Every pastor has regrets. David Platt now realizes that, earlier in his pastoral ministry, he unintentionally implied that all serious Christians go into full-time ministry. “In zeal to raise up pastors within the church, in zeal to call out missionaries from the church,” he recalls, “I was implicitly setting up this tier that, ‘If you’re really passionate about Christ and the spread of the gospel, then [go into full-time ministry].’ I would never have put it that way, but I think that’s the way it often came across.”

In this discussion, Carl Ellis (provost’s professor of theology and culture at Reformed Theological Seminary and associate pastor for apologetics at New City Fellowship), Phillip Holmes (director of communications at Reformed Theological Seminary), and Platt (teaching pastor at McLean Bible Church) talk about why we need Christians in a wide variety of vocational spheres—and the effect their work can have for the kingdom.

Advertise on TGC

Related:

How a Mortgage Company Is Loving Its Neighbors (Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra)
The Sacred-Secular Divide Is Pure Fiction (Bethany Jenkins)
Not All Vocational Pursuits Are Equal (Amy Sherman)

Download your free Christmas playlist by TGC editor Brett McCracken!

It’s that time of year, when the world falls in love—with Christmas music! If you’re ready to immerse yourself in the sounds of the season, we’ve got a brand-new playlist for you. The Gospel Coalition’s free 2025 Christmas playlist is full of joyful, festive, and nostalgic songs to help you celebrate the sweetness of this sacred season.

The 75 songs on this playlist are all recordings from at least 20 years ago—most of them from further back in the 1950s and 1960s. Each song has been thoughtfully selected by TGC Arts & Culture Editor Brett McCracken to cultivate a fun but meaningful mix of vintage Christmas vibes.

To start listening to this free resource, simply click below to receive your link to the private playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.

Get instant access to TGC’s Christmas playlist »

David Platt (PhD, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as a pastor in metro Washington, DC. He is the founder of Radical, a ministry that exists to equip Christians to be on mission. He’s a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. David is the author of many books, including Radical, Counter Culture, Don’t Hold Back, and several volumes in the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series. Along with his wife and children, he lives in metro DC.

Carl Ellis serves as provost’s professor of theology and culture at Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS), and associate pastor for cultural apologetics at New City Fellowship. He has authored several books, including Free at Last? and Saving Our Sons.

Phillip Holmes is the vice president for institutional communications at Reformed Theological Seminary and owner of Highest Good, a digital marketing and strategy agency. He and his wife, Jasmine, have two sons, Walter Wynn and Ezra Langston. They are members of Redeemer Church in Jackson, Mississippi. You can follow him on Twitter.