I’m convinced that one of the things holding back the church corporate from achieving her purpose of living as a foretaste of the kingdom of God is that individual Christians never consider their lives with a view towards their re-created purpose in Jesus. Sure, we know that we’re supposed to “glorify God”, but we never stop and ask what that means. It becomes a cliché saying; something that gets us the right answer on a test but doesn’t affect any change in our lives.
Discovering the individual purpose for which we have been created does just the opposite. It motivates us and gives us a reason to wake up in the morning. It fosters dependence on God, through whom any change in our world must come. It deepens our faith as we press into Jesus, making more of him and less of ourselves. And we glorify God more fully because we are doing the very thing that he created us to do; the good works that were prepared beforehand (Eph. 2:10). When we’re doing it, we find that we’re filled with joy. But it begins in discovering what it is.
Most of us have never asked the question, “what is my God-created purpose” because we’ve never been told that weshould ask it. Others of us have asked, but we thought that the response must include “ministry” at the end of it. (As in, my calling is “children’s ministry”, or “youth ministry”, or “parking ministry”.) And while those may be necessary and beneficial ministries, they are just that: ministries. People with purpose and passion run ministries. But aministry is not a substitute for a purpose. Purpose comes first.
Asking about our God-given purpose is really asking, “what is it that I, individually, am called to work on that will make this earth look like the kingdom that is to come fully when Jesus returns?” Jesus made clear that the Kingdom of God was going to be advancing; he made clear that the kingdom of God was here, presently, and he taught us to pray that God’s will would be done here as it is there. Paul & Peter both tell us in their letters that we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, right now, and not at a later date. Until then, the church is a nation of called out people from many nations living with a new allegiance to a new king, and orienting their lives around his glory and his purposes.
If you’re looking for your purpose in the kingdom, here are three guidelines that might help you discover what it is that you are called to do.
Passion
One writer said that “passion was where our heart and God’s heart meet.” While it’s important to consider allthe things that you are passionate about, try to think specifically about needs in the world that you are passionate about meeting. What is it that really bugs you? What is it that you look at and declare, “this shouldn’t be this way?” What would you be happy spending the rest of your life trying to change so that the world around you looked more like God’s kingdom by the time you died?
Gifts
Your gifts and skills will help you determine how you can achieve your purpose. Many people might say that their chief passion is to see the Gospel spread to the ends of the earth, but not everyone has the gift to be a preacher. It might be that you’ve been given the gift of resources, or supporting gifts, or the gift of prayer. Every single one of those gifts is necessary to achieve the purpose of spreading the good news. The gift you have will determine how you can carry out your passion.
Responsibilities
People don’t generally mention responsibilities when they talk about purpose. I think it’s important, because your responsibilities will determine what is actually reasonable for you to do in relation to your purpose. This is one of the reasons Paul encouraged single people; they could be of a singular mind in following Christ. It’s why Paul paid his bills by working as a tent-maker. I heard of a missionary once who said that even if his wife and kids didn’t want to go to the mission field with him, he would still go. (His theology and practice were both out of whack!) Considering our responsibilities in relation to our purpose can give us clarity in our decision making so that we don’t overburden ourselves with stuff that may rule us out from fulfilling our purpose to the extent we’d like.
In the end, your purpose might be as simple as “make people smile”. But when you know what it is, it’s going to give you a motivation to wake up every day, making this world look more like the new one that’s coming when Jesus returns. God will get glory, and you will have joy. What more could you ask for?