Hats off to Trevin Wax who recently initiated and facilitated an interesting discussion on work and vocation with Patrick Henry College Provost Gene Edward Veith Jr. (author of God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life) and Asbury Theological Seminary New Testament Professor Ben Witherington III (author of Work: A Kingdom Perspective on Labor). You can read the posts here:
What I found most interesting about their discussion was the way in which their theological traditions (Veith is a confessional Lutheran, Witherington a Wesleyan) influence the way in which they understand issues like work and vocation.
Veith makes this observation:
I don’t want to minimize our theological differences, even though I argue that we agree with each other on more things than we might realize. What I am coming to understand through your book and our discussions is that the different theologies and theological traditions that we have as Christians are going to manifest themselves in their theologies of work.
- Lutheran theology emphasizes God’s action in our lives and His presence in physical means, so that carries over into vocation.
- Wesleyan theology emphasizes human agency, freedom, and the role of good works, so that carries over into a Wesleyan view of work and vocation.
- Calvinists, I have noticed, tend to look at vocation in terms of their understanding of the Third Use of the Law.
- I suspect that Pentecostalists, Anabaptists, and regular Baptists would have their own spin on the topic.
This is understandable and the nature of having particular theologies. What all can agree on, though, is that ordinary human work has a spiritual significance that we need to recover and to live out.
Witherington agrees:
I think this is an excellent insight of yours that theological differences in general will manifest themselves in particular in one’s theology of work. Of course this is especially clear with something like ‘the Puritan work ethic’ but it would be true in all theologies I imagine. For example, in the Wesleyan tradition good works are part of our working out our salvation so it does indeed have to do with our sanctification. We don’t believe in the imputed righteousness of Christ substituting for our actual righteousness. We believe in the imparted righteousness that comes through the Holy Spirit, and that absolutely affects the way we view both work, and good works, and final salvation which is not just a matter of justification by grace through faith.
For those interested in the issue of vocation, especially as it applies to the family, make sure to keep an eye out for Crossway’s forthcoming book, Family Vocation: God’s Calling in Marriage, Parenting, and Childhood, co-authored by Veith and his daughter Mary Moerbe.
