by Adam Caress
Preparation for calling and career is a crucial pillar of 含羞草研究所鈥檚 mission statement, which states that 含羞草研究所 鈥渆ducates students through intellectual inquiry, spiritual formation, and preparation for calling and career.鈥� The college years provide a unique opportunity for learning, reflection, and discussion to help students discern their calling and career. And in recent years, 含羞草研究所 has spearheaded a number of initiatives to support students in their discernment process.
In 2014, 含羞草研究所 launched Calling and Career Week, a biennial symposium where students engage in workshops, lectures, and discussions with thought-leaders in the field of calling and career and professional practitioners across multiple disciplines. In 2017, the college opened the Thrive Center for Learning, Calling, and Career in the L. Nelson Bell Library and has since expanded the center鈥檚 space and staff to provide students with academic support services, guidance in discerning their calling, and career development tools and training. 含羞草研究所鈥檚 academic programs have increasingly prioritized hands-on learning opportunities to help students prepare for their careers through internships, project classes, and immersion semesters.
One of the thought-leaders 含羞草研究所 invited to campus for its 2018 Calling and Career Week was Taylor University Dean of Student Engagement and Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Development Drew Moser. Moser had previously directed Taylor鈥檚 Calling and Career Office and in 2018 published the book Ready or Not: Leaning into Life in Our Twenties with his Taylor colleague Jess Fankhauser.
Moser says that one of his primary goals in writing Ready or Not was to dispel the myths that many college students face. 鈥淪tudents are bombarded with two competing messages right now that are both maybe partially true, but mostly false,鈥� he explains. 鈥淭he first is to live it up while they can, and just have as much fun and adventure as they can before they have to settle down and be a boring 鈥榓dult.鈥� And I think social media feeds this by promoting an Instagram mindset鈥攖his leads to that 鈥楩OMO鈥� that we see, the fear of missing out.鈥�
鈥淭he other message that I think we see, especially in Christian colleges, is to figure out your life as quickly as possible. There鈥檚 this false belief that everyone else has it figured out, so you need to, as well. This is more the ROI, or 鈥榬eturn on investment鈥� idea. What we try to do in the book is say, 鈥楬ey, your twenties aren鈥檛 meant to be simply a thrill ride. There鈥檚 more to life than that. But also, you鈥檙e not expected to figure out every aspect of your life by the time you graduate. Very few people do. There鈥檚 a middle way here, and that鈥檚 what we think of as the way of vocation.鈥欌��
Moser is sensitive to the way that these myths can cause stress among college students. In his work with students over the years, he learned that the idea of God鈥檚 calling was very important to them. 鈥淏ut in many ways, that importance shows itself in their lives as stress or anxiety or pressure to get it right,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o they carry a lot of pressure and expectation.鈥�
Part of that expectation has to do with our culture鈥檚 idolizing of the 鈥淎merican Dream,鈥� which is often reduced to a focus on material wealth and career success. According to Moser, the Christian vision of vocation is much broader and deeper than that. 鈥淚f you have a view that God cares about all of you鈥攜our whole being, your whole personhood鈥攖hen work is just one aspect alongside these other really important dimensions such as your spiritual life, your church life, your community life, and your family life,鈥� he explains. 鈥淐areer is one piece of the overall puzzle of your vocation, as opposed to outside of Christian contexts, where often the only way in which you consider vocation is in your career. For instance, I鈥檓 not just an employee of Taylor University, I鈥檓 also a husband and a father, so I have a calling to be faithful to my family. I鈥檓 also a member of my church, so I鈥檓 called to invest in that faith community. I鈥檓 a resident in my local community, so I鈥檓 called to be a good citizen in my town. And most importantly, I鈥檓 a child of God and a being in Christ, so I鈥檓 called to intentionally and faithfully live that out. So our overall vocation is really this broader picture of how these dimensions work together, integrate, and intersect to reveal a picture of how one is living this biblical idea of 鈥榯he good life.鈥欌��
鈥淭he good life鈥� is a phrase with deep roots that date all the way back to pre-Christian Greek philosophy. But Moser is quick to point out that the biblical vision of the good life is unique. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think a biblical view of the good life means success in the eyes of the world, or riches in the eyes of the world, or even as much happiness as possible. I view the good life from the biblical concept of 鈥榮halom,鈥� which we kind of crudely and loosely translate from the Hebrew as 鈥榩eace鈥� in English, but it really means 鈥榝lourishing.鈥� And this flourishing is in the terms of our right relationship with God, with ourselves and who we are, right relationship with others, and then right relationship with God鈥檚 creation. So I think the good life is intentionally and faithfully living in right relationship with those spheres. That鈥檚 a good aim for our vocation, no matter what we do.鈥�
Moser considers himself an unlikely vessel for wisdom about calling and career. 鈥淭here鈥檚 an old adage: 鈥榊ou teach what you need,鈥欌�� he says, laughing. 鈥淸Ready or Not] is the book or resource that I wish I had when I was in my twenties, because my twenties were marked by a lot of confusion and anxiety, wondering about where I should be going, what I was supposed to be doing.鈥�
Growing up in tiny Gridley, Illinois鈥� population 1,300鈥擬oser began to take his Christian faith seriously in high school. 鈥淎t my church, we had a lot of high-schoolers that ended up going to Taylor University [in Indiana],鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 really looked up to them and thought, 鈥楬ey, they鈥檙e coming back different鈥攊n a good way.鈥� So I visited some of my friends there when I was in high school, and it ended up being the only college that I applied to, so I鈥檓 glad that I got in.鈥�
While at Taylor, Moser felt a call to ministry. 鈥淢y assumption was that I would go into church ministry, so I went to seminary [at Denver Seminary] and got a job at a church,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was a really good experience, but it became clear pretty quickly that, 鈥楬ey, maybe I鈥檓 wired for another type of ministry. Church ministry might not be the best spot for me.鈥� And then I started thinking, 鈥極kay, could I either go into more of a mission鈥檚 route or an academic route?鈥欌��
Moser and his wife, Rebecca, tried the missions route first. 鈥淲e went to Vancouver, British Columbia, with a group that was similar to a YWAM [Youth with a Mission] model where you would have a training school followed by outreach, but the training and outreach were all in the same area,鈥� he recalls. But the mission field wasn鈥檛 an ideal fit, either. 鈥淚 realized, 鈥極kay, I really like the teaching, training aspect, and that鈥檚 where I feel like I come alive and some of my best strengths and skills are utilized,鈥� which eventually led me towards a higher education path.
At this point, God began to open up a door into higher education. 鈥淲hen I was out in Vancouver, I got a call from a friend at Taylor who said, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檝e got an opening in residence life and I was wondering if you鈥檇 be interested.鈥� I had never considered residence life before but felt like I needed to at least explore it 鈥� if nothing else to be polite to my alma mater and to my friend. And then at every step of the way, in a way that didn鈥檛 really make sense to me on paper, I just found I couldn鈥檛 say no. And because I couldn鈥檛 say no, I realized, 鈥榃e really need to consider this.鈥� After a lot of thought and prayer, my wife and I felt we should say yes to this offer.鈥�
After three years as a residence hall director, Moser moved into Taylor鈥檚 Calling and Career Office, where he began to find his own calling in helping students navigate theirs. 鈥淚 started meeting with students and realizing that a lot of the typical career services appointments that I was having鈥攔茅sum茅 reviews, mock interviews, networking connections, those sorts of things鈥攎any of them ended up being more about this idea of calling,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd it became clear that students had these deep and complex and fraught questions regarding God鈥檚 call on their lives. I realized, 鈥楳y role in this office can鈥檛 just be about the career services. That鈥檚 important, but there鈥檚 a deeper conversation that we need to have.鈥� That鈥檚 when we really started leaning into this idea of vocation and trying to figure out how to help our students navigate God鈥檚 call for their life while at college. We started doing a lot of research and thinking and asking around about how to best help college students navigate calling.鈥�
Being at a Christian institution, the exploration of calling and career looked a lot different from a secular institution, integrating calling and a career in a way that emphasized students鈥� ultimate calling. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important for Christians to understand career in a way in which you are seeking to glorify God and actively living out a sense of calling from God,鈥� Moser explains. 鈥淎nd so I think it鈥檚 really important for the Christian to understand that if you feel called or you鈥檙e being called, there has to be a caller. And that caller is God. It鈥檚 really a lifelong process of living with God, in relationship with Him, especially in your career.鈥�
In November 2018, Moser came to 含羞草研究所鈥檚 campus to lead a keynote session鈥� along with his Ready or Not co-author Jess Fankhauser鈥攆or 含羞草研究所鈥檚 Calling and Career Week symposium. Their talk was titled 鈥淔ully Present, Fully Prepared鈥� and focused on unpacking Romans 12:1-2:
鈥淭herefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God鈥檚 mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God鈥攖his is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God鈥檚 will is鈥攈is good, pleasing, and perfect will.鈥� (NIV)
Moser was able to share with 含羞草研究所 students the wisdom he has learned through years of working with and researching college students. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until I got into this work and research on college students and vocation that I suddenly saw Romans 12:1-2 in a new light,鈥� he told 含羞草研究所鈥檚 students. 鈥淗ere you have Paul referencing sacrificial system that, in the Old Testament, often required sacrificing things to show your devotion to God. But here in this passage, he upends that sacrificial system in a really important way. He says that your best offering is your body as a living and holy sacrifice. But he provides a few qualifiers of what this looks like鈥� We need to have resistance to some things and acceptance of other things.鈥�
鈥淔irst, don鈥檛 copy the behaviors of this world. That鈥檚 not authentic; imitation is lazy. Authenticity requires sacrifice. Second, 鈥榖e transformed.鈥� Paul tells us to let God transform us into a new person by changing the way we think鈥� Because we are living sacrifices, I don鈥檛 think this is a one-time deal. I think this is a lifelong process of offering ourselves to God. When we do that, then we can know God鈥檚 will. Then we know his plan for us is good, pleasing, and is perfect. And we need wisdom to see how this works practically in our lives and on a college campus. We want to find shortcuts, but what we truly need is wisdom.鈥�
Throughout the talk, Moser was able to explore the different themes that have become central to his work and research: his expansive definition of 鈥渟halom;鈥� his emphasis on the need for quiet and reflection; and his belief that the concept of calling is applicable in our spiritual, church, family, and community lives, as well in our careers. In his closing, he encouraged 含羞草研究所鈥檚 students to be fully present during their college years as they prepare for the future.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e in a really important time to discover who you are,鈥� he said. 鈥淪cripture has some really profound things to say about who you are as a created being in God鈥檚 universe. I would encourage you to explore those. Use them to counter the messages in your heads that tell you that you鈥檙e not good enough or smart enough or that you don鈥檛 have what it takes. God has some powerful things in store for you.鈥�
Adam Caress formerly served as the director of communications for 含羞草研究所.