Let me confess, I don't like the word BI-VOCATIONAL. The Latin word, vocatio, means to summons, or to call. In ministry, it is equated to "a divine call to the religious life." This immediately creates a division between the professional clergy and the amateur disciple.
I like to frame the word differently because of my biblical understanding of the Trinity and the call given to those of us who are disciples of the way of Jesus. The Father is a sending God who sends the Son who sends the Spirit who sends us. We are summoned to live into this divine call as the priesthood of believers. ALL of Jesus disciples are summoned into the vocation of being SENT ONES. This is our vocation.
However, each of us will have a different OCCUPATION(s). Occupation is defined as the work in which a person is employed (pays the bills). So, consider Jesus. His early occupation was a carpenter. But His vocation was to be the SENT ONE. His occupation changed as he entered public ministry but his vocation did not. Paul's occupations were being a tent-maker and an apostle as he lived out his vocation to be a sent one to the Gentiles.
I'm not opposed to people pursuing a ministry occupation. But the church today needs more and more disciples who would consider occupations which would fund them (pay the bills) and allow them to live freely into the vocation given to them by God - to be sent ones!
In Portland, where we have few SBC churches capable of paying an occupational salary to the clergy, we need more and more Disciple-makers willing to find occupations which could pay them to live as a Disciple-maker (follower of Jesus in the church and in the neighborhood). We need more than carpenters. We need carpenters, bloggers, designers, bike builders, baristas, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc. who will also occupationally be pastors, teachers, shepherds, and evangelist.
Let's call this new breed of SENT ONES - amateurs. This word is defined as one engaging in an activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefits or professional reasons. We need more disciples of Jesus living as AMATEURS. And, in using this word we are assuming, amateurs are just as capable, just as equipped, just as trained, just as qualified as a "professional," occupational, clergy; they just choose to engage their vocational calling with several different occupations.
This will require us to reframe our expectations. It will mean less "super pastors" to more shared ministry and shared leadership structures in the gathered/scattered church. It will create more ownership. It will require more teamwork and more teams fulfilling the five-fold ministry found in the letter to the Ephesians. This can't be done in isolation. It will require a more wholistic framework of understanding ALL of life should be lived as sent ones.
For those of you currently serving as AMETEURS, THANK YOU! Keep up the good work and stay encouraged.
WANTED: AMATEURS willing to be more than a carpenter!
I like to frame the word differently because of my biblical understanding of the Trinity and the call given to those of us who are disciples of the way of Jesus. The Father is a sending God who sends the Son who sends the Spirit who sends us. We are summoned to live into this divine call as the priesthood of believers. ALL of Jesus disciples are summoned into the vocation of being SENT ONES. This is our vocation.
However, each of us will have a different OCCUPATION(s). Occupation is defined as the work in which a person is employed (pays the bills). So, consider Jesus. His early occupation was a carpenter. But His vocation was to be the SENT ONE. His occupation changed as he entered public ministry but his vocation did not. Paul's occupations were being a tent-maker and an apostle as he lived out his vocation to be a sent one to the Gentiles.
I'm not opposed to people pursuing a ministry occupation. But the church today needs more and more disciples who would consider occupations which would fund them (pay the bills) and allow them to live freely into the vocation given to them by God - to be sent ones!
In Portland, where we have few SBC churches capable of paying an occupational salary to the clergy, we need more and more Disciple-makers willing to find occupations which could pay them to live as a Disciple-maker (follower of Jesus in the church and in the neighborhood). We need more than carpenters. We need carpenters, bloggers, designers, bike builders, baristas, lawyers, entrepreneurs, etc. who will also occupationally be pastors, teachers, shepherds, and evangelist.
Let's call this new breed of SENT ONES - amateurs. This word is defined as one engaging in an activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefits or professional reasons. We need more disciples of Jesus living as AMATEURS. And, in using this word we are assuming, amateurs are just as capable, just as equipped, just as trained, just as qualified as a "professional," occupational, clergy; they just choose to engage their vocational calling with several different occupations.
This will require us to reframe our expectations. It will mean less "super pastors" to more shared ministry and shared leadership structures in the gathered/scattered church. It will create more ownership. It will require more teamwork and more teams fulfilling the five-fold ministry found in the letter to the Ephesians. This can't be done in isolation. It will require a more wholistic framework of understanding ALL of life should be lived as sent ones.
For those of you currently serving as AMETEURS, THANK YOU! Keep up the good work and stay encouraged.
WANTED: AMATEURS willing to be more than a carpenter!
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Simply want to say "AMEN" to the "But the church today needs more and more disciples who would consider occupations which would fund them (pay the bills) and allow them to live freely into the vocation given to them by God - to be sent ones!" At first I thought "Amateur" may be the wrong word though, thinking it derived from "A" (not) and "Mature", like somebody who has not yet learned the ropes. Hardly appropriate way to call pastors, the majority of which not only in the NW, but in the USA and worldwide, are bi-vocational. Turns out though that the word "Amateur" comes from "amÄtor", Latin for "lover" which makes PERFECT sense! Bivocational ministers love the Lord, love the church, and love the lost. :)
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