What is the definite life purpose of this church? Who is the beacon that directs the course you chart?
I am not asking about your mission statement or your belief statement. What I am asking is, what is the purpose of you constantly meeting here each week? What is the guiding standard that drives you to speak and act throughout each day?
If you are willing to take the time, individually and as a congregation, to carefully define and identify the main defined life purpose of this church, you will reveal the very reasons for your struggles within the church and your community. Your main defined life purpose is a central focal point. It must become the anchor point in everything you do. Without this anchor, you may be successful in your endeavor, but you will not accomplish what God has called you to do. Most likely, it will move forward, but it will not be in the direction of God’s leading. It will probably grow, and yet your harvest will yield little. You will be like Laodocia, warm and vomited like vomit. I do not speak this way to be harsh, but out of a soft and pure love for you today.
Once your definite life purpose is defined, it begins to play an important role in planning your strategy and your efforts as a body, individually, and as a whole. If you are not moving toward this definite purpose, you are moving away from it. There is no middle ground. Complacency is not in the vocabulary of the enemies. Satan is always pushing forward to regain the ground he once had. We have not been brought together to fight Satan, we have been called to evict him.
Did you know that even without knowing what it is, you are already working towards a definite life purpose?
A man saw three men at work when he came across a construction site.
He asked the first man, “Sir, what are you doing?”
“I’m laying bricks” the man replied.
So it happened to the second man, “Sir, can I ask what you are doing?”
Confident, the second man replied: “I am building a wall for the church.”
This answer made him also question the third man,“Sir, what are you doing here?”
With a big smile, the third man boldly proclaimed: “To me, my good man, I have been given the opportunity to be part of the construction of a beautiful building to be used in the delivery of glory to God. It will be a place of reverence and service to my King, Jesus Christ! Would you like to meet him, sir? I have time “.
There is more to this little story than just talking about perspective, although it deserves more time than we have now to cover. The real conclusion here is that all three men were doing the same job. The result would be the same for everyone at the end of the job. One man’s work was no less important than another’s. What is important to note here is simply this, it does not matter if you realize what the effects of your words or deeds are. It will not change the fact that they will affect many others around you. Make sure you have great clarity for the result before beginning any endeavor. Then work with all your focus and intention in that direction.
Identify where, individually and within the church, you are spending your efforts and resources and you will see where you have put your focus …
What does your budget say about your priorities and your goals? What does your checkbook say about how you prioritize your budget? Are they being affected and directed or are they corrected and ordered by adherence to their defined life purpose?
I remember in Basic Training in the Army. We had to spend some time learning LANDNAV. We had to learn to read maps and draw courses. I remember plotting degrees and distance and counting grid squares on maps to judge distance. We learned to follow the characteristics of the terrain and identify safe ways to reach our destination.
I grew up as a country boy, so this all seemed pretty basic to me. However, that realization got me into a lot of trouble when we got to the forest. You see, even a photo taken from an aerial view is nothing like the reality of being on the ground. Two-dimensional conceptual thinking seemed to be thrown away, as everything became three-dimensional and we saw it from a completely different angle.
I learned a very important life lesson that first week as a point man in a land navigation exercise. It doesn’t matter where you go or how well you charted your course. The only thing that was important. The only thing that could keep you and your unit alive … was your knowledge or your current location. Inevitably, the landscape he was in had changed since the map was made. You had to be able to identify your current position and then adapt to a new route or strategy to get to the desired destination.
The same thing happens in life. If you never take the time to stop and identify where you are in life or in relation to your goals, you will never reach your intended destination. Like a ship pointing straight across the sea towards port … without consistent adjustments, sea currents and air winds will alter its course and it will never get where it was intended.
We must identify where we are, our defined life purpose, and then continually adjust our course to fulfill our purpose and reach our destination safely.
What is an important definite life purpose?
How do we find and identify what that is?
When I ask this, I assume that many of you will be sitting there, as you are not with that blank stare, wondering what I am talking about and wondering if this has anything to do with you … let me assure you that it does. Others, who will be far fewer, will confidently and haughtily say that their definite purpose is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every corner of the world. I congratulate you on that, at least you have direction!
My experience has shown me one thing. Most people, when asked directly what the gospel message is, tend to summarize that Christ died for our sins so that we don’t have to go to hell. If that’s all there really was, don’t you think everyone would have been saved by now?
Do not think that by quoting a commission you are on the right track. You are part of the body of Christ and that body has a life of its own, it is Jesus Christ who lives within us. However, we must remember that each member of that body has its own purpose. Individually, he has a specific purpose to fulfill within this congregation. You have a PURPOSE! Spend time with God and find the role and responsibility you want for yourself here.
There is a much larger picture than this at work here today. You as a church, as a congregation of believers in Jesus Christ, are only a small member of the body of Christ. You are not a thumb, but you have approached life as if you were. Just as an opposing thumb needs something to work with to be used effectively, this congregation must understand that it is not a single, separate member. When we begin to see ourselves as members of a body within our congregation, we begin to see that we cannot fulfill our purpose alone. When the body of this congregation begins to see itself as a member of the Body of Christ, we begin to see that you cannot fulfill your defined life purpose without the fellowship and cooperation of other congregations.
I know I keep referring to the primary term defined life purpose. Let’s take a moment to simplify what I am saying here.
Take a moment right now and ask yourself, “Why did God, in His infinite wisdom, allow me to take a breath this morning? What was His purpose for this?” Go ahead, ask, I’ll wait.
IF we take the time to ask our Lord God this simple question, we will begin to seek clarity of purpose. God tells us through His Word that those who seek will find. It also tells us that wisdom comes from the Lord and gives it generously to those who ask for it.
Many times, as a small congregation of believers, we see larger churches with all these resources: people, bank accounts, real estate. We see where they are and we start making excuses as to why we can’t be as effective as they are. I have a news flash for you. You are not supposed to do what they are doing, so stop complaining that you don’t look like them! God brought them together to accomplish a specific purpose in today’s world. He has made you grow, empowered you and commissioned you to achieve something in a very special and unique way.
It is not about being like the mega-churches or the rich and well-known churches in your community. It is about one thing. When the name of your church comes up in the conversation, it is synonymous with the completion of the work of Jesus Christ.
Greater Life Purpose Defined!
You are a member of this body of believers, this body of believers is a member of the body of Christ. Jesus Christ is the life that flows through him. The purpose of Jesus Christ on this earth was to open a way for us to have a right relationship with God that Father. If there is something you are doing as an individual that does not move others in this direction, stop doing it. If there are areas where this church is directing time, finances, people, or efforts that don’t specifically bring the world closer to this goal, stop! Pray and seek where God has called you to most effectively work where you have been placed and then trust that He will provide all the resources necessary to accomplish the work He has called you to.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE! YOU ARE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF KING JESUS CHRIST. I recommend as a body that we begin to act and live according to Jesus’ defined life purpose.