The concept of vocation amongst migrant workers of the GMIM (Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa) in postmodern times

English: This present study examines two main concepts: reformed theology of vocation and postmodernity. These concepts are identified in the migrant workers of the GMIM church (The Christian Evangelical church in Minahasa, Indonesia) working in Japan, the Netherlands and the USA. Based on Protestant principles (sola gratia, sola scriptura, sola fide), Calvin, who was one of the leading theologians, expounded the Christian concept of vocation in the medieval era. He advanced the theology of Luther, his predecessor. Luther claimed that medieval Roman Catholicism had reduced the meaning of vocation to monastic life as a consequence of its dualistic view of soteriology (salvation). This dualism impacted on the way the clergy and the laity were treated. The clergy is more highly esteemed than the laity. With the result that, lay people and their activities were largely ignored. Calvin teaches that work does not apply to secular activities only but also to Christian vocation, which means that Christians should be involved in the perpetual maintenance of God’s creation (Providentia Dei), and God’s election (Predestination) is confirmed through their vocation, to the glory of God. As does Luther, Calvin views lex naturalis in social life (working, family life and politics) as constituted by God, therefore, through these social spheres, Christians are called by God to undertake their tasks, duties and responsibilities. To Calvin, earthly activities such as work, family life and political relations involve critical, Christian submission to superiority and the exercising of power of the authorities in a Christian way; respecting boundaries; and promoting the dynamics of vocation. Calvin also admonishes that moderation, frugality, thrift, awareness of pilgrimage and perseverance should be the ethical attitudes of reformed Christians. The second concept elaborated in this study is postmodernity. The researcher contends that postmodernity is the zeitgeist of people living in the 21st century. According to Lyotard, Baudrillard and other postmodernists, it is stated that postmodernism is the leading concept that can be used to identify the thought, behavior and motivation of people living in contemporary society. One of the claims of postmodernists is that postmodernism supersedes modernism. Modernism is based on a single metanarrative (Rationalism) that promotes progressivism and material production. This phenomenon is waning since globalization theorists argue that in contemporary society, the improvement of technology (Internet, mobile phones, etc.) has swept away the geographical constraints of social interactions. This study claims that globalization is the social integration of people brought about by technological improvement and that it shapes concepts of contemporary reality and how people view contemporary reality (postmodern epistemology and cosmology). Postmodernists state that, although modernity cannot be completely abandoned as it still exists in society, it is no longer a single metanarrative prevailing in society. Postmodernity as a unique reality in which modernity is a part of its elements. Postmodernism claims that non-rationality, emotionalism and other aspects are excluded by modernism as elements of postmodernism. The word pastiche best explains the reality of postmodernism and the pluralism of society. This is the ambiguity of postmodernism, namely, on the one hand it respects pluralism and therefore challenges every element of society, rational or non-rational, Western or Eastern, etc., to participate in celebrating postmodernity. On the other hand, it is an absurd, incoherent and incommensurable. The two concepts as explained above (the concept of vocation in reformed theology and the concept of postmodernity) are examined in the minds of migrant workers of the GMIM church. The reasons are, firstly, that GMIM is a reformed church. This church is a member of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and holds reformed principles. Migrant workers of this church, working in Japan, the Netherlands and the USA make up the research population. The second reason is that these migrant workers are overwhelmed by postmodernity. The field research indicates that the law of the host countries in which migrant workers work, influence them in the undertaking of their Christian vocation. Each host country has its own legal system. Being migrant workers also involve between the cultures of the migrant workers and the cultures of the host countries. This tendency strengthens the concept that, even in the postmodern era, the function of the nation-state is still influential. The field research also indicates that postmodern media, such as cellular phones and the Internet, are influential in the lives of migrant workers, communally and individually, since they affect their ghetto life and their interaction with their family in their home country. This, to an extent, proves that a postmodern, global borderless country does in fact exist. The hardship of work, the law-enforcement of the host country and the pleasure of experiencing postmodern media make up the “abstract milieu” in which the migrant workers express their Christian vocation. The church has to be aware of the intense pressures of the postmodern influences that pervade every sphere of human life, including Christian ethics, values and attitudes and must provide a ministry that can meet the challenges and the threats of a postmodern society.