Thinking about a mission/purpose in life

Thinking about a mission/purpose in life Category: Religion and Philosophy It's been a while since I've blogged, and my last one was a downer. To follow up, my friend and I worked things out ('nuff said). So to catch things up, yes, I have resigned from BreakPointe, and a lot of people are asking what my plans are and where I'm headed. I wish I had a good answer. I've grown a lot over the past five years while searching for purpose in life. To the simple Christian, it maybe offensive to hear another Christian speak of needing purpose, but I want to get past the "Sunday School answers" to life's questions ("Be a good Christian," "Be a fisher of men," "Follow the Great Commission," etc.) I what to know how to be a useful tool to the Kingdom in our modern and constantly changing world. I don't mean to imply that Breakpointe was just a stepping stone, but God used it to introduce me to a deeper form of ministry. I have been honored to serve there over the past few years, but I've had to come to the humbling and difficult conclusion that in order to take the classes I need and be the parent that I need to be, I must step down and reduce my responsibilities. Frankly, I have little-to-no Biblical / Higher education, and I want to be a more effective minister. To quote an inspirational friend of mine, "To teach in ignorance, only perpetuates ignorance." One of my mentors/advisors refutes that with the fact that no matter how many classes you take, no matter how many degrees you get, no matter how much you learn, you have only gotten your feet wet on a beach in the ocean of spiritual truth. So here I stand, looking at the water�I hope to be licensed and ordained minister with an associates degree in missions by Spring of '09 (2 years). When I say, "missions," everyone assumes foreign, and yes, I have a heart for compassionate, foreign ministries, but I want to understand daily personal missions. I want to think through the life purpose of being a fisher of men. My inspirational friend refuted my concept of personal evangelism with an analogy of a used car salesmen. She says that a Christian that always speaks of spiritual things and invites their non-believing friends to church is like having a friend that's a salesman and every time you meet they say, "Hey, you ought to stop by the shop sometime," because they want to sell you something. But I say, No; it's more like having a friend that loves cars, who lives and breaths cars. That's want they think about and talk about. They can see or hear a car and tell you details about the engine and the various styles. They know you and your lifestyle, and they know the best car for your needs. But we have something far better than a car, and we should be equally passionate about the hope we have found. Will people misunderstand? Will some be offended? Of course, but that fear shouldn't immobilize us. A month later (today), my inspirational friend and I touched on the subject of world religions. I feel the only need to learn about other religions is to better understand them with the objective of sharing the Truth of Christ with the individuals. She argues that we (Christians) do not have the only truth. Every religion has a form of truth. Others have experienced an enlightenment or peace or nirvana. They just don't use the same words or traditions. I pointed out that they still need Christ. Scriptures are unarguably clear on this. But as always, she did get me thinking, and she has helped me define a problem with the thinking of my upbringing. As we consider methods of evangelism, I have concluded that there are 5 kinds of people in the world (with countless subcategories). 1) There are the "Truly Devoted Christians. These are people who are actively living their faith and building the Kingdom as best they know how. They have a relationship with the Savior and are seeking to go deeper on a day to day basis. Some might define them as sanctified. 2) There are the "Sort-of Christians." These are people who have adopted the culture of Christianity, but they rarely live it in their alone time. They know all the right answers, but with little depth. They are in a comfort zone that is only changed by outside circumstances. 3) There are the "People of other faiths." These are people that know what they believe, and they are committed to a religion apart from Christ. Usually it is a part of their heritage, and they are often as "close minded" as we are. 4) There are the "Socially acceptable humanist." These are people that live a basically moral life. They follow the rules of the culture, and they want to live a "good" life, but they deny that there is a greater truth or law that we must follow, or they feel that if there is, there is no way of being sure. 5) There are the "Morally Corrupt." These are people that are self-destructive. They have no hope or respect for themselves or rules. They are selfish; yet it destroys them. They often are involved in the "bigger" more obvious sins, such as substance abuse and sexual immorality. Boy, I didn't intend to write a book tonight, but what I'm getting at is this. The "holiness" setting, by which I've often been surrounded and strongly influenced, focuses so much attention on outward signs of righteousness (these being defined by the American, Christian culture of decades past) that they tend to lump everyone into the fifth category, making a shallow argument for the need for lifestyle changes. This in turn offends and/or never reaches categories 3 and 4. 6:26 PM - 5 Comments - 0 Kudos