I am troubled by the confusion I see with many believers regarding their purpose on earth — their mission, if you will. To be mentally and spiritually healthy, life’s three big questions must be answered:
Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?
Most Christians are pretty clear on where they’re going (Heaven). Many have a decent understanding of who they are in Christ (positional truths). But it gets really flaky on the “Why am I Here?” question. Let me illustrate with a bit of my own 40 year odyssey in the faith:
When I committed my life to Christ in college, I became immediately involved in evangelistic ministry to “reach the world.” My assumption was that my highest life purpose was evangelizing others, which I did in that ministry for the next six years after college. I was young in faith, full of enthusiasm, pretty lacking in biblical knowledge, and thus picked up a number of errors.
If we think the only real reason we’re on earth is to spread the gospel, what we’re really saying is that God is dependent on us to get the job done. In our immature enthusiasm we thus deny God of his omnipotence and sovereignty. God is not sitting in Heaven wringing his hands, hoping that Christians will do their “job” of evangelizing the lost. Since he elected believers before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1: 3-10), solely “draws” them to Christ (John 6:44, 65), and protects them until safely in Heaven (John 10:28-29), he’s not really worried about getting the job done. Centuries ago Milton wrote:
God doth not need either man’s work or his own gifts; who best bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best.
Here’s the fundamental question: Are we here to “do” something or to “become” something? If you think you’re here to “do” something, you’ve fallen into a “works” orientation — the persistent enemy of the true Christian faith. Many Christians are OK with the idea of being saved by grace, but then erroneously move to a “works” orientation to live the Christian life and pursue the Christian mission. Paul would disagree:
Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col. 2:6-7)
You receive him by grace, you grow by grace, you live by grace.
Do you really think God’s primary concern as he looks at you is what you can do for him in reaching the world? Such a view of God is nothing short of an abomination! Do you look at your own kids in terms of what they can do for you? Of course not! Your primary concern for your children is relational. Your concern is with what they become, not some utilitarian value to you.
My greatest human teacher said over and over again in his lectures:
God is chiefly concerned with persons.
We believe that when it comes to reaching the unsaved, but do we believe that regarding ourselves? I had to conclude from scripture that God was a lot more concerned with reaching me, as a believer, than he was in putting me to work reaching the lost. Don’t misunderstand: He does want to work through me to take his message to others — the Great Commission makes that clear. But his primary objective, his focus, is on my maturing into his likeness. If that “being” part of the equation is happening, the “doing” part will result. On the other hand, if you focus on “doing,” you’ll most certainly miss the “being” and likely burn out.
I don’t read the mission of the Church as primarily to fulfill the Great Commission. That is our secondary mission. Our primary mission is to become conformed to the image of Christ:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom. 8:29)
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (II Cor. 3:18)
Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (I Cor. 15:49)
From the beginning God has only been in one business — making man in his image. He created the first Adam in his image and is now recreating the chosen children of Adam into the image of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. He is redeeming us and the earth from the curse of sin, restoring us ultimately to the pre-Fall state.
Learn the lesson of the vine and branches in John 15. The branch “bears fruit,” like any other plant or animal, by being mature enough and healthy enough to successfully reproduce. The branch doesn’t try to bear fruit. It doesn’t bear fruit because of guilt-inducing sermons on making more grapes. Rather, it is the nature of the healthy, mature, connected to the vine branch to bear fruit. Follow the branch’s example by being well connected to the vine. The good fruit of grace will appear.
— Monte Kline
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