Your Calling Isn’t Based on Your Résumé—So Why Do We Act Like It Is?

We rarely say it out loud, but almost everyone sees it: we’ve slowly turned Church callings into a merit system. Leadership seems to go to the same type of people—those who look good on paper, meet cultural expectations, and fit a certain mold. The successful businessman becomes bishop. The well-established, well-connected woman becomes Relief Society president. The members with degrees, stable incomes, and long-standing family roots in the ward are seen as “leadership material,” while everyone else quietly gets assigned to Primary, Nursery, the library, or the activities committee. And although no one admits it publicly, the people being overlooked feel it. We’ve created an invisible checklist, and if you don’t meet the criteria, your chances are slim.

It’s heartbreaking because the qualifications we’ve subconsciously decided matter most—education, wealth, marital status, home ownership, proximity to the building, family reputation—are not the qualifications God cares about at all. When the wealthy member gets leadership while the struggling single mom is asked to clean the building; when the BYU graduate is seen as bishop material while the faithful convert becomes a greeter; when the member who lives three blocks away is chosen over the one who drives 45 minutes every week—our culture is showing, not revelation. We confuse competence with righteousness. We confuse stability with spirituality. And without meaning to, we end up teaching people that their value in the kingdom of God is tied to their résumé instead of their discipleship.

Scripture destroys that idea completely. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth.” God does not choose leaders based on degrees, zip codes, or last names. He chooses based on the heart. He chooses the overlooked, the underestimated, and the unexpected. Yet we continue to rely on worldly standards—selecting the comfortable and familiar instead of asking who the Spirit is actually pointing to. We claim that callings come through revelation, but we often operate like a corporate hiring committee checking credentials instead of kneeling in sincere prayer.

Meanwhile, some of the most spiritually powerful people in any ward remain unnoticed because they don’t fit the cultural mold. The single mom working two jobs who has more faith than half the ward combined. The convert who didn’t grow up in the Church but radiates conviction and humility. The member living far away who shows up every Sunday without fail. The one who asks honest questions out of genuine desire to grow. The family struggling financially but paying tithing faithfully. These saints are rarely considered for leadership—not because they lack spiritual strength, but because they lack the “approved” résumé.

And the cost is devastating. When people are passed over year after year, they begin to believe lies about themselves: “I’m not good enough. God doesn’t value me. My service doesn’t matter. I’ll never be seen as leadership material.” But those things aren’t true. They are conclusions created by culture, not God. Your calling is not a reflection of your worthiness. Your contribution is not measured by your title. The size of your calling does not determine the size of your devotion. Some of the holiest disciples in the Church serve quietly in “small” callings, shaping hearts, building testimonies, and lifting others in ways leadership roles never could.

So the real question becomes: Are we actually asking God who He wants to serve? Or are we simply choosing people who look right on paper? Are we seeking revelation, or scanning the ward directory for familiar names that feel safe? Are we open to the surprising, the humble, the unconventional? Or are we defaulting to the predictable choices that match our cultural expectations?

Doctrine and Covenants 121 warns us clearly: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Why? Because too many hearts—including ours—are set too much upon the things of this world. When worldliness shapes our callings, revelation becomes secondary. But when humility leads, God’s voice becomes unmistakable. The single mom might be the next Relief Society president. The recent convert might be the next bishop. The member who lives far away might be exactly whom God has prepared for leadership.

Your worth is not tied to your résumé. God doesn’t need your degree, your wealth, your connections, or your address. He needs your heart. He needs your willingness. And leadership in the Lord’s Church is meant to be about service—not status. So let’s stop letting our cultural checklist overshadow revelation. Let’s stop overlooking the humble and elevating only the polished. Let’s start calling the people God chooses, not just the ones we expect.

Because in Christ’s kingdom, “the last shall be first, and the first last.” Maybe it’s time we start acting like we believe that.

© 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 2025. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥.

𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.