If you found out tomorrow you would have to leave the military (or whatever profession you are in), hang up your uniforms, turn in your gear, and let your clearance lapse – what would that do to who you are? Would you find yourself lost, confused, discouraged? Would you be excited? Would you feel like you’d been emancipated after years of imprisonment?

As I close out my own time in the military, I am honestly feeling a lot of both. Who am I without the uniform? What have the last 15 years really meant? Yet, I can’t wait to be free, and good riddance also comes to mind. I am deeply angry with the military, across all branches, though I am not here to bad-mouth it nor those who serve.

In truth, both responses though are likely to stem from a misunderstanding of the role of secular professions in the Christian life. Your profession is not the most important thing about you. What you do for work, while good in itself (so long as it isn’t expressly sinful), is only the tip of the iceberg.

Who you are is hidden away in Christ, and the work you do you do is unto the Lord. Whether you are a plumber, a pastor, or a general – we all have a common calling – to expand God’s Kingdom and make disciples of all nations. It is easy to consider any particular line of work your “calling,” but this is not scripturally rooted. You were called to Christ and to work for Him, but not to any particular claimed area. You are called to use your gifts, but they may be just as reasonably used in the military as in a business, a church, a non-profit, or a family devotion – perhaps all of the above – gifts are not professions or callings, they are tools.

In fact, Paul says at one point, “Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision.  For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.  Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God” (1 Corinthians 7:17-24).

We can easily (mis)read this to mean that we ought to “find our calling,” but that is not what Paul is saying. He is saying, wherever you were, in whatever condition, profession, etc. when you were called to Christ, that is where you are called to serve Him. This is most clear in the final verse, “So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.” Paul makes continual reference here to the “time of his call.” He is speaking of the call to Christ not to any specific profession.

We must be careful not to be influenced by a worldly notion of calling which sets a profession above the Savior, or a job above the work of the Gospel. Only by submitting to Christ’s Gospel mission in every area of our lives, including our work lives, is there true blessing on the path.

More, Paul doesn’t merely call this a “recommendation,” rather he says that it is his “rule in all the churches.” It is the Apostle’s rule that people remain in the condition in which they were called, with respect to circumcision, with respect to job, with respect to place it seems. He even extends this to slaves. Though the ESV renders it bondservant the word in Greek is doulos which more directly means slave (though I realize the term slave has connotations and meanings to us which it did not possess at the time of the writing of 1 Corinthians).

We see here though, that while it is a rule for the churches, it is not so strict a rule as to entirely hinder changes due to wisdom. He says if a slave may find his freedom, then he may avail himself of the opportunity. Nor, of course, would it require one to stay in a sinful place, such as if one were a priest of another religion.

For military service specifically, it is suspect at best and folly at worse to claim that God gave anyone some sort of divine calling to the military. While we may wish to use David or any of his mighty men as examples, we cannot forget that Ancient Israel was the explicit nation of God directed in warfare by God Himself. The same cannot be said of any modern nation. While God is sovereign and often uses nation against nation in warfare, we cannot be sure we fight as soldiers for Christ based on any particular national identity as David could. Today, Christians must exercise wisdom in volunteering or abstaining from military service.

Neither may we use the examples of Daniel, Nehemiah, Hannaniah, Meshael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), because their service to their respective secular nations was not voluntary.

The vast majority of Roman centurions and other military members were equally not at liberty to volunteer but were impressed into service. The concerns of the Vietnam generation in being drafted are different from the discernment Christians must have in our freedom to volunteer. With that additional freedom comes additional responsibility – first and foremost to our King in Heaven – to choose wisely where, whom, and how we serve ultimately unto Him.

This is not to say that joining the military is evil, nor good, only that it is a matter of wisdom and discernment which the Christian must submit to the Lord and actually wrestle with. There is no easy answer. Yet, the very practical guidance from Paul still rings true – whatever condition in which you were called, there remain. If God called you out of darkness and into His light while you are in the military, do not fear to serve Him wholeheartedly in excellence in your profession. If He called you to Christ outside of the military – as another profession – there remain (at least for a time) to deepen your faith and understanding of the Lord that you may be a light right where He called you.

I had a former boss who was a green beret, and he used to say, “If I have given you a monkey to train, don’t give it back to me and ask me to train it – that’s your monkey.”

The very concept of a “personal calling” smacks of an abdication of responsibility that is unfitting for a Christian and detrimental to effective work in the same way that the lies of a “soulmate” ruin romantic relationships. In both cases, the responsibility which God has given us for exercising Godly wisdom in decision-making is subverted as we seek to offload that responsibility to Him. Don’t give the monkey back – that’s your monkey.

Christ finished all His work upon the cross, so our work has little to do with salvation (except as proof of fruit), but it ought to be our delight to actually do the work God has given us. Part of that work is to exercise Godly wisdom and make decisions which reflect His character and bring Him glory.

It is, I believe, too easy to put too much of ourselves into our work at the expense of Christ’s work, but just as easy to believe that the ordinary work He has given us in our jobs is somehow disconnected from His gospel mission. I have fallen off the horse on both sides, as it were, but maintaining balance means maintaining a Biblical focus on the primary mission – to make disciples of all nations. He even tells us how – Baptize and teach them to obey His commands. We are to preach the Gospel in every area of life – for Christ is our calling and the Gospel our greatest work in every ordinary activity, from the decisions we make, to the partners we marry, and to the professions we pursue.