How Is God Calling You to Serve?

What are you most passionate about?

I know people who serve lunch every week at a homeless shelter. Other friends are dedicated pro-life advocates who pray outside abortion clinics. Then there are those whose hearts break for addicts. All of these people genuinely love God and care about the suffering. But they have different passions that drive them personally. 

As Christians, we are all called to reach out to the world with God’s love and hope. But what does this mean, practically?

A friend asked me recently about the concept of “selective activism.”

In other words, when an issue of public life or social justice affects “us”, we tend to see it as an issue of “rights" or “freedom” or “concern.” But when a different group champions their cause, we tend to dismiss their activism as “complaining” or “a waste of time” or “identity politics.” We can all be guilty at times of seeing “our” cause as just, while viewing others’ concerns as wrong-headed, selfish, or politically biased. But is that fair or right?

Don’t get me wrong. Real evil and injustice exists and God calls us to resist it. As Christians, we must learn—through Scripture and Church teaching—what displeases God, and we must always resist it. 

But what about the world’s many other areas of need? Someone may feel it’s a waste of time and money to invest in the arts, convinced those resources would be better spent on feeding and sheltering the poor. Meanwhile, the artist strives to create a painting, church, or song that points to God’s beauty and gives Him glory. Is one area of service inherently more righteous than the other?

We all have unique passions and concerns and convictions that are particular to our heart and personal experience.

Maybe the specific issue that stokes my passion is a sign to me that I need to focus on that particular issue or injustice. 

No one has the time, emotional capacity, or resources to become an activist about every single issue in the world. In other words, we have to be selective in how we serve. Anything else is being a poor steward of our time and gifts.

But that's okay. If I focus on helping the mentally ill, it doesn't mean I don't care about children who can't read. If I choose to spend my time ministering to people in the suburbs of Baltimore, it doesn't mean I'm blowing off people in Nairobi. 

I must be careful not to dismiss others’ service as somehow less worthy than mine. Their particular concern may be what they're called by God to address. But it doesn't mean I’m somehow wrong if I don't also feel called to address it in the same way. 

Since I was a child, I have loved movies. Growing up, my passion was to go to Hollywood and work in the entertainment industry. When I was a teenager, I became a Christian and started to wonder if my life might be better spent as a preacher or missionary. Then I discovered a book called Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner. It proclaimed that God calls Christians to every area of culture and sphere of influence, including politics, the arts, sports, medicine, business, education, and manual vocations. 

I soon realized that my passion for moviemaking was God’s calling for me.

I was no good at preaching sermons or creating spreadsheets or repairing cars. 

My particular dream and desire was to work in Hollywood. To be a faithful steward of that passion, my life would be better spent developing the skills and talents that allowed me to serve God in that way.  

Micah 6:8 says: “You have been told, O mortal, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” The beautiful thing is that this doesn’t have to look the same for everyone. 

There are countless ways to serve God and we are free to find and pursue the ones that most deeply affect us. As Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote: “Christ plays in ten thousand places, Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his…” In other words, He serves in us, in all the myriad ways that are unique to each person. 

A woman once asked Mother Teresa how she could serve like the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. Mother Teresa told her: "Find your own Calcutta." 

Mother Teresa was selective in her ministry and we can be too. God doesn’t ask us to do it all.

What is your Calcutta? Your home where you raise your children? A football field? A courtroom? A wood shop? A painter’s studio? Learn what your particular passions are. Listen to the specific longings of your heart. Let yourself be moved by whatever particular injustice or suffering breaks your heart. 

I believe it is there that God speaks to you and calls you to serve. Find your own Calcutta and serve Him joyfully there. Or, as Saint Augustine said, “Love, and do what you will.”