I have been working at McDonald's this summer, and I believe God is forming me for ministry through this experience. My friend Aubrey said she thought everyone should work fast food at some point. I disagreed at the time, arguing that I had worked at a daycare and therefore knew what any fast food worker knows about people and small, hard earned paychecks. Now I know she was right. McDonalds can teach me as much as my Truman education-- and I'm not just talking about Hamburger University.
McDonalds is hard work. My feet and back ache on and off the clock, my ears buzz with the din of cranky voices and endless beeping of timers. My smile aches as I tire of the outrageously perky customer service act I must put on. Yes, the daycare was hard, but I could sit with the kids and give my legs a break. I could decide to pour my heart and soul into the children, therefore giving the long day some meaning. It's hard to feel passionate, though, about getting grumpy people fake food that could literally kill them.
Now I like a cheeseburger and fries as much as the next person. And I do indulge from time to time. But do I feel fulfilled when I hand that 300 pound lady who comes every day her large-sized Big Mac meal? Not really.
When the shifts start to drag, I think about the car I will buy someday with this money, or the new exciting life God and I will build together when I graduate. But many of my coworkers' paychecks nearly disappear every month into an avalanche of bills. I know some of them are on food stamps. Others live with boyfriends, parents, or friends for mostly financial reasons.
Now here's the piercing question: What is the gospel for them? What does the good news mean to the twenty-two year old single mom of three working at McDonalds, to her mother who has started working there as a janitor? To the thirty year old guy who went to college, but is still a shift manager and after years of trying has quit looking for anything else? What can we say to them about vocation and calling?
Here's a pernicious lie from Satan that has wormed its way into the church through well meaning Christians who have lived lucky lives: You are your job, and your calling is what you do to make money. For some people, that is true. A pastor's calling should be her job; what the church pays her to do and God asks that she do are the same. Scholars, artists, doctors, non-profit people, etc. are often like that, too. But not my McDonalds coworkers. I believe God created them for more than flipping burgers. To say God called them to work at McDonalds is both untrue and insulting.
1 Corinthians 7:21 says, "Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you-- although if you can gain your freedom, do so." (And note this "calling" is not to slavery or freedom, not to any job, except to a life of following Jesus Christ.) This is why people get confused about Paul's statements on slavery. Paul is saying whether you are a slave or not doesn't really matter. All that matters is Jesus! If they can get out of slavery-- and make no mistake, minimum wage work is modern day, American capitalism-sanctioned slavery-- they should. Paul isn't saying the system of slavery is okay. The Corinthians could no more dismantle slavery than my coworkers can force McDonald's to pay them a living wage. Of course the system is evil. The Bible, when addressing people in power like in Exodus or Amos or with the Pharisees, is quite clear on that point. That isn't the point Paul is making here; he's addressing the "slaves." His point is that God calls us to a battle, a dream, a vocation, that transcends what our "job" is.
"But to each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good... Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it," says 1 Corinthians 12. To each one! To every person who believes in Jesus, even the McDonalds employee struggling to make ends meet. McDonalds strips you of your individuality-- Wear the same black uniform as everyone else, stick to approved procedures, then collect the paycheck that will barely clothe and house you. God celebrates your individuality, says-- You have unique gifts and powers from me, a special place in my family, and I need you. And I believe God says this to every single person willing to accept it. Not just the people with college degrees.
I want to be a pastor who helps people figure out the way the Spirit has gifted them, and use those gifts for God's glory as members of Christ's body, of God's family. I want to say to my coworkers--
This order taking, sandwich assembling drudgery is meaningless. It is far less than what God created you for. What God created you to be, I don't know exactly. A fiery prophet, shaking the complacent from their sin? A healer, speaking life to the sick and broken? A prayer warrior, casting down strongholds of Satan from your knees? Something else I don't yet know? Go to the church, and they will help you figure it out. You will hear God's voice through God's people, telling you that even though the world says you have a McJob, the truth is that you have a calling and a family.
But I can't say it. In part because the church is too riddled with conflict, too disconnected from God, too invested in the clergy professionals doing all to make such promises. What God created me to be, I don't know. But I think, I think, God created me to be a pastor so I can help other people find what God created them to do.
And my McDonalds coworkers remind me of how desperately this is needed.
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