In 1991, Billy Crystal starred in a movie called “City Slickers.”   In the movie, Crystal plays an ad executive for a local radio station and spends his days selling radio spots to local companies.  As he begins to reach middle age he begins to realize that his job is not that exciting.  Nothing drives home the point more than being invited to speak at his son’s elementary school on Career Day.  He is honored to be asked but begins to realize very quickly that he is outmatched.  As Crystal walks in, he is immediately aware that he is up against the garbage man and many other “cool” professions in the eyes of the kids.  When his turn finally arrives he has to follow the garbage man who has related several colorful experiences he has witnessed during his years of riding the truck.  It is at this point that Crystal’s character realizes he is trouble.  He has to follow the trash guy and explain to a group of wide-eyes elementary school kids that he makes his living “selling air.” 

I know how Billy must have felt.  I recently had the privilege of speaking at one of our local Elementary schools on their Career Day.  Before I go any further, let me say that I was grateful for the invitation and was even more pleased that I could talk about God in the public school system.  I was prepared, and with my trusty Bible in my hand, I pulled into the school parking lot.  

My first point of apprehension was when I had to park between the massive wrecker with a demolished wreck of a car attached to it and the huge fire truck with flashing lights and sirens.  

As I made my way to the entrance of the school, trusty Bible in hand, I was greeted by a chiseled mountain of a man who was decked out in his fatigues and army paraphernalia that the kids could try on.  I then passed the banker (who was not giving out free money, fortunately) but was passing out wrappers that could hold millions of dollars.  I even passed this engineer that worked for one of our local oil refineries who had a lot of cool chemicals with him (we’ll call him Bret Garrett).  

Needless to say, I had my work cut out for me.  I said a little prayer that God would make me and my job cool and I entered my first classroom.  All of the kids were extremely accommodating and were great listeners.  I began each presentation with the same question, “What is the most important thing in the world?”  With very few exceptions, child after child used words like “God,” “Jesus,” “the Bible,” and “family.”  Once they established what the most important thing was, my job got a whole lot cooler.  I explained that I was a minister because I wanted to help people get closer to God.  I told them that kids are extremely important to God and they are important to me too.  I told them my job was a lot of fun and I got to spend a lot of time with kids and their families doing what they love.  I get to watch the kids in my youth group play ball games, go to church camp, work in the inner city with homeless people, hang out on the beach, help hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast, and even go to Dallas Mavericks games and Six Flags!  Several kids couldn’t believe that you could actually get paid to do that (frankly I wonder that myself sometimes). 

As kids began to understand what I did and why I did it, I began to feel better about my standing on career day.  My job is cool.  Although I may not have a big red fire engine to drive around, I do have a large, white 15-passenger van with a luggage rack and a matching trailer.  I may not have a cool uniform with a helmet that demands respect and appreciation, but my chosen profession, my passion, is indescribably important.  God has called me to the ministry and has used me to help further and strengthen His Kingdom.  As I watch the children in our congregation grow physically and spiritually, I am thankful for the opportunities God has given me and my family to serve this congregation and the community. 

At the end of my time, I thanked those who had invited me and walked past the wrecker and the fire truck with my head held high.  As I left the school I made my way to one of the local nursing homes where God has allowed me to speak every third Thursday for the last three years to a captive, yet gracious audience.  Career Day was a lesson not only for the kids but for one of the speakers. 

-Kent Jobe
El Dorado, AR

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