Vocational Discipleship for Truth-tellers in the Wilderness
The call to tell the truth can lead Christians in the sciences to be “a voice in the wilderness,” according to Paul Burke, MIT PhD ‘92, a scientist and biotech executive. There are truths inaccessible to science, questions it cannot answer, entire realms of life where what is needed is not only knowledge, but wisdom.
“But where,” asks Scripture, “shall wisdom be found?” (Job 28:12)
The wisdom literature of the Bible tracks a meditative course that requires us to sit, wrestle, revisit, and turn it over and consider it again. It is deeply confusing and quite frustrating--all the more so to one studying for exams, or trying to meet a project deadline, or facing loss of employment, when the situations in which we find ourselves are, as Dr. Burke describes, like a wilderness. It is at these times when we most need practical, godly wisdom that understands and speaks to the specific challenges and opportunities of our situation. This need is even more pronounced in our workplaces, and especially at elite institutions where the witness of the gospel has receded from prominence. What does it look like to be a faithful Christian working in aerospace engineering? What does it mean to be a faithful Christian working in medicine? Or academia? Or consulting? Living lives of faithful presence demands wisdom that directly addresses the particulars of the circumstances into which we are called.
Fortunately for us, the introductory verses of Proverbs lay out for us a pattern for living in search of wisdom, a pattern from which we can construct a vision for discipleship that is relevant and specific to vocation.
“To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth--
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the word of the wise and their riddles.”
— Proverbs 1:2-6
This pattern is generational, cyclical, and practical; and its purpose is to prepare us, as the Church, to become the bride of Christ.
Generational. At any given university there tends to be a clearly marked gradation from students to professors. At each stage one has a set of prescribed roles. First you learn, then you graduate and maybe then you return to teach. The vision that Proverbs gives us is somewhat similar: wisdom is to “give prudence to the simple/ knowledge and discretion to the young.” Wisdom grows over time and experience gives us insight that can be shared for the instruction and benefit of others with less experience or wisdom. The growth of wisdom is therefore a multigenerational endeavor that requires the involvement of a community of members at all stages of life.
Cyclical. However, there is also a cyclicality to the pattern of wisdom that generates a tension with its generational quality. The wise referred to in these verses are not venerable sages from whose mouths wisdom pours like a stream of honey, but rather they are the ones who hear and continue to increase in learning. So while wisdom grows, its growth is like a continuous feedback loop upon which we grow and continue to grow and grow faster, pouring out our wisdom into others as we go. The distinction of roles between the teacher and the student becomes blurred, not due to a lack of clarity, but because wisdom progresses like a spiral staircase on which, from one angle, we appear to go in circles, even as we are ascending. To seek wisdom, then, empowers us to share what we presently know with those around us, while also humbling us with the reminder that there is always further for us to go.
Practical. The practical outcome of this pursuit of wisdom is that we receive instruction in “wise dealing,/ in righteousness, justice and equity.” Wisdom prepares us to live the sorts of lives that God has throughout history called His people to live. But what this looks like for each of us is highly dependent upon the specific situations in which we find ourselves. For instance, Dr. Burke highlights truth-telling as one facet of the broader Christian vocation that he sees as being particularly relevant to his field of biotechnology. As a Christian working in the sciences, his commitment to telling the truth involves difficult ethical situations and resisting the enticement of mixed motives by testifying that it is not the purpose of science to solve every problem or explain every aspect of our existence. In doing so, he allows his faith in the gospel to shape the way he goes about his work, but he also lets the context of his work provide him with the specific opportunities to live out this witness in the places that God has sent him. Navigating the intersection between our faith and the world with righteousness, justice and equity is the application to which wisdom is applied.
Vocational Discipleship. What does this understanding of wisdom call us to do now? Dr. Burke envisions a college experience that trains students not only in the technical skills necessary to succeed in their careers, but also grows in them the wisdom necessary for flourishing as followers of Christ in their vocations. What he is calling for is vocational discipleship: a multi-generational community of people, inhabiting a common vocation, continuously sharing wisdom in order to prepare each other for lives of faithful service to God in the specific environments and situations to which He has called us. It is the living out of an understanding of wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord and ends with the love of Christ, one that prepares us as the Church for the day when we shall all together be presented before Him as His bride.
