Well, gentlemen, we are in a series entitled “Attributes of a Man.” We are looking at 9 attributes that define a man of God. We are in attribute 6, “Lives Purposefully.” And I hope that you understand that it was – we’re on this journey of uncovering what it means to be a man. That we have to turn to the prototype. We have to turn to the man of all men, Jesus Christ himself. And as promised each time, I would give you a verse on something that Jesus did and said – simultaneously, or things that we see witnessed in his life that he did. That he integrated together, that he said with his mouth – and lived with his life.
The first verse I want to look at here today, is Luke chapter 2, verse 49. It reads, “And he,” that’s Jesus, “Said to them,” His parents. “Why were you looking for me, did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?” As a young man, Jesus understood – even at the age of 13, right? That he had a purpose. And he understood that this purpose was to do his father’s will. He clarifies that, for his parents – not in a sarcastic tone, I doubt. But with the understanding that he’s beginning to come of age. And as he comes of age, his purpose is going to carry him away from his home into his ultimate mission.
Our second verse is from John 4:34. “Jesus says to them,” that’s his disciples. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.” As he’s approached by his disciples, they come to discover that he is not in need of food. Jesus says he’s already got some other food. They are bewildered by this. And he responds by saying that his food is to accomplish the purposes and the will of his father. To do his work. And he wants us to understand that it is our call to do the same.
This leads to attribute number 6, a man lives on purpose. Here’s how I define it. As a man is desperate to discover his purpose, he knows that God is the single provider of purpose. And the Christian call to “Follow me,” was the primary means of discovering purpose. Because of this, a man rightly prioritizes his identity in Christ, before all other things – including his possessions and his profession– He understands that his unique spiritual gifts are a means to discover purpose and that living these out in a community, reveals purpose and mission.
I believe, gentlemen – that there are all kinds of reasons why we struggle to find purpose. I have thought of a few, you can probably think of your own. Your own reason why you struggle to find purpose. But let me see if one of these maybe fits a description for you?
Number 1 – maybe we have too many competing purposes in our life? This could be very true for you. There’s just too many things on your plate and too many competing purposes. Therefore, we really can’t get after the guts of what God is really calling us to do.
Number 2 – because of this, maybe we lack clarity, or we have confusion in our life, and we feel like we’re walking through a fog, and we can’t see through to the other side.
Number 3 – maybe it’s because we have a desire to control? And because of this desire to control, we constrict the process, and it prohibits us from really enjoying the process of getting there and uncovering and discovering our true purpose.
Number 4 – maybe it’s because we’re just too ultra-focused on yourself, and we are just like a prima donna set center stage – and all we can see is us. Because the lights are always shining in our face. And therefore we can only see what’s right in front of us.
And number 5 – it could be that we just too often accept purposes from other people. We accept what they say as true, therefore we can’t really see our unique design. And therefore, really miss – for far too long, God’s true purpose for us in life.
I don’t know what it is for you, but you probably are thinking of something right now that is a reason that you struggle to find purpose in your own life. Regardless of that, I can tell you this. We want to find purpose. And I promise you, God wants us to find it as well.
In today’s lesson, I want to share with you 6 things that I have learned about finding purpose, or convergence – if you want to call it that – in my own life. 6 things that I have learned along the journey from God’s word, that has been great verses for me. That have taught me powerful lessons about my path to discovering my own purpose. Here’s number 1.
Number 1 is this – God knows you desire purpose.
God knows you desire purpose. The one thing we want most out of life is purpose. That’s what we want. We want to live a purposeful life. We spend every waking moment searching for it. Whether we’re conscious of it or not. And you know what? God knows this and finds joy in providing it for us.
Jeremiah 1:5 reads, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Aren’t those comforting words? Isn’t that great stuff? I mean the fact that God knew us before we were formed before we were in the womb. That when we were just a thought in the mind of God. This means that God made us. Therefore we can conclude that he knows our design, and he is not going to conceal this from us. It may take a little bit of time to get there, but he’s not going to conceal this from us. Because he loves us. Number 1 – God knows you desire purpose.
Number 2 – we find purpose in answering his call.
We find purpose in answering his call. Jesus’ call to all men was 2 words. Do you know those words? They were these words. “Follow me.” And those 2 words re-purposed 12 men. Re-purposed them. And they became world changers. You know why? This is because our spiritual purpose is discovered external to us. Yet still motivated internally. It’s not our call that we seek. It’s not our calling that we’re looking for. But rather it is His call. Because our purpose is found in answering the call.
Far too often, I think we think that we’re looking for some call that’s impossible to find. That’s because the call is easy to find. It’s “Follow me.” Our response to this is not to find another calling. Our response is to answer. That’s what we are called to do. Matthew 4:19 reads, “And he said to them.” That’s Jesus, said to the disciples. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. I will re-purpose you, and give you real meaningful, spiritual, eternal, vocational purpose.”
Third – third thing I’ve learned over time about purpose is identity shapes purpose. Identity shapes purpose. In architecture, they have a rule. It’s called “form follows function.” Form follows function. And this architectural firm is just a nice way to say, “Design something that works for a client.” Design something that works, right? In this situation, identity shapes our purpose. Our own identity shapes the purpose of our life. The purpose is not found in things like our possessions. We think it is. Or our professions. We think it is. But rather our identity in Christ.
Often we get this all reversed and out of whack, right? We think the path to finding purpose is found in possessions, what we have. Professions, what we do. And not our identity, who we are. You know you get this out of order? Or you reverse it, and it hijacks our purpose altogether. Ephesians 1:11 reads in him, “In him, we have obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things.
Number 4 – keep primary purpose first. Keep primary purpose first. Sometimes we confuse primary purpose with secondary purpose. This is what the founders kind of referenced as ordering. We confuse primary purpose – that is our spiritual purpose, with secondary purposes like our vocational purpose. When we get these out of orders, out of order – we will often feel like we have missed God’s call.
I believe that this is many reasons why guys experience a quarter-life or a mid-life crisis. Because they feel like they’ve missed something. You know why? They feel like they’ve missed something because they have made their vocation their primary call. Far too often, I meet guys who have a crisis of identity in their life when they lose their job. You know why? Because their identity was wrapped up in their job. It was wrapped up in the things that they did, not who they are in Christ. Often the issue is not missing the call, but mis-ordering our call – and not keeping what is primary, and what is secondary.
Exodus 9:16 reads. “But for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” Wow. Those are great words but do you know that those words were spoken by God to Pharaoh, Pharaoh. Listen to him again. “But for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power, so that my name will be proclaimed in all the earth.” You know what that means?
That God’s purposes will never be thwarted. They are always first and primary. Therefore, we must keep them first. And if we don’t, there will be hell to pay as Pharaoh would come to understand.
Five. Your spiritual gifts uncover purpose – your purpose, over time. Guys, our spiritual gifts are a gift from God. God gives these talents to each one of us, and he wants us to steward them. Our responsibility is to discover, invest, multiply them – within our ability, and through this process, God reveals our unique purpose and mission.
Matthew 25:15 reads. “To one he gave 5 talents, to another 2, to another 1. To each according to his ability.” God has given you something. It may be big, it may be tiny. It doesn’t really matter, he’s given you something to steward. And inside of the DNA that he created you with, he wants you to use that to benefit his kingdom and to fulfill his unique purpose to you. And you know what? That’s only uncovered over time.
All of us probably want to – at times be the Apostle, Paul. But don’t forget, the Apostle Paul had a long journey before he really became the Apostle Paul. He was sore (13:24?) for a long, long time. Even Jesus himself was incubated for a long time. Even as divinity, before he launched off into his ministry. And the same is true for us. We must turn to our gifts and uncover them. And their purpose over time, and with – inside of that calling, God – God reveals to us a unique purpose.
And finally, 6 – a community is the context for a purpose. Don’t ever miss this. Individual purpose, while unique, is always discovered inside of the community. It’s always lived out inside of the community. Unique, never refers to us doing anything in isolation. Isolation of our unique purpose, only leads to selfishness that inhibits the flow of resources through our life.
Romans 12:3-4 reads, “For the by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But to think of himself with sober judgment. Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members. And the members do not all have the same function. We are blessed by community, by relationships, by the brotherhood. Therefore, if we live out our purpose, we must live it out in brotherhood and community with others. Never alone. Never selfishly.
