For Christians who are seeking a career that also shares their values in faith, it can often seem like a bleak outlook. However, this couldn’t be further from the case. There are a number of great careers for Christians, as long as you look outside the box.

The obvious career would be to seek a position within the church. This can be a pastor, priest, or other church leadership position. This isn’t for everyone though and luckily, there are plenty of other careers to choose from. Here are five great careers for a Christian.

Chaplain

Chaplains have a lot of similarities to church leadership positions. A big difference though, is that a chaplain does not work inside the church. Chaplains can work in a variety of different places. For example, almost every hospital has chaplains on staff. In addition, most prisons employ chaplains as does our military.

Hospitals, prison, and the military are three very different areas of employment but all three require a faith-based leader during hard times. Many hospital visitors seek chaplains for comfort as a loved one recovers. Prisoners seek God for redemption of their sins. Our military men and women put their lives at risk, often resulting in them wanting to form a stronger relationship with God.

Christian School Employee

Another great career for Christians is to work at a Christian school. This can be any number of positions including the president of a Christian college or a faculty member at a Christian school. Working for a Christian College can offer you with opportunities being a professor, dean, guidance counselor, admissions employee, and more. Working your way up through the ranks will offer you even more opportunities such as being a provost or president.

If working at a college is not your cup of tea, you can always work for a Christian high school or elementary school. Here you will be able to interact with young Christians as they grow and expand their education. You can get great experience as a teacher that could potentially offer you with the opportunity to become administration.

Christian Counselor

Christian counselors provide counseling services to individuals for any number of issues. A Christian counselor may work with someone who is dealing with drug addiction, a patient dealing with marital issues, or a child dealing with anger issues. The realm of opportunities to help people is endless.

These counselors use a combination of faith-based and physcology-based methods to help resolve issues. There is an acknowledgement that faith plays a pivotal role in healing emotions or behaviors. Faith is part of the treatment process.

Humanitarian Relief

Humanitarian relief is an excellent career for hard working, caring Christians. This selfless career may take you to third-world countries where you can provide clean water and food to starving nations. It might also take you to your neighbors in the United States when a natural disaster occurs such as Hurricane Katrina. A relief worker provides help by coordinating and making sure that residents affected by the disaster get food, water, shelter, and clothing.

Missions Employee

A missions employee is a great career for Christians because it is all about supporting, advocating for, and growing Christianity. Missions outreach employees, a good starting point for a career in missions, focus on recruiting students for ministry opportunities abroad. It is your job to build the foundation of the next generation of Christian leaders.

If the career in missions suits you, you can work your way up to a leadership position at a missions agency. This career isn’t on the frontlines of recruitment but rather the person behind the scenes formulating an international outreach strategy. Leadership positions could be involved in creating financial support for the missions, coordinating what areas need missionaries, communicating with the current missionaries out in the field, developing the marketing material for the mission agency, and much more. Think of yourself as a business person, in the business of helping grow Christianity and provide worldwide relief and support.

So if you are looking for a position that is in line with your Christian faith, you are not stuck to just seeking out a pastoral role. While that is a great career path to choose, it simply is not for everyone. Christianity plays a huge role in our world today and involves many, many careers. So all you have to ask yourself is, what do you want to do with your life?