Congratulations class of 2025! Whether you are graduating high school or college, you’ve been asked countless times and will be asked countless more: what’s next? Where are you going?
Maybe you have a set course. You are already rocking that U of A t-shirt and you are confident in four short years your photo will flash on the jumbotron at Arizona Stadium as you walk across the platform, Mechanical Engineering degree in hand. Or, as a college grad, maybe you’ve already said yes to that job offer from Tucson Unified School District and you’re ready to take on the world and 24 third graders.
Maybe you have no clue. You rack your brain to find clarity when Uncle Ryan prods, “So, what’s next?” You fight the constriction around your chest as your Mimi asks, “Have you decided what you’re going to do with your life?” You secretly hope no one over 22 attends your graduation parties so you could avoid the interrogation that was sure to come in this uncomfortable venue.
I was in the camp of the confident. By the time I graduated high school, I knew I was called to pastoral ministry. Weeks after my college graduation, I married Angel and had the coming years charted out in two, five, and ten year intervals. My wife Angel also was confident of my vocational calling when she graduated high school: she was going to be an elementary school teacher, a vocation she dreamed of since she was in elementary school. She graduated college with an elementary education degree in hand, but an elementary student teaching placement made it clear that God had different plans for her vocationally. She just had no idea what they were.
Whether you stand among the confident or the confused, We have an encouragement to you.
If you know exactly where you’re going and what you want to be, remember that what college you go to doesn’t define you and what career you choose isn’t to be confused with your calling. The clarity of my vocational calling was a gift to me in the focus it provided and the professional zigs and zags it prevented. But it also proved a threat. It took me a long time to sort out the fact that my calling as a pastor isn’t part of my God-given identity. There were a lot of spiritual bumps and bruises I took while under the delusion that it was. It wasn’t until my mid-thirties I was able to put my spiritual feet on the solid ground of who I was in Christ.
If you don’t know where you’re going or what you’re supposed to be, don’t panic. There is more important work for you to do than to scramble to figure out a vocational path. Who you are is found in your relationship with your Creator and Savior, Jesus. Angel had more interests than time and was constantly drawn by the allure of a new and fresh opportunity. Part of her journey was learning that her journey of self-discovery was not primarily a vocational journey, but a journey with Christ in understanding her identities in him.
There is more to this truth than might first appear. When we are made alive in Christ, God gives us new identities. Let’s consider how understanding three of those identities might re-shape the way you look at your graduation (for more, check out our book Substitute Identities).
Gifted: Christ has given you gifts and with those gifts comes a vocation. You might have reflected on how God has given you your mind, your creativity, and an aptitude for certain subjects. Perhaps you are a gifted musician. That gifting might have led you to a music production major or your job as a music therapist. Those are important and good things. But they are secondary. Do you know that the gifts God has blessed you with are for your first vocation: encouraging and unifying the body of Christ? Paul tells us that the gifts the Spirit grants each believer are purposed for the upbuilding of our brothers and sisters in Christ, for the common good, for unity, for service, and for encouragement (see 1 Cor 12).
Sheep: We Americans love being unique, we love finding our thing, and in finding our thing, finding our identity. We proudly identify ourselves by our favorite sports team, the musicians we love, our hobbies, even the grocery stores we shop at. No small part of the pressure of choosing a vocational path is deciding what unique qualities and interests will differentiate you. We want to be special and stand out. Angel and I have collectively held a myriad of jobs: umpire, waitress, swim coach, cook, photographer, salesperson, counselor, Detention Officer, and pastor are among the vocations we have held. Each vocation has provided wonderful opportunities for growth and service. None should define who we are. As I shared earlier, having my identity conflated with my calling as a pastor was a threat to my spiritual health. It wasn’t until I had to step away from pastoral ministry for the sake of my marriage and family that I was able to understand that my calling was not my identity. We are our Good Shepherd’s sheep. As his sheep, we are more similar than dissimilar. Our identity is found in his care of us, not our unique qualities. In fact, when we trust in his care for us, we find true rest.
Child: The pressures of your family are rarely stronger than when you are choosing a college and vocation. Do you feel the pressure of being the first person to graduate from your family? Do you feel the pressure of living up to your parents’ or siblings’ standards? Pressure to make your mom and dad proud? Live up to your family name? Dear friend, remember that first you are a child of God. You are an heir of your Heavenly Father. You are a beloved child, adopted into a relationship where the fearful “spirit of slavery” (Rom 8:15) has been replaced with joyful and transparent communion. Anxiety dissipates in light of our Father’s care (Matt 6:25-26). Live in the confidence of your adoption and the security of your inheritance.
Congratulations, graduate!
We’re proud of you. Not for what you have done or will do, but for who you are. Our prayer for you in this season is that you are not caught in the cultural current of identity, but that you have ears to hear and eyes to see who you are in Christ.
Spend time developing and understanding your identities in Christ, rejecting the good, but substituting identities of the world and claiming ultimate identities secured by your Creator and Savior.
You may also appreciate:
Do You Have a Graduate in Your Life?
Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash