How Clarifying the Language Behind “A Calling” Can Energize Your Church
As church leaders, we hear the motivation behind spreading the Good News referred to in many different ways, including passion, purpose, calling, mission, and vision.
This lack of consistency in vocabulary can create a Tower of Babel effect where we are all speaking different languages. Clarifying the differences between these overlapping yet distinct concepts can ignite the power behind each of them—energizing your church and empowering your congregation to live more fruitfully in the way God has created them to be.
At Clarity House, we help church leaders build momentum and shared vision around a custom disciple-making strategy. A shared vision begins with consistent language, so everyone is working in agreement.
Here’s a breakdown of the meaning behind these five important momentum drivers, and how they are connected to each other. The easiest way to think about it is as a nested set of Russian dolls.
Passion
Definition: A conviction that becomes contagious because it endures the test of pain.
Church Context: The word passion is often used interchangeably with the word excitement—but there’s a key difference. Passion is a conviction that becomes contagious because it stands the test of pain. Excitement diminishes when exposed to pain, but passion deepens when exposed to pain.
Young people are frequently told to “follow your passion” when choosing a career, but passion by itself doesn’t lead to clarity of action. And if what someone is passionate about isn’t connected to their abilities, following a passion can be frustrating and aimless. If you have an ability for something you aren’t passionate about, you will become bored. Directing passion is important, which leads us to purpose.
Watch the recording where the Clarity House team discusses how passion, purpose, calling, mission, and vision fit together to accelerate God’s plan for His disciples.
Purpose
Definition: Motivated ability
Church Context: Purpose is where passion and abilities connect. It’s the overlap between what you’re passionate about and what you have abilities for, which creates an energized ability. Purpose is something steadfast—it doesn’t vacillate based on outer circumstances or the passing of time. For someone to live out their purpose, it needs to be connected to their calling.
Calling
Definition: The intersection where the depth of your purpose meets the scope of your influence
Church Context: A calling is the intersection where the depth of your purpose meets the scope of your influence. In other words, a calling is the application of your purpose, including how and where it’s applied. In other words, calling is purpose + influence. Your influence is the place and the people where your purpose is best lived out.
Over time, while your purpose doesn’t change, the application of it might. Someone may be called to a certain ministry at one point in their life, and the calling manifests in a different way later in their life. This means their calling has evolved based on the same purpose.
One way church leaders can help people lean into their calling is by helping them focus on the depth of a calling rather than its breadth. A disciple leans into who God designed them to be, and He guides the breadth. Which brings us to mission.
Mission
Definition: A specific task or focus with which a group has been charged. It’s what we do together.
Church Context: A mission is where an individual’s calling comes together with others. A mission is not a solitary activity—as we like to say, “Jesus sees individuals but He sends teams.” Calling is lived out in a bigger way than individual fulfillment and that is the mission of the community of believers that God is doing his work through in the world.
Mission is best energized when you are igniting calling, which in turn is based on purpose, which is fueled by passion. Churches can fall into a pattern of simply filling roles like volunteer spots based on what needs to be done. Mission activates calling so people live it out (and still accomplish what needs to be done) based on the intrinsic motivation of the spirit of God working through them. When mission is activated in this way, people can live out their calling on a daily basis in their relational spheres—where they work, live, and play.
Vision
Definition: The preferred future that God is leading us into.
Church Context: Vision answers the question, “where is God taking us next?” It clarifies the impact a church hopes to create and realize in the future. Churches can build a vision by identifying how their mission creates solutions and provides support in a way that’s unique to the context of their church. A vision also fosters a culture of spiritual reproduction—not just disciples but disciples who make disciples.
The Russian Doll Summary
Passion functions inside of purpose
→ purpose is passion connected to ability
→ calling is driven by purpose plus influence
→ calling is connected to others as a shared mission
→ mission leads the church to imagine its impact, which is vision.
This clear vocabulary prevents confusion and clears the way for a thriving spiritual growth pathway.
Suggestions for Application and Discussion
- Ask your staff or board to read this article before your next meeting. Spend 10-15 minutes discussing the definitions we offer. You can use the questions below to facilitate that discussion.
- What do you like best about these 5 definitions?
- What stood out to you the most as you read the article? Why?
- How do these definitions differ from how we’ve used these words in our church or organization?
- Does your church’s mission statement make room for people to live out their calling on a daily basis … or does it require them to only use their calling within the ministries of the church? Why or why not?
- Can your staff and/or board members articulate their passion, purpose, and calling? (If not, check out our Handcrafted Calling course that will be coming out soon!)
This is the second part of a multi-article series about how empowering people in your congregation to articulate and live out their personal calling is critical to a healthy and thriving spiritual growth pathway.
If you’d like to define and activate your church’s mission and answer the question, “where is God taking us?,” set up a time to talk with our team.