Calling in Real Time

0:00Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. And an essay entitled After Ten Years, German pastor Theologian Dietrich Bonhoff, or asked his former seminary students, have there ever been people in history who, in their time, like us, had so little ground under their feet, people to whom every possible alternative opened to them at the time, appeared equally unbearable, senseless, and contrary to life, end quote. His question certainly resonates today in a civilizational moment like this one so much seems up in the air. Every option can seem compromised to us. What is the way forward, or to borrow a phrase, how shall we then live? Even more, it's easy to doubt that we have any role to play in God's unfolding of human history. It's easy to thank who am I to make a difference? After all, I'm no Wilberforce, I'm no Bonhoffer, I'm not one of those kinds of great heroes in history, but of course what we do not know, what we cannot know, is whether this moment

1:02that we're in is a Wilberforce moment or a Bonhoffer moment. Think about it. Both men found themselves in pivotal cultural moments, in places where all seemed lost to be falling apart. Both men worked for change, and in the case of Wilberforce, there was renewal. In the case of Bonhoffer, there was collapse. But both men faced evil to oppose. Both men saw brokenness that they were called to help restore, and each man faithfully responded to the calling of God. So neither man was a failure. The results were, as T.S. Eliot once put it, none of their business. Instead the results always belong to God. In his book The Call, Oz Guinness observed that most Christians miss a full understanding of calling because they failed to fully reckon with the seriousness of the hour to which they've been called. In other words, we're not just called to a ministry. We're not just called to a particular vocation, even not just to a set of relationships. Scripture says that we are called to a time and place, this time and place, by the God

2:03who was overseeing the story of history. The first Christians, for example, were called to a time within the Roman Empire, in which it was both normal and legal to abandon unwanted newborn children. And a practice known as exposure, especially little girls, were left in the wilderness to die. The first Christians, because they believed every single person is made in the image of God, would make a practice of going out into the wilderness, searching for these children, and rescuing them. Now, they had no idea that by responding to the seriousness of their moment, that they would change the course of history. However, decades later, when Roman communities had a demographic crisis of far more men than women because of the practice of exposure, Roman men began to go to church in order to find wives, because, well, that's where the women were. According to historian Rodney Stark, it was the acts of Christian faithfulness and rescuing newborns that helped to explain why Christianity exploded in growth in the second century. Unlike those early Christians, we cannot know what God might do with our obedience.

3:07We do not know if this is a world-reforced moment or a bond-hofer moment. Think about it. Just a few years ago, those who believed in the reality of male and female were told that we were on the wrong side of history, and there was so much cultural pressure around that issue, it often felt like we were. But today, in medicine and education, politics, sport, and media, the tide has shifted. So what's most important is that we stand by what is true and right, regardless of the direction our culture shifts. Well, that can feel overwhelming. We live in this time and place by God's decree, not by accident. And so to repeat what T.S. Eliot wrote, for us, there's only the trying. The rest is none of our business. The rest is none of our business because there is a God in control of the universe. He is overseeing and orchestrating human history. Our lives have meaning because he created them that way. He purposed our abilities, our talents, our relationships for this time and place in history. There is no higher calling for which we could possibly strive than that one.

4:10I invite you to take a deeper look at this biblical idea of calling, as well as the theological realities of hope, truth, and being made in the image of God. All of this is in truth rising the study designed for churches, families, and small groups. Truth rising the study will move Christians from feeling powerless in the face of civilization or decline to embracing and living out their God-given calling in this time and place. Learn more about truth rising the study by going to colsoncenter.org slash truth. That's colsoncenter.org slash truth. For Breakpoint, I'm John Stone Street. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org. Hi, Breakpoint listeners. We've released 50 more tickets to the 2026 colsoncenter national conference, happening May 29th through 31st in Knoxville, Tennessee.

5:11These tickets are available on a first-come, first-erve basis. This year's conference theme is, you are here. We'll be exploring what it means to be called by God to the unique challenges of this moment. If you join us, you'll get to learn from speakers like Frank Turic, Chloe Cole, Oz Guinness, Gene Twangie, and more. If you've been hoping to join us, now's your chance. Grab your ticket before they sell out completely at colsonconference.org. That's colsonconference.org.