"Do What You Love"? I don't think so.

Last night we had our youth group’s annual Party for the graduating seniors. It has become a tradition to hold a dinner party for each year’s graduating class and present them with a gift and a letter. I’ve started to think of this informal gathering as a baccalaureate of sorts, a chance for the church to offer some intentional reflection on the next step in their lives. I usually read a verse of Scripture and offer a few words of my own. Here’s what I tried to say:

 

“Do What You Love.” It has become a common mantra these days, especially when it comes to motivating and inspiring people who are graduating or contemplating a new career. The sentiment has been around for a while, but Steve Jobs made it popular during a famous commencement address he gave at Stanford in 2005. As far as mottos go, it’s pretty compelling. I can’t disagree with that. After all, who can argue with love? If love is at the core of whatever it is one is doing, what could be wrong about it, right? If you’re trying to discern your future, who could think of a better guide than your love?

 

Actually, I don’t think “Do What You Love” is a very helpful mantra, and I think there is a better guide for discerning your future. As you prepare to graduate, I’m not going to advise you to “Do What You Love.” That doesn’t mean I don’t think you should do what you're good at…or that I don’t pray for your happiness…or that I think you shouldn’t seek to love. What it does mean is that, for all its attractiveness, primarily seeking to “Do What You Love” is not going to be a helpful motto for you in the long run.

 

First of all, let’s be honest: you’re going to have to do a lot of things that you DON’T particularly love, and some of you may even end up in careers or jobs that you don’t find particularly invigorating. You’re going to have to do them anyway, and you may need to end up learning to love (or at least appreciate) the things you find yourselves doing because they provide for your family, or because they’ll open doors for you further down the road. In fact, doing some of the things that we’re not too crazy about often end up making us better, more well-adjusted people.

 

However, the main reason I don’t find “Do What You Love” to be a helpful motto is because it turns out to be a very self-centered, narcissistic viewpoint. It puts all the focus on you. “Do What You Love” really listens only to itself. I’m concerned that, more often than not, it will teach you to care really only for yourself and your own needs. “Do What You Love” essentially puts you at the middle of everything.

 

And you’re not at the middle of everything. God is at the middle of everything.

 

To see what I’m trying to say, look no further than Jesus’ example. I’m sure he would have loved to go anywhere other than Jerusalem where he knew he would undergo great suffering. I’m sure he would have loved to slip away from that destiny under cover of night and go live a life of private fulfillment elsewhere. Yet he sought to listen to God’s call instead. I’m not sure we can say that Jesus thoroughly loved the cross experience, but there was love in it. Love for the world. Love for you and me.

 

Therefore, I would like to modify this short, popular “Do What You Love” motto in a way that I think actually will empower you to use your gifts and lead you to a fulfilling life: “Listen to how God calls.” As you move from here, listen to how God calls you to pay attention to the needs of others. Listen to how God calls you to use your gifts for the sake of the world. Listen to how God calls you to sacrifice every once in a while—your time, your energy, your treasure—and not just so that you can get ahead somewhere down the road. God calls us to sacrifice so that our lives become a real part of how God is making the world better in Jesus Christ. That’s where the love is. And I believe that you and I both can respond to that love and be a part of how that love continues to work in the world. Listening to how God calls each of us to this type of love is key. That goes not only for the grand sweeping arc of your lives—your career, your decisions regarding family—but also for each little moment on the way.

 

Don’t forget that listening to this call will involve the help of other people who are also striving to do the same. If you don’t know how God is calling you to serve others and use your gifts, then the community of Jesus’ followers can help with that. If you don’t even really know what your true gifts are yet, that’s OK. What better place to figure them out than hanging around those who believe you have them and can point them out to you? So, as you leave high school and youth group, don’t forget to make yourself present on a regular basis among the people who acknowledge that there is a God who has suffered in love for us and calls us to respond. In a life that in fact involves doing plenty of things that you don’t love you will find yourselves in plenty of situations where you’ll need the support of Christ’s people.

 

So, remember that God is really at the middle of everything, and that following only the desires of your own love can start to push you there instead. Listen to how God calls. I wish I could tell you that it will be easier than just doing what you love, but I can't. It will probably, many times, be more frustrating. But, in the end, it will be more fulfilling. You might not always get to do what you love each and every day, but if you listen to God’s call something even better will happen: God will be doing what God loves…through you.