet, I don’t think He would trade His calling for Einstein. Why?
- God’s calling is the greatest good you can do. John’s calling is to prepare the way of the Lord. He will be calling people to repent, for the Messiah is coming to save His people from their sins. Yes I know, you and I are probably not going to usher in the millennial kingdom (depending on your eschatology of course), but one thing we can be sure – as His people, we will be called to do something good by God, no matter what that calling may look like. And that good you are called to do will be the greatest good you can do. This is important to understand. Some people think that the good they are called to do is something someone else is doing that they are presently not doing. Some want to be a lawyer, when they are called to be a pharmacist. Some want to be a stay-at-home dad, when they are called to be a lawyer. Some want to be a seafarer, when they are called to be a pastor. Yet, where you are now, at this moment, God is calling you to do the greatest good a person in your station ought to be doing. If you are a baker, bake excellent bread. If you are a coder, code good and useful programs. If you are a mother, nurture godly and faithful children. Where you are, do what is good. That’s God’s calling.
This doesn’t mean that what you are doing now is what you will be doing for life. A student will one day be a worker. A daughter will one day be a wife, or a mother. A businessman may one day be a pastor. Callings can change depending on what God’s plan is. However, where you are right now is most likely where He wants you to do good, until of course He brings you somewhere else.
So today, if you are not where you think you should be – plastering billboards with “Christ is Lord” or advertising black shampoos – don’t fret. God doesn’t make mistakes of where He puts you. Serve Him with gladness, for it’s all about Him. Serve Him by doing good in the station you are in, for that is His calling for you today.