Pomp and Circumstance
It’s Spring and our attention once again turns to commencement speeches. Flying caps punctuate the excitement as newly minted students are set loose to impact the world for good. Empowered by the weighty reputation of alma mater and degreed abilities, they envision their profession, and maybe even the world, transformed through their individual and collective efforts.
As they set out, we stand with them in hopeful anticipation, either looking forward to our turn or looking back with nostalgia on our journey thus far. The landscape of the world seems different these days, more isolated and challenging, less sure. The validity and value of the education they’ve worked hard to achieve is reasonably questioned. Employment is tougher, with or without a degree, and attitudes between all the generations (Generations Beta, Alpha, X, Y, Z - Internet Generation, Gen AO - Generation Always On), swing wildly between contempt and despair. The fabric of our society seems to be getting very thin, the promises of generations past have evaporated.
The Myth: If you get into a good college, study hard, and graduate with excellent grades, you will be pretty much set for a successful career. - Michael Ellsberg, “The Education of Millionaires”
The “most important” criteria for selecting a job:
There is no ideal way to label "The Best Job," since picking an occupation is personal. Still, the U.S. News Best Jobs rankings give potential and actual job seekers an intuitive method to compare professions based on the components that matter most: the number of openings, the chance to advance and be professionally fulfilled, and the ability to meet financial obligations.[1]
The Wall Street Journal shares its opinion about newly minted graduates:
Dear Class of 2012:
Allow me to be the first one not to congratulate you. Through exertions that—let's be honest—were probably less than heroic, most of you have spent the last few years getting inflated grades in useless subjects in order to obtain a debased degree... Not many of you will be able to [Think Different]... nor do you need to do so. But if you can just manage to tone down your egos, shape up your minds, and think unfashionable thoughts, you just might be able to do something worthy with your lives. And even get a job. Good luck![2]
In 1968 the distinguished American sociologist, Talcott Parsons, wrote that the professions have “become the most important single component in the structure of modern societies.” We know the increased value of that truth in 2026 and, no matter how long we have been in our profession, we hope to contribute toward making the most of its place in the future good of the world.
In 1860, John Ruskin wrote concerning the professions, “For, truly, the man who does not know when to die, does not know how to live.” The “life and death” decision to dedicate our life to a profession that Ruskin described still burns in the hearts of new grads today. Their hearts remain undaunted by the nay-sayers and cynics of the world. The bright lights of their future illuminate a path paved with meaning and fulfillment mixed with a liberal amount of challenge and adversity.
Throwing their caps in a symbolic gesture of freedom from jobs of drudgery and mediocrity, they’re degreed and ready to conquer the world or at least their corner of it. The future generation of graduates has arrived. The door to God’s purpose for their life is swinging wide and entry into it is just one job interview away.
We know their dreams and desires will collide pretty quickly with “real life,” whether they get their dream job or not. The frantic struggle to get by and get ahead will dim their dream and burden their soul. Far too quickly we all become frequent witnesses, and sometimes participants, to the reality of our fallen world and we accumulate real-life examples of greed, unrestrained power, incompetence and betrayal.
My own life was destroyed years ago by my constant pursuit of money and reputation. I learned the lesson too late to save my marriage, family and possessions. What I needed to understand was the relevance of Jesus in every aspect of my life and work.
Dallas Willard describes “job discipleship” as doing your job “as Jesus would. This is the very heart of discipleship, and we cannot effectively be an apprentice of Jesus without integrating our job into The Kingdom Among Us.”[3]
Jesus makes his home with us and we take him with us wherever we go and learn from him how we should do our job. Jesus teaches us the loving nature and creative purpose of work that His Father designed and desires.[4] He shows us how our work fulfills that purpose.
Jesus teaches us how to joyfully live in the presence of our heavenly Father through activities and practices that make a space for God in our lives. His way of living shows us that spiritual disciplines help weave the presence of God throughout the texture of our lives so we can carry out our work “in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”[5]
We learn from Christ the melody and harmony of working with his heavenly Father. Jesus is constantly with us as we consider what jobs to take, what careers to pursue, and He gives us the power of his name to make holy all that we do, from emails to surgery. We find our thoughts, dreams and desires refreshed and made new as we live from within his kingdom. The joy of the Lord bursts forth from things we used to consider ordinary.
The obviously well kept secret of the “ordinary” is that it is made a receptacle of the divine, a place where the life of God flows.[6]
Just as we dedicated effort to earning our degree we must make every effort to grow in God’s ways.[7] The disciplines help us make a space in our lives for God to fill and amazing things happen in us and through us when we do; that is the nature of Grace, God acting with us.
The natural outcome of this “eternal kind of life” is love and peace and joy that cannot be contained. We see our life in God’s life as he works with us to meet everyone’s needs: food, clothing, shelter, justice, mercy, health, education, entertainment, beauty, comfort, hospitality, rest and all other human needs.
As we gaze at the shining faces of this year’s grads setting off to make the world a better place, we do our part by teaching them the way of Jesus in this world. As one body, one church, we stand firm in the Lord[8] and together we pray God’s blessing upon them as they join us in God’s holy calling of work.
[1] http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2012/04/09/how-we-rank-the-best-jobs
[2] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304451104577389750993890854.html
[3] Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy p. 287
[4] Genesis 2:15, Matthew 5:14-16, I would also recommend reading the various papers from The Theology of Work website www.TheologyofWork.org
[5] Colossians 3:17
[6] Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy p. 14
[7] 2 Peter 1:5-7
[8] 1 Thessalonians 3:8