Theology of Vocation (Pt.2 Humanity)

+ Creation: God Calls Creation into Being

We exist, everything that is exists, because God gives a vocation. Creation is called to praise God. All of creation is holy, sharing in the presence of God.

+ Humanity: The Creature With the Priestly Vocation

Just like all creatures, humans are created to praise God. Yet within this larger vocation, the human animal has the unique vocation of being the priestly creature. God chooses humanity to be the mediator of God's intended fullness for all of creation. By living in harmonious community, we are the image of God (in Latin, imago dei). Images in the ancient world were very important. Kings put their images on coins so that when the coins were dispersed in commerce throughout the kingdom, people would see the image and know that this king reigns. Even if the king lives far away, his presence is realized through his image and his reign is feared. So it is with humanity. We are the marks of God's presence, by which God reigns all of creation, dispersed throughout God's realm.

This is a significant move for theology, because it breaks us out of foreign anthropologies -- both philosophical and scientific. I don't mean to say that philosophy and science don't have important roles in teaching us about ourselves. They most certainly do. But if we base our theology on their definitions, then our ideas of incarnation and salvation take a drastic turn. For example, classical theology adopted Greek anthropology according to which a person is an immortal rational soul (the essence of our being) in a material body (the form the soul takes on). So when we ask ourselves how God can be incarnate in Jesus, we are then forced to rationalize how the second person of the Trinity and Jesus' human, immortal and rational soul work together without getting all mixed up. Huh?! Salvation too then resorts to either saving our souls from damnation without regard to the material world or uniting our bodies to our souls in heaven as an extra bonus, but not essential to eternal blessedness.

Likewise, when theologians rely on science to set the stage (e.g. process thought or depth psychology) the drama of salvation unfolds accordingly. So instead of messing with these foreign categories, we can understand humanity in terms of God's salvation narrative. We are the creature called to be priests for creation as God's image. That's how we are distinctly identified. We'll see in future articles in this series how this vocational anthropology guides our understanding of incarnation and salvation.

This is a significant move for the mission of the church, because it breaks us out of false barriers -- both religious and societal. We can remove ourselves from religious warfare. All humanity, every person, has existence in so far as we are called into our human vocation as priests within creation. Whether people are atheist, agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, pagan, or any other category, we don't have to warn (threaten!) them with eternal damnation. Instead we can see how Jesus is bringing God's kingdom to the world through them in Holy Spirit. We still need to be in dialog to learn from one another and to appreciate various beliefs on their own merits. But at least we can already affirm their humanity and God's presence in them. Not only is this true of our relationship with people of other religions, but it is also (especially!) true of our relationship with people of other Christian traditions.

Likewise, by seeing humanity in terms of vocation we can look past society's labels. We are not middle class, terrorists, male, old, fat, homeless, or anything else. We are the image of God through whom God reigns all of creation. The church's mission is to discern Holy Spirit's presence in all people so we can then participate in Jesus' work of breaking God's kingdom into the world. So the way we speak of 'vocation' can no longer be church-speak for "What are you going to do within the church?" Nor can our use of the word 'vocation' simply be extended to what people do for a living. For most people, their job really is just that -- a job, not their vocation. Instead, we can help people live vocationally 24/7/365. How can you be truly human at work? in your family? at a party? in the market? Where do you see Jesus actualizing God's reign, and how is Holy Spirit empowering you to be involved in it? Where ever you are at the moment, how are you being the living image of God through which God is ruling all of creation in peace, harmony, and justice? Wrestling with these questions in every situation is what it is to live vocationally. That's what it means to be human.

There's more to come, so check back in a couple days to follow the rest of this series on the theology of vocation:

+ Covenant: God Calls Creation Into Right Relationship
+ Messiah: The Human With God's Vocation
+ Trinity: God Is the Fulfillment of Covenant, the Purpose of Vocation
+ Salvation: All Creation Participates in the Fulfillment of Covenant
+ Church: The People Called into God's Vocation