This section describes how Christians can follow the call of discipleship through their daily life and work.

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Chapter A1

                        This section describes how Christians can follow the call of discipleship through their daily life and work.

                        Everyone has a calling or ‘vocation’ from God to do good, to serve him and to serve others. The Latin word ‘vox’ means calling, which is where the word vocation originates. In the eyes of God, each vocation is as important as another, for example a surgeon would be valued by God as much as a bus driver would, although their salaries are significantly different.

                        Discipleship is the word to describe followers of Christ, and as followers of Christ we have to learn from him. The word discipleship comes from a Latin word meaning ‘learner’. To become a follower of Christ, you would have to repent, which means you would have to change your way of life for the better. Jesus was a teacher and his first followers learned from him. They also learned from his actions, which means they put their ‘faith into action’, by spreading the word of God and serving others. As vocations often result in having to make a sacrifice to a lesser or greater extent. For example being a doctor in England or the USA would be very highly paid, but if your vocation is to become a doctor in Bangladesh then you are giving up a very large salary and a comfortable lifestyle. However if your vocation is to teach, you may have to give up some of your social free time to mark books or run extra-curricular activities. These first followers of Jesus (called the apostles) had to be willing to die, and to give their lives for others. Modern examples of this are Martin Luther-King and Mahatma Ghandi, whose vocation to change injustice lead tot heir death.

                        Vocation and discipleship are both part of Christianity. The call to discipleship is clearly laid down in Jesus’ own word. Christians understood that they have to follow their vocation, which will mean making some kind of sacrifice. However hard it is to undertake this task, in the eyes of God your duty is completed, as stated in Mark 9:35-37

“Anyone who loses his life for my sake, or for the sake of the Gospel, will save it”.

                        Christians also believe that if you follow God and spread the word of the Lord, you will become a disciple, as Mark 1:16-20 explains:

“Come after me and I will make you fishers of people”.

                        There are many different ways in which Christians choose to live out this calling or vocation, although as I mentioned before all are just as important and worthwhile. As quoted in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7:

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“There are many different forms of activity, but it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good”.

People can carry out a vocation through married life, by bringing up their children and being loving and loyal to their partner. Undertaking a vocation through a single life is still possible by committing yourself totally to your job, for example being a teacher and devoting all of your time to the children’s education and not getting married so as to not ...

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