Setting the vision: the calling of the Christian teacher in the twenty-first century world

Consideration of what it means to be an effective holistic Christian teacher leads to an exploration of the concept of vocation and a re- evaluation of the missiological focus of the church. The narrowness of the categories of church-recognised ministries is seen to be a product of the sacred-secular divide into which churches have stumbled. Teaching as a Christian vocation is examined using the framework of the believer's primary calling to be faithful to God and the secondary callings which are the means by which Christians express that faithfulness, including among other things their career(s). The article argues for a pneumatological understanding of fit and fulfillment as pre-requisites for teaching as a Christian vocation. The helpful distinction between what is distinctively Christian and what is uniquely so empowers the Christian teacher to work cooperatively with others in a plural environment to bring about transformation that corresponds with the coming new creation.