Lessons from a National Crisis

by Dr Leong Tien Fock

The news that 128 straight-A students could not get into medical school gripped the nation a few months back. It created a politically explosive situation and the prime minister had to quickly step in to defuse the time bomb.

Now that the incident is all over, what can we learn from it? Certainly, we are reminded of the importance of justice in maintaining harmony. But there are other lessons.

The crisis has awakened the nation to the realization that not all top students will make good doctors. Also, if only those who have what it takes to become good doctors get to study medicine, many more students without straight As will have a chance to do so. Society benefits when doctors are doctors because they have the aptitude and the passion to heal the sick and not because of selfish reasons. This realization has led to the idea of introducing aptitude tests as well as exposing aspiring medical students to a doctor’s work conditions to see if they really have the heart to practice medicine.

The same was considered for other prestigious or high-paying occupations.

What this reaction to the crisis means is that our choice of occupation should be in line with our vocation. According to the Collins COBUILD English Dictionary, "If you have a vocation, you have a strong feeling that you are particularly suited to do a particular job or fufil a particular role in life, especially one that involves serving other people".

Christian Origin of Vocation

The concept of vocation has Christian origins. The word is derived from Latin and it means "calling". However, people today tend to think of a vocation simply as an occupation or a profession. The original idea of a calling is ignored. This suits a secularized society. For if they think of a vocation as a calling to a particular occupation, who then called them? This is an awkward question for people who do not acknowledge God in their lives.

The dictionary quoted above defines vocation in a way close to its original Christian meaning. Though the word "calling" is not in the definition, the idea is. If we "are particularly suited to do a particular job", who made us so? And who put the "strong feeling" in our heart that we are so suited? The dictionary even specifies that a vocation is "especially one that involves serving other people". Who or what would call us to serve other people?

More and more non-Christians are finding their vocation and are thus fulfilling their "mission in life". Paul and Sarah Edwards in their book Finding Your Perfect Work define a mission as "a cause or task or duty someone feels destined, moved, or called upon to undertake". They say people who make a living by following a mission often make comments like:

"This work gives purpose to my life."

"I didn’t choose this work; it chose me."

"It’s my calling."

"This is my destiny."

"I’m sure this is why I was put on this Earth."

"This is what I’m here to do."

"This is my life. This is me."

"It’s almost like an obsession. I just have to do this."

"I couldn’t quit if I wanted to."

Richard Nelson Bolles, formerly a pastor, has long been the world’s most influential job counselor. In his best-selling book What Color Is Your Parachute? he says "Mission (and its synonyms, Calling and Vocation) is a religious concept from beginning to end". We "search for a Sense of Mission because of our conviction that God has made each of us unique, even as our fingerprints attest. We feel that we are not just another grain of sand lying on the beach called humanity, unnumbered and lost in the 5 billion mass, but that God caused us to be born and put here for some unique reason: so that we might contribute to Life here on earth something no one else can contribute in quite the same way".

This Christian talk about mission is in a book read mainly by non-Christians! Unfortunately the book is not usually sold at Christian bookstores.

A lesson we can learn is that non-Christians do sense in their heart that there is such a thing as a calling. As more and more people seek a "more fulfilling job", there will be more opportunities to relate God and the Gospel to them. The search for a mission — whether in "secular work" or "Christian ministry" — is a spiritual quest.

Christians Must Take the Lead

Christians must then be at the forefront of promoting as well as practicing the concept of vocation. This is after all a Christian concept. It is in fact very embarrassing if non-Christians are ahead of Christians in this regard.

In order for the concept of calling to take root among Christians in "secular work", the Church must ensure that it first takes root among them in "Christian ministry". For if we disregard God’s calling in "God’s work", how can we expect Christians to regard God’s calling in "secular work"? Paul explicitly teaches that we serve God according to our gifting. In Romans 12 he says "just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body... We have different gifts... If a man’s gift is prophesying let him use it... If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach..." (NIV).

Another lesson we can learn from the crisis is that, unless we promote and practice the concept of vocation, too many people will be square pegs in round holes. Too many people in high-paying and prestigious professions will be there mainly for the money or the prestige, or both. Society suffers. If Christians do not serve God according to their calling — whether in Christian ministry or in secular work — the Kingdom of God suffers.

One more lesson: we usually wait till the problem has become a crisis before we take action.

Dr Leong Tien Fock is Research coordinator of Malaysia Campus Crusade for Christ.