What does if mean to live a compartmentalized life? It means we are one person at work/school, another at home, another in sports or clubs, another with our extended family, another at church, and yet another as we live out our civic lives. But God invites us to live lives centered in Christ. That life centered in Christ has three core claims:
- God creates and calls us to live in an integrated and interconnected way, holding faith in Christ at the center.
- Vocation, the call to be God’s hands and feet, bridges the gap we often feel between Sunday worship and Monday-Saturday life.
- Our vocation is lived out in the many roles/arenas of daily life—family, occupation, citizen, neighbor, and the list goes on.
Let’s start with that list—what are the varied rolls you inhabit? Grab a pen and start writing all your rolls. An example from my life is, I am: husband, father, son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin. But as a cousin I am a cousin in three different systems (Ferris, Svangstu, and Carlson). Take time and make your list.
Look at your list, all of these roles/arenas pull us to be a different person. In some roles we feel drastically different, in others just ever so slightly. This is what is meant by the Compartmentalized Life—we have all these different roles and we are lead to believe that they need their own compartment. Vocation bridges all of our roles. Vocation empowers us to live as integrated whole beings. With Christ as our center we are free to move in and out of the different roles while always being who we are—a Child of God.