What is My Purpose? Is this the Right Question?
Is “What is My Purpose?” the important question for the modern Christian to ask?
I saw an article today titled “What is My Purpose?”
Is this the question we should be asking God and or ourselves? Perhaps there is a better question that bypasses an inherent problem with this question of our purpose. A focus on the question of our purpose reveals a problem deep in our modern culture. Why does this question appeal to so many?
I believe the appeal is that it satisfies a need in us, and especially in younger people. Rick Warren made a name for himself by asking this question in the hugely popular book from a few decades ago called “The Purpose-Driven Life.” It became a national and even international sensation. Classes, videos, study groups, church programs, and even outreach ministries emerged from the book. I remember reading the book and wondering what all the fuss about it was. It did not seem particularly inspiring, but then, I was already fairly settled in my faith walk by that time.
The phenomenon of its popularity revealed the deep need in so many to have a sense of purpose for their lives. Perhaps it also exposed a widespread feeling of the absence of a meaningful purposefulness in so many modern believers and non-believers.
Despite its great popularity, no one talks about the book or its concepts anymore. Ironically, it is likely that the book ultimately contributed to furthering that lack of a sense of purpose in many readers over time. I say this because, as with most popular books among modern Evangelicals, it was quite shallow spiritually. It lacked the elements necessary for truly transforming a Christian’s life. In other words, it really sold the Church and the world, a false sense of purpose.
The book certainly struck a nerve. It hits the heart of a common want, but unfortunately, the paradoxical message of Christianity creates a roadblock to selling the gospel in this common way. The message was not one of a call to real righteousness but a message of how to fulfill your own wants. This message sells to the natural man but not to the spirit of man. It casts a wide net, but many false believers enter through this wide gate. Moreover, real believers are misled and misdirected by such messages of personal prosperity and worldly success. We must ask ourselves whether such messages are truly congruent with John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ message.
God has an answer for the need, but it is not really found in this book’s direct gratification of immediate needs style. Yes, providing simple answers to man’s wants sells books. Indeed, the modern Evangelical is more of a consumer than a pilgrim. Most of them are only marginally, I sense, seeking God. What most want is fulfillment. This is our human nature. However, allowing our human nature to dictate the direction of our lives is a deeply flawed approach to finding true fulfillment for the believer.
Jesus’ message was, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and then all these things will be added unto you.
If we seek Him, He will be found by us. It is not about our fulfillment, but graciously, He has made it clear that if we follow Him, He will care wonderfully for us, though our life will also be fraught with various hardships.
The hardships come because “the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14). This is not a popular message, but it is the only one that truly pricks the conscience of men.
As I read the article’s title, I thought that perhaps the focus should be more on, “If you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples,” and by this the “Father is glorified, that you “bear much fruit” (John 15:5, 8)
It just seems to me that this is wisdom. Want purpose? Having “much fruit” in our lives and having the Father’s joy in our hearts sounds like a road worth the cost of discipleship.
Now, this may sound too difficult of a road for some. But please note the graciousness of God. He only requires our admission of our profound need for rescue from our condition of unrighteousness and our belief in His power to save us through faith. He adds no other conditions other than that we learn to believe in Him and the power of His atoning death for us.
My life and experience certainly confirms this. Even lacking particular skills, and especially as He freed me from the tyranny of my selfish ambitions, He has fulfilled that promise wonderfully. He has fulfilled every promise in unique ways.
He is kind, gracious, and generous. He is good and filled with mercy. He cares for His sheep. My testimony is the testimony of a person once filled with rage, fear, shame, and destruction. I was profoundly weak in faith, but His grace proved greater than my damaged trust.
I am left with a heart of gratitude that overflows at times because of the reliability and consistency of His great love for one such as me.
“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:10-11).
