The Spiritual Career (by Wayne Back)

From time to time I browse free Kindle books; some out of copyright, some taster books for a series, and some which have been offered free for a limited period. Amazon tells me that it’s seven years since I downloaded ‘The Spiritual Career’ by Wayne Back - an Australian businessman whom I had never heard of. I finally started reading it at the end of July, dipped into it from time to time while travelling in August, and finished it at the weekend.

The theme of the book is sound, and I thought it started well. The subtitle is ‘How to find and follow your calling to work’, and that’s essentially what it is about. It’s a Christian book encouraging and equipping believers who work - or want to work - in secular employment. As such it’s not all that relevant to me at this stage of my life; I have not gone out to paid work for over thirty years and have no plans to do so now.

But the author makes it clear early in the book that we are all ‘called’, and I felt that many of the principles could still hold for those working at home, or even retired and looking for constructive use of time, with or without financial compensation.

And, indeed, the first chapters set the scene well. God cares about each individual, and has equipped us all for a role in building the Kingdom. The author invites readers to evaluate their current jobs and responsibilities, to list their strengths and weaknesses, to consider their passions and desires, and to do so prayerfully and with an open mind. Risks, the author insists, are a good thing if they are connected to a calling. The calling may be simply a strong feeling that some particular direction is right, or new circumstances that seem appropriate.

None of this was new to me, but I thought it was a useful introduction to the importance of work, including businesses and other ‘secular’ employment. It was helpful, too, to jot down a few notes about my own current activities, considering what the future might hold. Each section is headed with relevant Scripture verses, and while there were places that were a tad repetitive, the author made his points well.

The latter part of the book, however, didn’t really interest me at all. Nor did it seem to have much of a Christian focus, despite the continuation of supposedly relevant Bible verses. Chapters cover such issues as time management, stress management, effective communication, and personal development. They seemed to be sound, with plenty of good advice - but the focus of relying on God seemed to vanish. They were business-orientated chapters, relevant to everyone in a business environment, not just those who want to help establish the Kingdom.

So I found myself skimming, not really finding anything that I could take on board. I also felt that much of the advice was over-detailed, and rather obvious. The focus, too, seems very American (despite the author being Australian), seeing ambition, promotion above others, and high salaries as positive rewards to aim for.

At the end of some of the chapters there are interesting stories covering the career paths followed by various individuals known to the author. However they mostly seemed to end up in some kind of high-powered situation, which is so far from my own ideas that I didn’t find them very inspiring.

Still, the writing is clear and the book well-organised. For young people, bewildered by the options available, it could make a good starting point to considering a career, with broadly Scriptural advice.

'Note that The Spiritual Career' only appears to be available in Kindle form, and is no longer free but rather expensive, in my view.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews