REFLECT (OPTIONAL)
Ought-Is-Can-Will
Even if you know your gifts and passions, it can still be difficult to understand how your day-to-day work can contribute toward the flourishing of the city and the world
The Ought-Is-Can-Will framework is a really helpful tool to explore more deeply how your vocational calling can be a part of that flourishing.
- Creation: The world as it Ought to be (Genesis 1-2)
- Fall: The world as it often Is (Genesis 3)
- Redemption: The way the world Can be
- Consummation: The world as it Will be. (Rev. 21-22)
When we begin to think about why God created work, here are some helpful questions to prompt your thinking about about how your vocational field fits into the broader Kingdom narrative:
OUGHT: What aspects of your work reflect God’s design for creation? What is as it ought to be?
IS: What aspects of your work reflect the fallen nature of the world, as seen in both human nature and in created structures? What is wrong in your workplace or in the field or industry in which you work?
CAN: How can you exercise leadership that will restore your work or workplace to that which God intended? What change might be made in the broader industry? What influence can you exercise to promote positive change?
WILL: Assume that work and calling follow us into the renewed heavens and earth. How will your profession look in the New Creation? What is the hope for your profession?
“A society in which vocation and job are separated for
—SAM KEEN
most people gradually creates an economy that is often
devoid of spirit, one that frequently fills our pocketbooks at the cost of emptying our souls.”