In Part 1, I described two different times that my wife and I lived in Italy — a “secular” trip and a “sacred” trip — and how the secular trip gave us more contact with non-Christians than the other. And yet I still thought that the sacred trip was the one that really mattered.

If my first trip mattered less because I was writing software rather than teaching hermeneutics, does that mean that I mattered less on that trip? Do my software skills matter less than my pastoral skills? If so, that’s devastating to me personally, because my software skills have always been much better than my pastoral skills. What if what I’m best at doesn’t matter as much?

I looked at the labor of my hands differently on the two trips. I felt like the hours spent in the lab Monday through Friday weren’t inherently important, but just provided a means for me to spend the few hours on Sunday morning in church — and that was what really mattered. Was I spending most of my time just spinning my wheels?

I couldn’t see how my software work in any way reflected God’s work. I didn’t understand that I had a vocation, a calling, to write software.

If God were to give my wife and me a third opportunity to live in Italy, here’s how I would want to spend my time: I would prefer to write software, structuring my life so that mission was more intentional than additional (to borrow author Caesar Kalinowski’s terms). I would prefer to contribute my best skills to society, and, in turn, have greater interaction with co-workers and friends and neighbors who don’t follow Jesus. I would want to demonstrate to them how a follower of Jesus writes code, handles stress, maintains a marriage, and fights for justice. People are much more likely to accept a dinner invitation from a programmer than a pastor, especially in Italy.

Instead of only doing “Christian” things, I would want to do all things like Christ.

Read Part 1.

Dr. Colby E Kinser serves his wife of 27 years, serves as pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Overland Park, KS, and serves on the board of Hungry 4 Him, Inc., which partners with those who cultivate fruitful environments for vulnerable children. He admires people who are the avid cyclists he'd like to be. He loved studying at the University of Missouri - Rolla (BS), Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), and Dallas Theological Seminary (D.Min.).