It’s spring. The heady notes of "Pomp and Circumstance" float in the air at graduation ceremonies blooming nationwide. You may have heard more than one speaker pontificate on finding an answer to that big question: What are you going to do with your life?

The older I get, the more I realize how less-than-settled the answer to that question usually is. Educational choices, career goals, jobs and ministry opportunities are more "for now" options than "forever" steps.

A new book by Church Central’s president, Tom Harper, a self-confessed "pastor wannabe," explores the choice a surprisingly large number of marketplace workers are making today in leaving business for full-time vocational ministry. For people considering such a move, "Career Crossover: Leaving the Marketplace for Ministry," (B&H Publishing Group, May 2007) offers a helpful guide, along with expert advice from several ministers who made this move.

Insights into the transition

From Doug Spada of WorkLife Ministry; to Bob Buford, author of "HalfTime" and founder of the Leadership Network; to Thom Rainer, Church Central alumnus and now CEO of Lifeway; Harper’s book gives insight into the transitions these movers and shakers made to switch from a life in the business world to some form of ministry.

If you’re like me, you’ve already realized that at the core of a book like this is the philosophical premise that ministry and work are mutually exclusive entities. Harper deals with this erroneous dichotomy in the first few pages, writing that "Our Western culture unfairly divides ministry and the workplace into separate callings."

The Western Church has noted the division, too. Spada is quoted as saying that in church circles he never heard the word "calling" applied to anything other than ministry.

While Harper acknowledges the specific ministry opportunity of the marketplace, one he is using himself, he focuses this book on people who have been "called" out of it and into full-time church or parachurch work.

Presenting an action plan

Harper offers nine steps to turning a decision to enter ministry into an action plan. He includes a financial downsizing strategy, since moving from business to ministry usually means a significant shift to tighter budgeting.

While practical at many points, Harper also writes that his goal in the "Career Crossover" book is "to encourage [readers] to seek God’s plan for [their] desire to enter the ministry." And, to readers interested in entering church consulting, he offers a guide to this burgeoning field.

However, Harper brings the book to a close with a reminder of the calling that remains for all believers. 

"If the Lord calls you into ministry, obey," he writes. "If he calls you to stay in the workplace, obey and minister to those around you. Wherever he puts you, seek his will for your time there. If that purpose is complete, be sure, and remain sensitive to his next leading. For it is not where we are called, when we are called, or why we are called—it is that we are called to obey."

Well said, Tom, even without a pulpit.