The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: I can tell you now, if you are a secret agent Christian, God won't tell you your calling. Whether it's in a medical field, whether it's as a janitor, if you are called, it has eternal repercussions.

Guest (Male): This is *The Alternative* broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. If each one of us was custom-created to fit into God's design for our world, why don't more of us feel the sense of fulfillment that truth ought to give us?

Dr. Evans addresses that question today as he talks about how to discover our unique purpose on this planet. Let's join him as he begins.

Dr. Tony Evans: Most Christians today are living decaffeinated lives. All the lead is gone. And like a hamster on the wheel, ever moving, never arriving anywhere. I don't know how many Sunday drivers we have here. People who simply like to get on the road and just drive. You don't really go anywhere; you just want to drive. It's a pretty day, let's go riding.

Well, I'm a driver, I love to drive, but even I must admit after a while, that gets old, because you're not going anywhere. You're just out there. Far too many of us are living lives like the flicker of a candle rather than the blazing of the noonday sun. Meandering, no brilliance, no significance. We don't really feel that we matter that much because there is no sense of ultimate purpose, destiny, or the word we're going to use in our series: calling.

Your calling may be defined as the customized life purpose God has ordained for you, which is designed to bring Him greatest glory and the maximum expansion of His kingdom. There are three things I want to say about this definition of calling, which has to do with your purpose for being. First of all, it is a created purpose. Purpose, calling—it's your reason for being. It's the reason why you were made. You were made to fulfill your calling.

A car is not fulfilling its calling if it doesn't run. A piano is not fulfilling its calling if all the strings are broken and there is no tune coming out. It's not fulfilling the purpose for which it was produced. It's there, but it's not doing anything, or certainly not doing its ordained thing. To live life without purpose or calling is to be like the Dead Sea over in Israel. No life there. It's death.

Fish can't swim in it, you can't swim in it. You get the salt in your eyes, it'll burn you. It is a lifeless existence because it is not fulfilling its purpose. You see, you can't flow out of the Dead Sea; it's the lowest point on planet Earth. And the water runs in, it just has nowhere to go. Far too many of us are living Dead Sea kinds of lives. No outlet, no progress, perpetual stagnation. No calling.

Let me show you a great verse. Acts chapter 13, verse 36. What a wonderful verse. The Book of Acts, chapter 13, verse 36. Listen to this: "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay." What a great verse! You say, "I don't see nothing great about that verse. That verse said a man died, became worm food, underwent decay."

One, he didn't die until he had completed his purpose. What a horrible way to die, never knowing why you showed up in the first place. What a horrible thing to do, to live 75, 80, 85 years and all you can talk about is your job. In fact, we got folk in their 30 and 35 years old who all they can talk about is retiring from their job, because you hate to get up in the morning. You hate where you're going when you get up in the morning.

You hate the people you're going to see when you get there because they got up in the morning like you did. It's just one miserable thing. What is missing? Your calling. Proverbs 29:18 says that without a vision, without a word from God, people perish. What he's saying is that when people have no direction in life, they wither, they die.

So this is not a small subject. This is not an insignificant subject. God said of Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 1:5, "While you were in your mama's womb, I called you." Boy, that's great news. That God calls in advance. So calling is critical, but it's tied to your creation. You were created with a calling.

Secondly, it's not only a created purpose, it is a customized purpose. Nobody has your call but you. I had a sister tell me, she said, "You sure come to life up there." I thought, now, what are you trying to say? I'm a boring person down there, maybe? That's because this is my calling. I used to preach on street corners, in front of bus stops in Atlanta, Georgia.

So I'd wait for folk to gather at the bus stop, and I'd stand up in front of the bus stop and start preaching. "You must be born again." Every Friday night, I'd lead a group of students out in college and I'd preach "You must be born again." Same sermon, because that's all I knew. But I was called. Let me tell you what will happen. If you do not pursue your calling, you'll spend your life wishing you were somebody else.

Now think about that because that was a little deep, too. You're not happy with who you are. That's because you've not yet discovered who you are. David says in Psalm 139, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" because I am distinct. In fact, this principle is biologically solidified. Your fingerprint is not like your neighbor's fingerprint. Every fingerprint in this room and in the world is distinctly different.

It's hard now to commit a crime because now they've discovered how to get DNA off of everything. They can track you down. Why? Because your DNA is uniquely yours. What is true of your fingerprint, what is true of your DNA, is true of your calling. Nobody has your calling but you, because nobody is you but you. So the beautiful thing about it is, it's customized calling. It's calling with your name on it.

Jesus says, "I finished the work which my Father gave me to do." He gave me my own job, my own special reason for being, and I completed that task. That is, I fulfilled my purpose for being. My wife wrote a book, *Seasons of a Woman's Life*, and some of it's drawn from Esther. And of course, Esther's key statement is in chapter 4, where Esther is a beautiful woman and her beauty causes her to be selected by Ahasuerus as his new bride.

So she gets all comfortable in the king's house. She's got money, she's got cars, she's got clothes, while the Jewish people were in trouble and about to be extinguished—genocide. Her uncle Mordecai says, "Well, aren't you going to help us?" She said, "I can't help y'all because me and the king, we're kind of not talking for the last 30 days and he might get irritated. So, you know, I'll pray for you."

Mordecai then writes her back in Esther chapter 4, and this is a zinger. He writes her back, Evans translation: "Girlfriend, don't think that you're going to escape just because you've moved uptown. Because when the hammer comes down and they find out who you are, you're going to be just like the rest of us. Secondly, don't think that God can't do this without you, because if He can't use you, He'll call somebody else."

But then after hitting her with the negative stuff, he hits her with this positive line. The positive line is this: "Have you ever considered, girlfriend, that you have been called to the kingdom for such a time as this? Have you ever considered God made you pretty so that Ahasuerus would fall in love with you? Because He knew the Jews were going to be in trouble and so He wanted to have one of His people in a strategic position at the right time to fulfill their calling for a greater purpose than you just being able to shop and customize your wardrobe."

In other words, Esther was to look at her life in terms of her calling, not merely in terms of her money, her status, her cars, her houses, and her stuff. She was to look at it in terms of her reason for being. A person who's serious searches for their calling. Wants to know their calling. They're not satisfied to exist; they want to know why they're existing.

Great verse, you all know it. Romans 8:28: "All things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose." Calling and purpose are linked. Watch this now. Calling and purpose are linked. And for the purpose person who knows their calling, so they're fulfilling their purpose, everything that happens is working that thing out.

Thirdly, finally, it is a comprehensive purpose. It's a created purpose; you were created for your calling. It's customized; it's yours and yours and nobody else's. You are unique as you are. You don't have to be somebody else. Here's why many people don't find their calling: because their calling is not linked into anything bigger than themselves.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return with more of our message in just a moment, including why discovering your calling begins with embracing a purpose that's bigger than yourself. First, though, I want to tell you about a resource package designed to help you discover and confidently live out the unique purpose God has for your life. It begins with Tony's 12-message, two-volume teaching series called *Called for a Purpose*.

In these messages, Dr. Evans explains how God works through every season of life to prepare you for the destiny He created you to fulfill. And to help you keep growing long after you've finished the messages, we'll also include Tony's inspiring *Called for a Purpose* devotional book. Through daily scripture readings and practical encouragement, it'll help you stay focused on God's plan and experience the joy that comes from living according to His purpose.

We'll send you this special resource package as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support the ministry of *The Alternative*. To get all the details, visit us today at TonyEvans.org, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are standing by around the clock to assist you. That's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that information for you after the second part of today's message and this.

How do you share the gospel with confidence? What's God's plan for our communities? Why does the Old Testament matter to your faith today? Those are just a few of the questions you'll get answered when you enroll in the Tony Evans Training Center, an interactive online study experience with Dr. Tony Evans, where you can grow in your knowledge of God's Word and learn to advance His kingdom agenda in your life. Visit TonyEvansTraining.org to get started today. That's TonyEvansTraining.org. Well, let's get back to Dr. Evans now with more on the concept of calling.

Dr. Tony Evans: Whatever God calls you to do will give Him greater glory and will expand His kingdom in history. The Bible says in Romans 11:36 that all things are to Him and through Him and for Him. To Him be the glory, that men may see a good work and glorify your Father who is in heaven. I can tell you now, if you are a secret agent Christian, God won't tell you your calling, because that means He won't get more glory from your life.

Colossians 1:13 says you have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. Every Christian is part of the kingdom. That means all work becomes kingdom activity, even if it's "secular." In fact, it's technically incorrect to make the distinction between secular and sacred because if you're a kingdom person, it is sacred. Even if you're washing dishes, you wash them sacredly.

Even if you're producing a widget, you do it sacredly, because you're fulfilling a calling if that happens to be your calling. And we'll talk about that, because calling may not necessarily be your occupation. I was talking to a young lady a couple of years ago and she works for Billy Graham, world-famous evangelist Dr. Billy Graham. And she inputs data. Been doing it for years. She said, "Oh, I love what I do." You like sitting at... "I love it."

Why? She said, "Because this is my calling." How is that your calling? "God called me," she said, "to help expand the ministry of Dr. Billy Graham using my computer background and skills. So I don't just sit down and input. I know that a name I put into that computer bank has just been led to Christ in one of those crusades. And I understand that the letter and the book that I'm sending out to them has eternal value."

And that gives me purpose. Not because she was called to input in the computer; that's not her calling, that was a job. Her calling was to support the ministry of Billy Graham, and in that calling, she does that job. The calling is always bigger than you because it's always expanding God's kingdom and bringing God glory. Whether it's in a medical field, whether it's as a lawyer, whether it's as a doctor, whether it's as a janitor—if you are called, it has eternal repercussions.

And God will always be seen in it and through it. And it'll be so natural. That's a whole another subject. Most of you know your calling but don't know you know it. I'll give you a little down payment right now. Here it is. One of the ways you know your calling is that you would do it anyway if nobody paid you. If nobody ever gave you a dime to do it, you'd still do it because, like Paul, "Woe is me if I don't."

Or like Jeremiah, "It's like fire shut up in my bones." And I can't shake it. It burns me. It sets me afire. Because it's kingdom, it always involves discipleship. The kingdom of God is God's comprehensive rule. The process of discipleship is bringing people in line with that comprehensive rule. So therefore, if you are a kingdom person fulfilling your calling, those around you who you affect, you will infect with this kingdom worldview.

Because it's going to rub off on them to some degree. Now watch this. When this happens, you will be part of the greatest coup d'état in history. And the reason you will be part of the greatest coup d'état in history is that when you fulfill your calling in the kingdom, rubbing off on other people so that they are investigating this kingdom too, you are now confiscating the goods of hell and bringing them into the realm of heaven.

Your job is to go out there into the world with your calling, representing the kingdom and confiscating that which has been stolen by Satan so it can be used by the kingdom of God. That is what your job is. Do you know why the kingdom doesn't have more? Because we have people who leave the kingdom with no calling and therefore do whatever they do out there, and it stays out there. It never is harnessed for the kingdom of God.

That's why Paul says in chapter 1 of Ephesians that God has done this, that He might bring all things—the sum of all things—under the authority of Jesus Christ. We are His body, and we are sent to be the fulfillment of all things that is everywhere. He calls people in every direction. You don't have to feel bad if you're not called to be a preacher, if you're not called to be a missionary.

Certain people should be called and you won't be fulfilled unless you respond to that call. But God is also calling people to be entrepreneurs, and He's calling people to be doctors and lawyers and engineers. And He's calling people to be politicians and actors and actresses. And He's calling people to invade hell with the kingdom so that heaven grows. That's what the Lord's Prayer's all about. You know, we went over that.

Our Father, who art in heaven, I know who You are. You're my Father and I know where You live, way up there. And so because I know who You are and where You live, hallowed be Thy name. So since Your name is going to be hallowed, I got to reverse my plans so that Thy kingdom come, which means I got to redo my life's plan so that Thy will is done. Now, if I'm a-hollow Your name, service Your kingdom, and do Your will, then I'm going to need You to supply me the goods, the carbohydrates, the starches, and the fats so that I have enough physiological energy to hollow Your name, service Your kingdom, and do Your will.

So why don't You give me today the daily bread I need to pull that off? And then, because You want a pure vessel, forgive me for the things I've done against You as I forgive those who've done things against me. Because if I don't forgive those who've done things against me, You won't forgive me who's done things against You. And if You don't forgive me who's done things against You, You will not accept me hallowing Your name, servicing Your kingdom, or doing Your will.

Then lead me not into temptation because if You lead me into anything I can't handle, I'm going to embarrass Your name, embarrass Your kingdom, and embarrass Your will. And the only reason I'm praying any of this anyway is because it has absolutely nothing to do with me. Thine is the kingdom, Thine is the power, Thine is the glory forever and ever, amen. You're part of something bigger. Something bigger.

And so we close. Every few months we have an ordination meeting and the young man who's gone to seminary or studied comes up and he sits down, ready to be bombarded with all manner of theological, biblical, practical, ministerial questions. He's nervous, he's sweating, he's wondering whether he will make the ordaining cut. But that's never where the process starts. I always open it up with one simple phrase: Tell me about your call.

Because I don't care how much Bible you know; if you haven't been called, them folk going to run you up out of there. Show you right. Them folk going to run you out if you haven't been called. If I wasn't called, I wouldn't be here. You got to be called to deal with folk. You got to be called. You got to know this is the work God wants you to do. Because when the hard time comes, sometimes all you have is your calling. All you have is your calling.

And when they pass the exam, they get the title Reverend. They are now identifiable as duly appointed, duly called ministers. While the Reverends are not the only ordained folk around, every person who names the name of Jesus Christ has been ordained. And you have the call of God on your life, or as the old folk put it: a charge to keep I have, and a God to glorify.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans, talking about God's purpose for each of us as he wraps up a lesson titled "The Concept of Calling." If you'd like to hear this message in its entirety, including material we didn't have time to present on the air, be sure to ask about Tony's two-volume, 12-part series called *Called for a Purpose*. And for a limited time, when you request this audio collection with your contribution to support Tony's ministry, we'll also include his encouraging *Called for a Purpose* devotional book.

Together, these resources will help you better understand God's plan for your life and give you practical daily encouragement to keep pursuing His purpose with confidence. Get all the details and make your request today at TonyEvans.org. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are available around the clock to help. That's 1-800-800-3222.

We know we must be here for a reason, but if you've ever struggled to figure out what that reason is, be sure to join us next time as Dr. Evans explains how you can be certain about your place in the world.