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My Worldview and Vocation
Thomas Combs
CHR 305
12/3/2025
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Introduction
A vocation is a calling from something higher than our human form. It also extends far
more than just an occupation. Vocation represents the ability of one's talents to create purposeful
work in the eyes of the Lord Jesus. I currently play football for Anderson University while also
focusing on my degree in Political Science and a focus on public policy. I chose this academic
area to study because of a conviction to a call of service. This will manifest into a multi-stage
professional commitment first, by commissioning as a military officer after graduation, and then
subsequently pursuing a legal degree. This trajectory places me directly into areas of significant
demand, requiring a deep understanding of governance, justice, and ethical decision-making. The
main purpose of this paper is to explore how the Christian worldview has set the foundations for
me to answer my callings and pursue a service-filled career. The Christian worldview,
specifically through the lenses of Creation, Fall, and Redemption, provides the essential ethical
framework and moral justification for pursuing vocations in military command and law.
Personal Vocation
From an early age, I can always remember being a part of a sports team. I always knew I
wanted to lead, serve others before me, and push others to do their best. This gave me the initial
spark in wanting to serve. I also love history, and it is still my favorite subject and something I
enjoy to learn more about. I also grew up understanding the importance of men and what a man
is according to the Bible. I have always had a spark to protect others if they could not protect
themselves, and to stand up for what is right. All of these things sparked my vocation by helping
me decide what I wanted to study in college and what I want to do professionally. Service to me
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in my career wouldn’t feel like a job because to me, it is a spiritual conviction to help and serve
others before myself.
I chose political science to fully understand government mechanisms because effective
change starts with understanding policy. Studying this has allowed me to analyze complex power
structures and how to critique existing policies. My time playing football and being a part of a
team has built crucial foundational skills. Being a part of a sports team requires extreme
discipline, focus, and intensity. It provides daily lessons in both leadership and teamwork. These
experiences play a vital role in training me for the future.
In my calling to serve, I have decided that after college, I want to go into the military as a
commissioned officer. This is the first critical stage of my commitment to service. I want to gain
immediate, practical leadership experience as I turn to a professional life. Serving as an officer
would fulfill a deep sense of duty to national protection. It also puts me at the end of policy
implementation, where decisions have real consequences. My goal is to exercise authority
ethically under intense pressure, which means being directly responsible for the lives of those
under my command. It requires translating public policy into decisive, moral action on the
ground. I believe this period of active service is necessary to help strengthen my skills to
continue to lead in the future.
By leveraging my skills learned in college and the military, I would bridge the gap and
attend law school. By doing this, it would allow me to serve more people in a local community
and help build my professional career. I plan to specialize in military, international, or
constitutional law. My goal is to transition from enforcing order to shaping justice. I want to
move from being an instrument of law to a designer and advocate of law. This career progression
aims to ensure that the rules and policies I once executed are morally sound and justly applied to
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all citizens. The ultimate goal is to connect my lived experience of command and policy with the
pursuit of righteous justice.
Creation
Creation shows us that vocation is an agent of order. My calling of service is tied directly
back to the story of creation. From the Bible, we know God is not a God of chaos but rather the
supreme authority of order. Before the Fall, the universe was characterized by design, structure,
and divine law. My vocation directly reflects this aspect of the Creator. Political science seeks to
study this order by analyzing how societies structure themselves. Law provides the essential
framework for maintaining this order, and military command enforces the necessary stability.
The calling to these vocations is rooted in the image of God. My policy studies express the image
of God by striving to use intellect to design just systems. Humans are image-bearers of God,
which includes our capacity for reason and judgment. Policy creation is an act of human reason,
and it requires intelligence and thoughtful analysis. Ultimately, creation has shown me that the
worth of every person is inherent and justice is treating others according to their sacred worth.
These are the foundational goals of my legal career, where human worth is universal, and policy
doesn’t favor one group of people over others.
Fall
The fall is recognized as the original sin, as sin now had dominion in the earthly world.
This original sin introduced corruption, pride, and injustice into human life and institutions. My
vocations must confront this brokenness and seek to fix it within my own God given abilities.
From the fall, we know sin distorts human intent and selfishness leads to institutional corruption.
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If I decide to further my career in policy, I must be able to see corruption and design mine to
resist against manipulation of others. The bible also reveals to us that power often becomes a
means of oppression and policy can be twisted for personal gain. I must guard my heart from
pride and be humble with what I have. I must not seek power to please my own gain. The bible
teaches us that governing authority is ordained by God, and it exists to be God's servant. If this is
the case, then when I am ordained into power of any sort throughout my professional life, it must
exist to please God and be a platform to be God’s servant. In the fall, we must also resist evil,
and as an officer, that is what my job would entail by serving the country. In my law career, I
must seek to mitigate suffering caused by such sin and use it to bring temporary healing and
justice.
Redemption
Redemption is basically the ongoing process of God restoring the world toward the future
New Creation. This is where we work to live Godly lives in the constant strive for sanctification
and salvation. In the New Creation, justice will be flawless. There will be no unpunished crime,
and there will be no unfair laws. My legal work must reflect this to the best of my abilities.
Every fair verdict is a prophetic witness, and every unjust law overturned points to God's rule.
By seeing the redemption, I must have full integrity when working in this field. Redemption is
about restoring broken relationships and is about reconciling people to God and to each other. By
being an officer, I can help protect the space for recreation and use it to mentor younger men to
follow a godly path. My ultimate ambition is faithful service; my vocation is about God's glory,
not my own.
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Conclusion
By writing this paper, I have only gained heightened excitement to further my vocation. I
understand I might be a little ambitious, but I can be because I believe that is my calling from
God. Analyzing my vocation through a Christian worldview has provided me with a stronger
ethical compass as I lean into my calling to service. My vocation must also be looked at through
the lenses of creation, fall, and redemption. I must understand these aspects to grow in my
vocations and use what god has given me to help others. I understand now that the drive for
Creation’s order can only be ethically pursued if I am equally aware of the Fall’s potential for
corruption, and that my long-term motivation must always be the hope of Redemption.
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