It is a little word, in many ways, and unassuming. Yet it is large enough to convey our deepest Christian identity — and our mandate as Christians in the world. “Kaleo,” in New Testament Greek. “Called.”
“In the use of the term, there is… a technical element even where this is not explicit,” reports New Testament scholar Gerhard Kittel. Every time you see this word, Kittle explains, you should see “the whole work of God, in Christ, in judgment and grace” (TDNT, p.395). This is an important insight. Even where “the whole work of God” is “not explicit” — as in our ordinary humdrum lives, for example — if we are called by the Almighty, Christ himself is present in grace and fullness and power.
The connection means, on the one hand, a deep sense of purpose. As Christ is called, we are called — to the same mandate and mission of God in the world (Matthew 4:21; cf. Heb 9:15). We are called to fellowship with the Savior (1 Corinthians 1:9). We are called to peace (1 Corinthians 7:15). We are called in grace (Galatians 1:6) and in holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7), to the Kingdom of Christ (1 Thessalonians 2:12). We are called to suffering, too (1 Peter 2:20-21). The community of Christian believers has become in essence the “called ones” — the “ekklesia” of God (Acts 20:28, etc.). We follow Jesus into the world.
But there is more than mandate in this word. We find grace and gift as well.
The calling of God is always both gift and task. We find in it our commanding purpose: we are called into service of the King. It is our grace-filled identity, too: we are called into the family of the Most High, by his own wonderful grace. The calling of God, you see, does not depend on the fitness of the called. It depends on the power and love of the Caller.
Theologians might say that the calling of God is “effective”: that is, it effects what it commands. God calls — and in the gracious calling itself, shepherd boys are made into kings (1 Samuel 16:6ff.). “No-accounts” are made ambassadors (1 Corinthians 1:26ff.). The weak are made strong and the feeble are made bold. God calls into being what did not exist before: “For he spoke, and it came to be” (Psalm 33:9).
I am writing these words in the middle of Briefing Course 2007. Once again this year, I am seeing the transformation before my eyes. A handful of candidates and inquirers, from here and there around the world and from many walks of life, have gathered in our offices to listen carefully for the calling of God. Four seem headed to East Asia. Two seem called to the Philippines. Four are headed to Bangladesh. One is called to the streets of Edmonton, while another is searching for her assignment. I watch them as they listen. And I see that as they hear, they are effectually made into missionaries.
And as for you? “God, your God, chose you out of all the people on Earth for himself as a cherished, personal treasure. God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important — the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors…. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon” (Deuteronomy 7:7,8,9, The Message).
You may want to listen for your calling, too.