Even Atheists Get Called to Their Life’s Work

Last updated on: May 13, 2016 at 10:38 am by Theology of Work Project

Even Atheists Get Called to Their Life’s Work 2016-05-12T18:46:20-05:00 Theology of Work Project

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By William Messenger

A recent Wall Street Journal has an article right up the Patheos Faith and Work alley, “When You’re Called to Your Life’s Work.”. It’s not a Christian article, but it accurately includes Christian and religious perspectives and stories, and it treats them as important, valuable, practical and as true as any other kind of motivation. This is rare in the mainstream press because so few journalists understand religion.

I found some interesting points:

Religious calling to work is common: “A 2006 Gallup poll of 1,004 adults, the most recent it has done on the subject, found that 33% of Americans said the following statement ‘applies completely’ to them: “I have had a profound religious experience or awakening that changed the direction of my life.’”

People perceive others’ sincerity about calling based on practical results, not theological arguments: “Ralph Hood, professor of psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and former editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, isn’t sure the origin matters. The key is in the consequences. ‘If someone tells me he met Jesus? Hell, I don’t know,’ he says. ‘But if his life really changes, then maybe so.'”

Non-believers can experience a religious sense of calling, which suggests that calling is a subject on which Christians can have meaningful conversations with non-Christian co-workers: “Believers and nonbelievers have such experiences. Among self-described atheists, agnostics and those who describe their religion as ‘nothing in particular,’ one in five have reported ‘a religious or mystical experience—that is, a moment of religious or spiritual awakening,’ according to a 2009 Pew Study.”

A sense of calling is of practical benefit to workers, especially during difficult times at work: “Having a sense of purpose and mission makes people more resilient, say experts. That is especially helpful when called to do work that others avoid.”

Christians tend to be uncomfortable—perhaps unnecessarily– talking about receiving a calling from God: “[Lara Weinstein] told her colleagues at her medical school about the encounter [in which she saw the face of Jesus in a homeless man]. But she deliberately left out what was most personally significant, because she wasn’t sure how her secular counterparts would react. ‘Where I come from we were always encouraged to look for a Christ in our midst, coming down from the cross and asking for help,’ she says. She saw him in the elderly man’s face. For those not raised the way she was, it might seem a little far out, she says. She could imagine the response. ‘What are you talking about? Who did you say this guy was?'”

In fact, non-believers may be eager to talk about calling, even in religious terms, as long as the focus is on sharing one’s experiences, rather than debating religious principles: “Two years ago, Dr. Kempster, who says he found his path after sitting in church and suddenly feeling the presence of God, was invited to present a paper about mystical experiences at a conclave of secular scientists, academics, and theologians who gathered in Canterbury Cathedral to discuss being called. At the last minute, he ditched his paper, decided to hold an impromptu Mystics Anonymous meeting and invited everyone to share their own mystical experience. The 45-minute session lasted two hours.”

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