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Since I haven't done any sort of posts on theology, let me start by saying this is my true brain right here that's about to come out and these are the topics on which I enjoy the most but never get to discuss, so let me begin shall I? Purpose. What is purpose? For you definitive people I will give you the explanation of the word. Purpose is defined in a simple way as "being the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists." (Google Search, Define: Purpose). Lets look at the word and see what purpose has to do with, specifically in this post, the "meaning" of our lives and perhaps some more philosophical ramblings as well.
Western culture, as sort of what it is today in America and really any sort of first world, civilized society, defines the course of life in some sort of agenda of man. This agenda, or "to-do" list as I may refer to it, came along from European theology and the maturing of man from say the Roman era to the English era, and by English I mean post Industrial Revolution theology of man. This is a new man. (And by man I mean all people of course) This man now doesn't really have to succumb to slavery or harsh government rule, and with this new type of man comes freedom to do whatever they wish, in bounds of reasonable law of course, which usually in most cases means something for himself. I believe that since man suffered under so much oppression over the course of history whether from masters or dictators and all between, that now man is finally ready to do something for his own good. That now it is time to break the bondage and idea of succumbing to another human (therefore abandoning the idea anywhere close to that of generosity towards another) and since we are now tired of other humans telling us how to live our lives, enter into a time of selfishness in which we still reside. This agenda of man is what one wants to accomplish throughout one's lifetime. Peel away the past rulers, past slave masters, past strict governments and really focus on ourselves now and our personal goals, plans and achievable tasks. This is a to-do list titled something along the lines of "How to Make Myself Matter in this World" or more properly titled "Here's My Purpose the Way I Want It". In other words, what can I do to advance the furthest in this world and actually make a name for myself?
This agenda all produces some sort of goal for yourself, we pretend like its for our family, our boss, or whatever entity we try to please when in reality it begins way before that and starts within us and what we can do for our own betterment before altruism even enters the mind. This "to-do" list of sorts plans out your life. I, a man, will grow up in a somewhat civilized family, attend school to get my diploma, attend another school to get another diploma that means more but still on the same paper and then make something for myself in this world. That is an extremely short interpretation of this "to-do" list but you catch the drift. Forming this list of ours leads us back to the word "purpose". This person, of which by some way I see a reflection of most people in this fictional individual, has the purpose defined. This person, like most as I stated, wants to make something of themselves in some facet of life. They want their own purposeful efforts to somehow give them meaning, to have those efforts produce fruit and make a name for all of their own hard work. Okay, that's fair, so let us explore that by giving 2 examples of people, of whom stories are fictionally being made up as I type this post.
1) Robert - Robert is a graduate from Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in chemical engineering. Robert grew up in a mildly mannered family, somewhat crazy in ways like all of our families, but he came out alright in the end. He attended school, all A's, graduated from his high school in the top of his class and went on to college to obtain his degree. Robert now makes $98,000 a year salary in his job. Robert has a wife and two kids. He owns two houses, one vacation home in the paradise of Hawaii and one in the metro Atlanta region where he and his family live and work out their similar purposes. He is very well off and has received several rewards for accomplishments in his workplace. Robert has fulfilled his purpose.
2) Jim- Jim didn't finish school unfortunately He did finish high school, making all A's and B's but as far as college goes on all his several job applications he's submitted over the years he checks the "Some College" box. He has a mediocre job making $60,000 a year, still a good income but not as good as Roberts. Jim has a wife and one child. Jim owns a house in a suburban neighborhood and thats it. He has no rewards or accomplishments he really likes to admit but Jim.....has fulfilled his purpose.
Let me start by saying these two men do both have a purpose. Although Robert or Jim's purpose isn't exactly what you may expect from whichever position you take, a purpose resides in both situations. Robert is the average "perfect" man in the idea if there was an assembly line entitled "The Western Man" we would see little Roberts coming out in droves. He's the ideal guy. He's got the money, the job, the family, the everything. According to this line of theology that is. Then we are lead to Jim and Jim is really not what we see as purposeful at all, but instead the lack of reaching "full" purpose. Somewhere Jim's dreams fell off track we think and thats just where he ended up. He tried to be a Robert but it didn't work so he's now a Jim. So all meaning and true morale aside, not touching base on any form of religious morality, which side would you choose? Who would you want to be? Robert of course! He's got it all. Whereas Jim seems to have wanted to have it all, but somewhere somehow he just became...well...Jim. Well instead of going any further into the philosophy of purpose and meaning and what you can do to make your life meaningful in a way that benefits your dreams and visions I'm going to stop right there and throw in a new word. This word changes purpose, or should, from something for us into something for someone else.
Jesus.
So now we look at Jim and Robert again and when Jesus is thrown into the mix, when we look at their situations from a perspective of heaven in our minds then who fares better? If you base the thought process stemming from Jesus, which is a system of morality, which is not storing treasures on this Earth but in heaven and operating not on our own ideas but those that benefit our Father, then who is better? Come on now. Jim or Robert? It's really neither by the description I gave. When your looking at Jim and Robert through a God lens neither of their lives produce much purpose for the agenda of God. As far as Jesus is concerned neither of them believe so both of them will unfortunately be condemned for their disbelief and receive the eternal punishment. Because since both of those men live in America, in civilized, media based situations one can assume they've heard the gospel and would be judged accordingly for their decisions. Okay, so that's sort of a given so let me throw another curve ball your way.
Jim is a believer, follower and disciple of Christ Jesus.
Woah! That changes the whole ballgame. Now we see that rich Robert and middle class Jim have switched positions! If your a Chrstian reading this then its not hard to follow my logic here. Jim now becomes the more "rich" person because his purpose isn't earthly but instead heavenly. So as far as Christ is concerned do you think that either one of their own purposes, as defined by their own achievements in life and what they did or did not decide to do on the track of materialism, and making their name great really has anything to do with discipleship and Jesus?! No it doesn't!! Ahh does anyone else get this thought process here? IF your rich in abundance, you have the dream job, extra vacation home, immeasurable income, or if your a middle income individual who gets by but not in abundance and are a follower of Christ...who fares better in the eyes of God? Well in this case Jim will. It seems to me that Robert has his eyes sort of set on things of this earth a little too much. If I spend most of my life getting my high degree to make this large sum of money how much do I care about my life and my degree, car, house, extra vacation home, 6 figure salary, (insert lifelong material goal here) over my discipleship and furthering the ministry of Christ?? I feel as if the scale is a little more towards the "me" side than the "Christ" side in that situation. Jim might not have a degree from an institution but lets say that Jim gets his decent salary and provides for his family and also, here it is, is a church builder and a builder of the kingdom in that community and his surrounding city, then actually I want to be Jim! When the Earth crumbles so will Roberts extra vacation home and 6 figure income, but when the Earth crumbles Jim's work that he did with his church will be the ONLY thing that now matters about Jim and in heaven Jim will now be Robert and now hopefully Robert will be a rich in heaven if he becomes a Christian Those who do the work of the Father over the work of the "self" fare greater in eternity because our "self" doesn't matter then but instead HIS "self" does and that is where our riches lie!
So does it really matter to have your purpose be filled with things you want to make for yourself and your name? Is your name really that important to you that you need to be rich in all areas of life all for your benefit? What, are you gonna get rich, shout "YAYYY" leave it to be inherited by your sons/daughters and instill in them to do the same for the next generation? Don't you see how monotonous that cycle is and not just repetitive but unfulfilling too? Hey if you can be rich and still rich in heaven in the end then more power to you and I know there are those out there that are definitely blessed and entering the kingdom of God with a mansion bigger than their mansion here and I say more power to you that you are the exception not the rule! But I just want you to think about this. When all is said and done and you are at the end of it all on your death bed what will be the answer to this question, "Did I fulfill the purpose to glorify my name or did I fulfill the purpose God had for me to glorify His name?" Where am I on that scale? I don't want to barely be balancing on the God's purpose side to barely make it into heaven! I want to weigh down that scale because of ALL the good I've done fulfilling God's purpose! Because at the doorstep of death your wealth, mansion, car, extra vacation home, abundant riches on earth will not matter but instead what will matter is what's on the other side waiting for you and also how well you fulfilled the Great Commission. The homeless man who follows Christ will fare better than the rich man that focuses most on the treasures of this Earth and not those above. So final words are this. Be careful on how you define your purpose in this world. Do you want to be the new form of man? Rich in material person, who after history of strict government rule, slavery, wars and what have you, wants to make something of yourself for your benefit & wants to fulfill your purpose? Or do you want to be the one that says hey I will for sure provide for my family but I will not be known for my house, car, money or status in society but instead my Kingdom character and how well I made the name of Jesus known in my community and perhaps throughout the world? Who will you be? Define your purpose now.
Matthew 19:24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth"
