(un)Prepared: When Faithfulness Takes You Outside Your Career Plan
I am working in a position that I did not study for, and I think it’s where I’ll be for a while. Will I work in the field for which I studied? Maybe. Maybe in part. Maybe entirely. But for now, I am where God has called me. Let me tell you my story.
When I was a teenager, I found affirmation and fulfillment in serving my local church as a musician. Every week I led my fellow teens in corporate worship. Occasionally I even led the adults in corporate worship on Sunday mornings. Many people encouraged me, and I felt good serving in this way. When the time came to go to college, I didn’t have any big dreams or aspirations or specific and identifiable “callings.” But I knew that I liked leading corporate worship, and I thought I was good at it. So I began my first year at Indiana Wesleyan University as a Church Music and Business Administration double major. I chose Church Music to enable me to continue doing what I loved. I chose Business Administration because I thought it was wise to have training in a field outside of the church. After all, the Apostle Paul made tents to support his own ministry.
During my freshman year, I had a conversation with a young man I had “mentored” during my senior year of high school. It was the first of several conversations that would lead me to change my major to Music Education. I held onto Business Administration as a minor but quickly dropped it altogether. I hadn’t given up on leading worship. In one of my conversations, a mentor reminded me that I could always lead worship with a Music Education degree, but I couldn’t teach with a Church Music degree. This was the advice I held onto and gave me the confidence to change degree paths.
During college, I continued to serve the local church as a musician, though all my training prepared me for teaching it. After 4.5 years of study, I graduated with my B.S. in Music Education. My wife had just begun working as a Children’s Director in a local church in West Michigan. This area was home to us, so I had no problem looking for a job in that area. I submitted application after application after application and never received an invitation to interview. The summer was passing, schools were filling their positions, we were nearing the birth of my first child, and I could not find a job. Out of desperation, I worked at McDonalds for a few months while I continued the job hunt. I was feeling discouraged. That’s when I got an email asking if I’d apply for a worship director position at a church.
I applied and began preparing for an interview. I had not been trained in ministry or taught about Christian Worship; I only had my limited experience from serving before and during college. As I began reading books about worship, I found myself loving what I was reading, and I felt passionate about it in a way I hadn’t felt about teaching. I far into the hiring process when I found out they would not hire me. But at this point, I didn’t want to teach. I wanted to pursue this. In a span of a few months, God had opened more doors for vocational ministry than he had in 6+ months of searching for a teaching job. I ended up working as an interim Worship Director at my home church. While I was there, I held in my hands (figuratively) two job offers. One from my home church. One from my wife’s church. I took the job at my wife’s church and have led worship on staff at Sparta Nazarene for three years.
I wrestle with myself over my decision to study Music Education. I hadn’t sensed any significant calling when I mulled over jobs and degree paths. Why didn’t He make it more apparent to me? Or, did I not have the eyes to see or the ears to hear? I could give myself over to regret, but I don’t think that would help. God has reminded me of Joseph’s story in the book of Exodus. His path to leadership over Egypt was uncomfortable. He spent years in slavery, servanthood, and prison on a path impacted by the hatred of his brothers and the lies of others. God has reminded me of Abram, who He called to go to a place that He would show him. No destination, only a direction. In both of these stories, God remained present. God was faithful to lead the way, sustain them, and prepare them for the destination in His own way.
I try my best to thank God for my college experience: for the relationships, experiences, and knowledge I have. And I trust that He will equip me to do what He calls me to, even if that’s never teaching band or choir in a public school setting.
Addressing the worries of lack among the people, Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Chad Jensen is an alumnus of Indiana Wesleyan University (2017) and is currently serving on staff as the Worship Arts Director at Sparta Church of the Nazarene in Sparta, MI. He loves spending time with his growing family and is excited to continue learning more and loving more.
