Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling
William Boekestein, Finding My Vocation: A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling. Jenison, MI: Reformed Free Publishing, 2024. $16.95, paperback.
As a pastor, I have come alongside both 20-something and older congregants who struggle for vocational clarity. Could one of the reasons be that pastors, churches, and parents have failed to speak sufficiently to our youth about this critical topic?
If so, Christian young people and those who guide them will find a valuable resource in Finding My Vocation. The book’s three parts – Pondering Vocation, Preparing for Your Vocation, and Practicing Vocation – provide a concise, biblical, and practical theology. The author has drawn from the deep wells of Reformed teaching on the topic, as well as more recent literature. His writing is clear and accessible. His stories provide real life accounts of vocational struggles, choices, and outcomes.
When Christians think of vocation (or, to use a different word, calling), they must begin with their “master-vocation” or “general calling.” The God who has called us into fellowship with himself through his Son, calls us to love him above all else and our neighbor as ourselves. Every believer has experienced the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. In addition to this general calling, each believer has an individual calling that promotes God’s all-encompassing plan for the world. (9)
Although this individual calling or vocation is the burden of his book, the author is wise to devote an entire chapter to the relationship between calling and conversion. If a person is to serve the Lord with gratitude, then he must be converted. Individual callings vary from Christian to Christian. But the Christian’s general calling never varies – in all places, in every vocation, and at all times, the believer is to love God with his whole heart and his neighbor as himself.
Early in life, young Christians should ask themselves a simple question that directs them toward their future service to God and the world: “Do I have something to offer?” So important is a young person’s future that preparing for it is itself a vocation (42). Now, while he or she is young, is the time to gain wisdom, cultivate character, and develop skills.
The author briefly reviews the second table of the law, identifying the character traits that workers must possess. These include respecting providence by learning contentment. “To be happy you don’t need a perfect job or ideal coworkers; you need to trust God’s providence, confident that God is working out a good plan for your life” (47).
It is refreshing to read a book that forgoes nonsensical clichés like “chasing one’s dreams” or “following one’s heart.” Instead, the focus is on the acquisition of concrete skills that will be useful in almost every vocation. Among these is the often-neglected skill of learning to speak well in front of groups (48).
Cultivating character and skills set a young person apart from peers who drift through life without vocational purpose — one of the consequences of a mindset that waits to feel inspired before pursuing any particular type of work.
Frequently, hardworking and thoughtful young people must choose between more than one possible career path. They should not be paralyzed by multiple options. These are opportunities to test gifts, to seek the counsel of others, and to recognize one’s own limitations.
The book’s final section reviews essential workplace behavior and attitudes: hard and focused work discharged responsibly, disciplined rhythms of rest, and sound financial management. All are essential to stable and long-term effectiveness in any field.
The book’s appendices answer commonly asked questions with pastorally informed wisdom and common sense.
The book’s subtitle seems to lack several important words. Perhaps a more accurate subtitle would be “A Guide for Young People Seeking a Calling and for Those Who Counsel Them.” For as valuable as this book will be to serious Christian young people, it will prove just as valuable to parents, pastors, youth leaders, and educators as they help our youth to think biblically about their vocations.
Charles Wingard
Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson
