Jonathan Davis is a member of the 22-23 cohort of the NIFW Gotham Fellowship. He is a finance professional working in the healthcare industry. In this post, Jonathan shares his experience of God’s presence in his faith and work journey.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
This was the question that faced me at the ripe age of 6 in preparation for a first-grade career day where we were tasked with dressing up in the wrappings of our future dream careers. Some kids miraculously already knew what they wanted to be, and I’m sure some of them are fulfilling that same calling all these years later. Others gave themselves permission to envision incredible dreams of becoming astronauts, sports superstars, or world leaders.
But for me, this was the stuff of nightmares.
I’m six years old and you want me to decide what I want to be for the rest of my life!? Let’s just say I had whatever is the first-grade equivalent of an existential crisis.
But what should we do with the time that is given to us? It’s a sacred question. One that holds with it both an incredible weight and a certain mystery. Our vocations will consume a significant portion of our adult lives. Don’t we want to spend them well? Don’t we want our work to matter?
And so that question of what I wanted to become, what I wanted to devote my life to, became difficult to answer for so many reasons. First and foremost, I put the weight of permanence on the decision, as though, once selected, no other path could be pursued. But beyond that, I had whittled the decision down to two seemingly divergent vocational paths: the sacred or the secular. Coming from a family background in ministry, this was natural: most of what had been modeled for me was full-time ministry as a vocation. And to be honest, there was a part of me that felt like that was what I was supposed to do. After all, isn’t that the better path?
I continued to put that vocational decision off in my mind as college graduation drew near, and suddenly, I was approached with two options: an opportunity in the mission field and an opportunity in business. The sacred or the secular.
In our work, as in every aspect of our lives, there is a redemptive thread that God has sewn. I firmly believe He uses the circumstances and events of our lives to sanctify us and mold us into who He would have us become. For years, what I thought was a question of the type of work I should pursue was actually a lesson in the type of person God was calling me to become. A lesson in my identity as a child of God, as one made in His divine image, and as one bearing that image wherever I go into this world. Is my value to God tied up in the type of work I do for Him? Is His ability to utilize me for the work of His kingdom limited by the type of vocation I pursue?
Or is my God sovereign, working through my heart and my choices and presenting me with opportunities to serve Him in countless ways every day? In reality, I was limiting God and had approached the question of calling by trying to justify my own self-worth with what I could do for Him. But all along I had forgotten that fundamental truth: my worth was secured on a cross long ago.
Looking back, I can now see elements of that redemptive thread all along the way. It stretches back to the question of a scared first-grader. It kept appearing in the mind of an apprehensive college student. And it has carried on into the life of an adult who is finally stepping into what God has called him to all along – faithful service.
Over the last few years, God has blessed me with opportunities to serve in roles that involved both volunteer church work and paid work in the business world. One day, my life might look completely different. And yet, I can serve God and others in each. But what I have come to realize is a truth Paul and Timothy exhorted the Colossians with long ago:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” (Colossians 3:23)
My work, done in the name of the Lord, can be reimagined as a sacred offering. And my calling as a follower of Christ is to enter into the broken parts of this world and to be a restorative presence.
I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, and I still have questions about what serving Him in various seasons of my life will look like. But years of walking with the Lord and wrestling with tough questions continue to teach me to answer these questions with faith.
And it’s a faith that holds fast to these simple truths:
Although I don’t know what the future holds, I serve a God who holds the future.
What I do is not nearly so important as the heart I do it with, the person I am becoming, and the people I can serve and bless through it.
Time, wisdom, and opportunities can all change our calling throughout our lives.
Despite my first-grade perspective, a job does not have to be a forever decision.
My calling is to glorify God in the redemptive work of serving others and seeking their flourishing.
My vocational journey, like every part of my life, is an adventure I get to go on with my Lord, and He will continue to surprise me and challenge my notions of all He will do along the way.
Thinking back to that first-grader from so many years ago, I believe I can now answer the question deep in his heart. What do I want to be when I grow up? I will be a servant of a great King. And that King will redeem this world. And because of that, my work, whatever it may be, matters.
