📖 Biblical Definition
Secondary calling is the believer’s call to a particular work in the world — the trade, craft, post, vocation, or station that the saint occupies under the Lord. The Reformers (notably Luther) distinguished it from the primary calling, the call to Christ Himself. Both are real; both come from God; both are to be honored. "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called" (1 Corinthians 7:20); "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him" (Colossians 3:17). The carpenter, farmer, soldier, mother, and pastor are each fulfilling secondary callings under the primary one — and the workshop is a holy place when consecrated to God.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Theological.) The believer's second-order calling to a particular work, station, or vocation under the Lord.
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Calling in Webster: “profession or trade; vocation; the divine summons to special work.”
Reformation theology distinguishes the two callings: the primary calling is to Christ (God calls each saint personally to Himself); the secondary calling is to a particular work or station in this world. Both come from God; the second is no less holy for being also vocational.
📖 Key Scripture
1 Corinthians 7:17 — "But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk."
Colossians 3:23 — "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."
Ephesians 4:1 — "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called."
Genesis 2:15 — "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often divides life into ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’; the Reformers saw the saint's daily work as part of his calling to God.
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Colossians 3:23 dissolves the sacred-secular split: whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. Plumbing, teaching, soldiering, mothering, programming — each becomes service to Christ when received as secondary calling.
Recover this and the Marine's post, the mother's kitchen, the farmer's field, the programmer's desk all become liturgy. Daily work is not what one does to fund worship; it is part of worship, when received as call.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek klēsis (calling) and Hebrew melakah (work) underlie the concept.
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Greek klēsis — calling, invitation; behind vocation in Eph 4:1.
Hebrew melakah — work, occupation, business; the appointed labor of the saint.
Usage
"The Marine's post is a calling; so is the mother's kitchen."
"Daily work is part of worship when received as call."
"Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called — both callings, both honored."