Making Space for Stories That Shape the Christian Imagination in the World of Work
Full Time Amateur aims to nurture our theological imagination when it comes to faith and work, especially for those who feel disoriented by vocational discernment. It is an attempt to find a middle way between the extremes of ‘secular’ and ‘overly spiritual’ views of work that can shrink the Christian Imagination.
The practical and the theological—this is a false dichotomy. Our work matters to God: not just in the way we do it but in the work itself. This resource is an attempt, through stories, to find language that helps refresh and orient us ‘on the way’ as we seek meaningful work. Language, that is, that reframes our imagining of vocational discernment not merely as job hunting but part of our spiritual pilgrimage and life with Christ. These are not matters that belong either to the practical or theological because they are both/and—they are one and the same.
Full Time Amateur is a wading out to play in this mystery with the belief that stories, more than advice, can help us find language that orients us in vocational discernment. Stories possess a unique power to reframe our perceptions and challenge assumptions. They shape our imagination more helpfully than filling our minds with information. To borrow language from James K.A. Smith, we don’t need to "know better" but "see differently" to find ways forward, together.
Stories help us do that.
Full Time Amateur explores these dimensions of vocational discernment through three forms of content.
The podcast is like NPR’s How I Built This meets BibleProject. In each episode, I highlight stories from guests who have done the hard work of navigating meandering career paths thoughtfully. They are uniquely equipped to share wisdom from the front lines and forks in the road that are all too familiar for those of us wandering vocational paths. Their stories help provide helpful hermeneutics, or frameworks, to help orient those feeling turned-around in vocational discernment.
With the writing section, I aim to create and curate resources that help expand our understanding of faith and work in our contemporary culture. Here, I flesh out ideas from podcast conversations, share insights from books on the matter, and curate resources from films and other media that help us consider the relationship between theology and vocation in different ways.
The videos are short-form cinematic vignettes of people navigating vocational discernment. I could write another paragraph or two trying to explain it to you, but why don't you just click to see one for yourself: this button is a hyperlink, after all.
What's Up With the Name? Full Time Amateur?
I have been out of school for a while now. I thought I would have found meaningful work and a stable career by this point. I have done a lot of searching. I’ve given myself to difficult work, moved several times, and taken chances on different career paths. I have not necessarily found that single, magical career path I had hoped for. I have noticed one thing, however—a pattern in my personality. Looking back, I recognize a strength in the willingness to continually begin new endeavors, so much so where, funnily enough, it seems that has been my job all this time—to start over again and again trying new things. Simply put, to be a full-time amateur.
And you know what? I’m getting pretty good at it.
I might even do it professionally.
