Reformed Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, and Missions — Unit 9: Word and World: Vocation, Culture, and the Common Good

Key Verse

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain the Reformed teaching of vocation, or calling, and why it rejects a divide between "sacred" and "secular" work.

2. Explain common grace and why it leads Reformed Christians to take part in culture.

3. State fairly the two main Reformed approaches to culture, the Kuyperian and the two-kingdoms, and name what they share.

4. Explain the limits the Reformed tradition places on the church's role in politics, and when Christians must resist the state.

5. Describe practical ways a pastor can lead a congregation to serve the common good in work, family, mercy and education.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the Reformed tradition for Reformed students. Its subject is how the church that is gathered on Sunday lives in the world on Monday. We do not claim that Reformed Christians agree on everything here. Some questions, such as the church's relation to the state, have been argued within the tradition for centuries, and we state the positions fairly.

Two Mistakes

A pastor who wants to lead a congregation faithfully will face two opposite temptations.

The first is withdrawal. The church treats the world as a danger and keeps its members apart. Faith is private, work is only a way to earn a living, and the only worthwhile activity is what happens in the church building.

The second is absorption. The church adopts the aims of a political movement, a party or a culture, and its message becomes a means to some worldly end. The pulpit then serves a cause and not the Lord.

The Reformed tradition answers both by teaching that Christ is Lord over all things, that the church's own task is the Word, the sacraments and discipline, and that Christians serve their Lord in every part of life as citizens, workers, parents and neighbors. This unit explains how.

Vocation: Every Calling Under God

Before the Reformation, many Christians held that the highest calling belonged to priests, monks and nuns, and that ordinary work was spiritually lower. The Reformers rejected this. They taught that God calls His people to serve Him in every honest work.

John Calvin, in the Institutes (Book 3, chapter 10, section 6), teaches that the Lord has assigned each person a way of life, which he compares to a sentry post, so that no one wanders about without purpose. The point is that our work is received from God and done before Him. A farmer, a teacher, a mother, a magistrate and a shopkeeper each have a calling.

The Bible supports this. In Genesis 1:28 and 2:15 God gives humanity work to do, to fill and rule the earth and to tend the garden, before sin entered. Paul writes, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). Our key verse tells servants, who in Paul's day were slaves, that they serve "the Lord Christ" in their daily tasks. Paul told the Thessalonians to work with their own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Jesus said that His people are the light of the world, and that others will see their good works and glorify the Father (Matthew 5:16).

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Question 111, applies the eighth commandment by teaching that we should work faithfully so that we may be able to help the needy. Work is not only for ourselves. It is for the good of our neighbors.

This teaching has a direct effect on a pastor's work. Paul says that the shepherds and teachers equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12). Most of a congregation's service to God happens on weekdays, in shops, fields, homes and offices. A pastor who preaches only about church activities leaves his people without instruction for most of their lives. He should teach honesty in business, faithfulness in work, kindness to employees and patience with difficult neighbors as true acts of worship.

Vocation does not mean that every job is good. Some work is sinful, and a Christian must refuse it. Nor does it mean that a person may never change his work. It means that whatever honest work we do, we do it before God.

An Objection: The Weber Thesis

In 1905 the German sociologist Max Weber argued in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that Calvinist teaching, especially on predestination and calling, helped to produce the modern capitalist spirit. In his view, believers anxious about their election sought a sign of God's favor in hard work and success. Many people have repeated this idea, sometimes to praise Calvinism and sometimes to blame it.

Historians have criticized the thesis from many sides. Some doubt that the facts support it. Others note that commerce flourished in places and times that had no Calvinism. Others say that Calvin and the Reformed confessions did not teach that wealth is a sign of election.

Our answer rests on what the tradition actually teaches. Calvin presents vocation as service to God and neighbor, not as a path to profit. Scripture warns that "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus said, "Take heed and beware of covetousness" (Luke 12:15). Reformed Christians have sometimes failed, and some in Reformed lands used their faith to excuse greed or cruelty. We should confess this. But our teaching does not rest on whether Weber was right. It rests on what Scripture says: work is a calling, and wealth is a trust to be shared.

Common Grace and Culture

Why should Christians take part in culture at all, including art, learning, law and government? The Reformed answer begins with common grace.

Common grace is the goodness God shows to all people, including those who do not believe. Jesus said that the Father "makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). Paul told pagan hearers that God did not leave Himself without witness, doing good and giving rain and fruitful seasons (Acts 14:17). Calvin writes in the Institutes (Book 2, chapter 2) that the gifts of reason, art and learning found among unbelievers come from the Spirit of God, and that we should honor them and not despise them. Common grace does not save. It restrains evil, preserves order, and lets people build families, learn, create and govern.

Dutch Reformed theologians developed this teaching. Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a pastor, a journalist and a statesman. He founded the Free University of Amsterdam in 1880, helped found a political party called the Anti-Revolutionary Party, and served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905. He taught that Christ is Lord of every area of human life. He also taught what he called sphere sovereignty: that the family, the church, the school and the state each have their own God-given authority, and none may swallow the others. Herman Bavinck (1854-1921) also wrote about these themes. Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism, delivered at Princeton in 1898, is a primary source.

Two Reformed Approaches

Reformed Christians do not all understand the church's relation to culture in the same way. We name two approaches. Each is simplified here, and many Reformed believers hold a position between them.

The Kuyperian or transformational approach. This view stresses that Christ's lordship covers all of life, and that Christians should build schools, associations and institutions shaped by Scripture, and work to renew culture. Its strength is its confidence that no part of life belongs to anyone but Christ. Its danger is that it may place hope in cultural success and forget that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world (John 18:36).

The two-kingdoms approach. This view teaches that Christ rules everything, but in two ways. He rules His church by His Word and Spirit, and He rules the civil order by His providence and common grace. The church's task is spiritual. Christians serve in the civil realm as citizens and workers, using wisdom and common standards of justice, without claiming that a particular program is the Christian program. Its strength is that it guards the church's message from being tied to a party. Its danger is that it may make Christians timid in public life.

Both approaches claim Calvin and the Reformed confessions. We think they share a great deal. Both hold that Christ is Lord of all. Both hold that the church's own work is Word, sacraments and discipline. Both hold that Christians must serve faithfully in every honest calling and seek the good of their neighbors. A pastor can teach this shared ground without forcing a congregation to choose between them.

The Church and the State

The Reformed tradition has long taught that the civil government is ordained by God. Paul says so in Romans 13:1-7, and Peter tells believers to honor the king (1 Peter 2:13-17). Christians pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Jeremiah told exiles to seek the peace of the city where they lived and to pray for it (Jeremiah 29:7).

The tradition has also limited the church's role. The Westminster Confession, chapter 31, section 4, teaches that synods and councils are to deal with church matters only, and are not to meddle with civil affairs, except by humble petition in extraordinary cases. This means that the church does not run the state, and the state does not run the church. The pulpit is not a platform for candidates.

Historically Reformed Christians have differed on the details. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries many Reformed lands had established churches supported by the state. The 1646 text of Westminster Confession chapter 23 gave the civil magistrate certain powers in religious matters, and American Presbyterians revised that chapter in 1788. Today most Reformed churches teach freedom of conscience, and some hold that the state should have no power in religion at all. We note the disagreement and do not try to settle it here. Course 3, Unit 8, "The Westminster Standards," treats the confession itself.

The tradition also teaches that when the state commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, the Christian must obey God. Peter and the apostles answered the council, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). Daniel and his friends refused commands that required idolatry (Daniel 3 and 6). Calvin, in the last chapter of the Institutes (Book 4, chapter 20), warns against disorder, and he also says that no ruler's command may be obeyed against God. In 1934, in Germany, Reformed and Lutheran Christians of the Confessing Church issued the Barmen Declaration, which confessed that Jesus Christ alone is Lord and that no state may claim the church's allegiance. A pastor should teach respect for government, and also teach when conscience binds.

Serving the Common Good

What does this look like in a Latin American congregation? Here are several practices.

Mercy. The deacons care for the poor, widows and sick, as Course 4, Unit 4, "Deacons and the Ministry of Mercy," teaches. Paul was eager to remember the poor (Galatians 2:10), and Scripture says that kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17, paraphrased). Our mercy should be given in Christ's name, and not as a bribe for attention.

Education. The Reformed faith has a long record of teaching people to read, so that they can read the Bible. Geneva opened its Academy in 1559. In 1560 the Scottish reformers drafted a plan for schools. Churches today can support literacy classes, tutoring and Christian schools.

Honest work and public integrity. Scripture says, "You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the discerning and perverts the words of the righteous" (Exodus 23:8). In places where small bribes are common, a church can teach members to refuse them, and support those who suffer for doing so. The Lord requires us "to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly" with our God (Micah 6:8, paraphrased).

Marriage and family. Marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24) is the foundation of the family and of a healthy society. The church serves the common good by teaching and honoring marriage, helping couples, and caring for children and the elderly. Unit 5 treats the Christian home.

Care for creation. God told humanity to tend and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15). Stewardship of the land, water and animals is part of our calling.

Doing good to all. Paul says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10).

A pastor must keep these in order. Evangelism and the care of souls remain first. A church that cares for the common good but forgets the gospel has lost its reason to exist.

Pastoral Application

A member of a Reformed church owns a small shop. An inspector tells him that a permit will be delayed for months unless he pays a "gift." The shopkeeper comes to his pastor and asks, "Everyone pays. Is it a sin?"

The pastor listens first and does not condemn a man under pressure. He opens Exodus 23:8 and Colossians 3:23-24 with him and speaks about the difference between a fee required by law and a payment that buys favor. He tells the man the cost of refusing may be real, and the church does not leave him to bear it alone. The elders agree to pray with him, advise him on lawful ways to file a complaint, and help if his business suffers. The pastor also tells the congregation, without naming anyone, that honesty in daily work is worship. A week later, when a member asks him to announce which candidate the church supports, he declines. He explains that the pulpit proclaims Christ to all and teaches the Word, and that members vote as their consciences before God direct.

Summary

The Reformed tradition avoids both withdrawal and absorption. Vocation teaches that every honest work is a calling from God, a view the Reformers set against the medieval ranking of monks over ordinary workers (Calvin, Institutes 3.10.6; Heidelberg Catechism 111; Colossians 3:23-24). Max Weber's thesis that Calvinism produced capitalism is disputed, and our teaching rests on Scripture, not on that thesis. Common grace explains why Christians take part in culture, and Kuyper's sphere sovereignty protects the distinct callings of family, church, school and state. Kuyperian and two-kingdoms Reformed Christians share the lordship of Christ, the church's task of Word, sacraments and discipline, and faithful service in every calling. The church does not run the state or the state the church (Westminster Confession 31.4), though Reformed Christians have differed on details such as chapter 23. Christians obey God rather than men when the state commands evil. The common good is served through mercy, education, honest work, marriage and family, and stewardship, with the gospel always first.

Further Reading

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Beveridge translation, 1845): Book 2, chapter 2; Book 3, chapter 10; Book 4, chapter 20.

• The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Question 111.

• The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 23 and 31.

• Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (1898).

• Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), the thesis discussed above.

• Course 4: "Presbyterian Polity, Worship, and Sacraments," Unit 4.

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