Calling in Context: Social Location and Vocational Formation

by Susan L. Maros

Publisher:

IVP

, 2022

Overview

“I don't care for vocational books written in the United States; they're too American.” When Susan Maros heard this comment from a Malaysian colleague, she was initially taken aback. Isn't the concept of calling universal? Why wouldn't resources with a biblical perspective on vocation apply to everyone?

The reality is that each of us encounters our questions of calling from within a particular context. In this path-breaking book, Maros explores how various dimensions of social location—including race, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, and gender—shape our assumptions and experiences with vocation. Maros helps Christians in the United States in particular see how ideas about calling that emphasize certainty, career paths, and personal achievement arise from cultural priorities that shouldn't go unexamined, such as individualism, productivity, and meritocracy. She explains how unexamined “mental maps” can distort our perspective and refocuses our attention on biblical insights about calling as a lifelong journey. In the process, she helps us find both clarity and encouragement to explore the paths before us.

God calls all people, yes—but calling is not a monolithic concept. Filled with numerous stories from Christians in diverse communities, Calling in Context invites anyone exploring questions of calling to find fresh possibilities in their own identity and engagement with God's mission. Reflection questions and Bible study prompts are included throughout.

Key Features

• Explores how various dimensions of social location shape our assumptions and experiences with vocation
• Explains how unexamined mental maps can distort our perspective
• Invites anyone exploring questions of calling to find fresh possibilities in their own identity and engagement with God’s mission

Contents

Part I: Maps, Theoretical Frameworks, and “You Are Here”

• What Is My Calling? and Other Problematic Maps
• In Search of a Biblical Map
• The Journey of Calling

Part II: Social Location and Vocational Formation

• The Gift of Particularity—Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Identity and Christian Vocation
• Socioeconomic Status, Class, and Calling
• On Being a Godly (Wo)Man—Sex, Gender, and Vocation

Part III: Examining Intersections

• Privilege and Power
• Practices for the Journey
• Developing a Purposeful Life

Product Details

• Title: Calling in Context: Social Location and Vocational Formation
• Author: Susan L. Maros
• Publisher: IVP
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 230
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Vocation › Christianity; Christianity › United States
• ISBNs: 9781514001455, 9781514001448, 1514001454, 1514001446
• Resource ID: LLS:CALLINGINCONTEXT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:28:55Z

About Susan L. Maros

Susan L. Maros (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is an affiliate assistant professor of Christian leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she has also served as a doctoral supervisor, and an adjunct professor at the King's University, Southlake, Texas. She is a past president of the Academy of Religious Leadership.