Signs vs Spreadsheets: Christian Career Advice for Our Times

Written by Thomas Kelly

The early Christians saw so many miracles, the apostles gave up recording them all. Jesus was multiplying fish, raising the dead, and being raised from the dead. Even after He ascended off into Heaven, the apostles were still throwing miracles around.

Disciples were being teleported, angels were leading prison breaks, and demons were being cast out all over the place. It was probably the most-miracle dense social circle to ever exist.

If there was ever a situation where you could expect a supernatural solution to a normal problem, it was probably being an early-stage Christian disciple. (Oh, I guess we didn’t order enough wine, Jesus….). Naturally, with supernatural intervention more frequent and dramatic, the value of mundane tasks or normal reasoning might seem pretty low. 

After all Peter did tell the crowd at Pentecost that people would be prophesying, young men would get miraculous visions, and old men would get (presumably) miraculous dreams. So you might think early Christians would run around basing their decisions on things like prophecies, spiritual apparitions, and dreams rather than spreadsheets or expected value calculations. And shouldn’t we be like the early Christians?

So maybe when we’re picking our career or making other major decisions we should wait for a sign, a dream, or a spirit?

But the apostles hated that idea- they were 100% against the idea that people should make decisions off their own private spiritual experiences.  Peter warned against private interpretation of prophecy. John acknowledged the possibility of spiritual revelation but warned they could mislead. Even the gift of tongues, which Paul recognized, was of dubious value without communal understanding and interpretation.

I think Jesus was, and is, a big fan of cost-benefit analysis. 

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Are you more cunning than a serpent?

Jesus set the moral standards for his followers high, but he also set another very high standard- his followers are supposed to be more cunning than serpents. Now, I think he was being metaphorical. I think almost all humans are smarter than all snakes. And if serpents is meant to refer to demons, I’m personally skeptical that I could defeat any fallen angel in a battle of wits. But still the point is clear - don’t be stupid. 

Jesus also set a more grounded challenge for us - we should try to be as cunning as financial fraudsters. In the Parable of the Shrewd Manager,  an incompetent or perhaps dishonest financial manager is about to be fired and impoverished, so he exploits his position to fabricate financial records, erasing or shrinking the debts of his master’s debtors, in hopes they will reward him after he loses his job. Jesus marvels at the cleverness of the fraudster, laments that good people are less savvy or cunning than bad people, and encourages his followers to use worldly wealth well.

And of course, the manager was very savvy. He recognized and exploited a time-limited opportunity, showed exquisite understanding of social ties and the gift economy, and recognized it was important to modify your paper trail when committing any financial crime.

So when picking our careers we should be at least as cunning as the manager, albeit using worldly wealth and future job earnings for good rather than bad. And I don’t think we can dodge this expectation to use wealth well by cleverly picking low-paid jobs. In  the Parable of Talents, Jesus clearly anticipates the concept of opportunity costs.

If the manager were around today, he would doubtless use spreadsheets and cost benefit-evaluations all the time. He’s cunning!

Miracles Happen

Personally, I do think that some people get private spiritual revelation. So if an angel shows up and is willing to confess that Jesus was resurrected in the flesh, feel free to take his advice. But I think Christian career discernment should not look like praying a lot and then following our hearts (we all know how trustworthy that is!) I would argue that a career choice oriented around love and neighbor will remain wise, whether or not prophecy does cease. 

Christian career discernment should look pretty conventional, just more cunning. Our decision-making process should look a lot like our secular peers just driven by different (i.e. superior) values rather than prophetic insight.

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