The Search For True Purpose

Where do I fit in?  What is my purpose here?  For a very long time those were the questions I asked myself both about my life and my church.

I knew that I was saved.  I knew that I was supposed to go to church.  And for a very long time I convinced myself that was enough.  As long as I showed up and filled my space on the church bench every Sunday morning I was more or less where God wanted me to be.

Over time and with God’s help I have come to realize that treating church attendance like this is analogous to being in a marriage relationship in which you sometimes spend time in the same room with your spouse but never really actively participate or communicate with them.  Even worse, your mind is usually elsewhere and and you are often thinking about leaving to go somewhere else as soon as possible.

How long do you think such a marriage would last?  Not very long, I bet.

Thankfully, God does not divorce us due to our lack of attention and care.  His love for us does not change or diminish based on our love for Him.  He goes on loving us and desiring our best even when we are at our worst.

I genuinely believe that if we really are saved that God will not let us be content treating Him in such a way.  His spirit within us softly and gently reminds us that we are His, bought by His blood and called for His purpose.  That same spirit cries out for unity and intimacy with the Heavenly Father and that only happens when we make our relationship with Him a priority. Eventually that disconnect (between what we are doing and what the spirit within us tells us we should be doing) will cause us to be miserable.

While God does not want us to live like that He will allow us to make our own choice.  And having been there myself I can tell you that it is so much better when we seek Him and His purpose and make Him number one in each moment.  Once we start living like that God’s purpose for us in life and in His church will start to become clear.

According to scripture, we are the church.  It’s not the building where the services are held and it’s not even the service itself.  Those things should only serve to enhance worship and draw God’s children closer to Him.  The church is you and me, the redeemed children of God and those who have been called according to His purpose.

We assemble because scripture tells us to but our purpose for assembly is so that we may encourage one another, teach and be taught and worship God together.  Paul said it like this:  What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. (1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV) (emphasis mine)

Each of us has a part to play when we assemble and that part depends on the spiritual gifts that we have been given and our own level of spiritual maturity.  That is why it is so important that our relationship with our Heavenly Father be something that we cherish and nurture every single day.  Only in this way can we find our true purpose and our place in God’s kingdom.