Published October 23, 2018 in Summit Magazine
There was a time when I never referred to the outcome of a CSU education as a “career.” After all, Clarks Summit University is all about ministry! And isn’t a career all about making money?
Well, no. I could not have been much farther from the center of the target. Three concepts helped adjust my thinking. Let me share them with you. I found that the word “career” descended from the Latin “carrus,” a wheeled vehicle. The carrus allowed a person to get from one place to another, carrying useful material along on the journey. Metaphorically, that’s exactly what we have always offered our students!
The modern definition of “career” adjusted my thinking, too. Wikipedia asserts that a career is “an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person’s life…with opportunities for progress.” Not too long before we turned 40, Diane and I became missionaries. Someone asked if I believed I had been called to career missionary service. “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m called to salvation, which involves a life of service to God. I’ve been serving God for years, and I want to serve for as long as He wants me to do it, wherever He wants me to do it.” After 14 years of teaching at CSU, we served as missionaries for 14 years. We did not expect to stop being missionaries—we loved it! Now we have invested almost 12 more years here at CSU. The constant has been Who we serve, not how or where. That’s a career.
Finally, the New Testament use of “ministry” adjusted my thinking. A word study makes it obvious—ministry is service that helps others know Christ and grow in Him. Ministry is an outflow of life in Christ. No matter how we earn our money, we help others know Christ and grow in Him. The New Testament does not present ministry as a career, but ministry makes a career valuable for God’s purposes.
So, do you think God is leading you to a career in the local church? Teaching? Counseling? How about accounting or entrepreneurship? CSU offers a lot more than a qualification for “an occupation for a significant period of life.” More than 40 bachelor’s majors, nine master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees meld deep knowledge of God’s Word and Christ-centered living with exceptional career skills. You need to be Christ-centered and career-ready to maximize your service for Christ, and we are committed to helping you get there.
Dr. Jim Lytle
President
Dr. Jim Lytle (’77, ’81, ’84) is a
three-time CSU alumnus and the
university’s 10th president
