You can also listen to Jeff’s podcast on this subject here:
I was recently in a discussion regarding “mission drift.” Our moderator asked if anyone has been able to clarify their personal mission statement and if so, what kind of influence did that have. I raised my hand and said, “it is like catching lightning in a bottle!”
The statement startled me. I realized that my mission statement was something that integrated the core of who I am with what I do. That there is a power greater than myself that has connected me.
I have not always had this sense of “connection.” I have experienced other forces that have clouded my vision. I went through a dark time where God spoke to me and said: “I am disciplining you.”
Through the course correction, I was taken through, I have discovered on a much deeper level than we are essentially spiritual beings. That we have an “inner eye.” (Matthew 6:22-23). If that eye darkened by “idolatry” we diverted from our design, our purpose.
In using this “inner eye” to see spiritually and learning to fellowship with God I have discovered my Purpose, Mission Statement:
Serving men to go deeper with God and each other to fulfill their destiny!
How easily our purpose or the “why” we are doing what we do is incrementally comprised. Harvard University’s stated purpose was “for Christ and his kingdom.” Their core purpose was the pursuit of truth that men would know God and make him known. Clearly, they have experienced “mission drift.”
The Bible warns us to “not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.” Romans 12:2 Harvard experienced the power that conformed them and shaped them into something that was not intended by their Founders. Their “inner eye” was darkened.
Where is the power that holds off the forces of “conformity to this age” and the power of “transformation?” This is the purpose of our discussion.
This morning in my devotions I was meditating on Genesis 1:26. “Let us create man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the earth.” Our inner spiritual navigation system is to come from true fellowship. We were created to enter into fellowship with our Creator. Man walked with God, fellowshipped with God in the garden.
The temptation presented them was idolatry. The idolatry of self. The idolatry of man usurping God and seeking to be his own god. This rebellion has separated us from our spiritual fellowship with God and our “core design.”
Our purpose is to glorify God. Our spiritual connection was broken. Our light went out. Man, now was in spiritual darkness. Instead of the ruling, he is ruled by the power of sin. He is spiritually alone.
The man was created to worship God. Now, twisted by sin, his heart hardened to God. He worships the created order and not the Creator. (Rom.1) Worship actually encompasses all of life. Our purpose in work is in the center of this distortion.
How far we have fallen. We are like the proverbial iceberg. We only know a fraction of who we are. How will we recover lost relationship with God, with our self? Is it possible?
Jesus, our model, is “the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of God’s essence, nature.” (Hebrews 1:3) We were created in the image of God and have the potential to recover lost glory and reenter fellowship. Rediscover our purpose, identity. To integrate with God’s presence within our spirit. Human beings were created to contain God’s Spirit.
There is a promise in the last book of the Bible that relates well to the recovery of lost identity, purpose:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
The great existential questions of identity and purpose man have are answered in the recovery of our lost relationship with our Creator: How did I get here? Why am I here? Where am I going?
When we reenter fellowship with God he heals the soul and we can learn to find rest, peace. “Take my yoke on you and learn from me for I am humble and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)
Imagine living life from the posture of inward rest and peace? Each new day to wake up within the presence of God? Harmony within your soul and with others of like mind? The resources to have inward joy. To rediscover your life’s core purpose?
The door we must go through to find what we need is Jesus Christ. He said I am the door! (John 10:9) He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to God except through me.” (John 14:6)
The door is open to reestablish lost fellowship with your Creator. Walkthrough it. Let him know you want this fellowship restored. Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross opened this up. Jesus said, “we will come into the empty space in your life and fill it with our presence.” (John 14-17.)
In summary, life is more than the endless and meaningless cycle of eating, drinking, traffic jams to and from work. “Life is not a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” (Shakespeare)
“Life is not meant to be lived in quiet desperation.”
Henry David Thoreau
If you are interested in going through a short process to help you develop your core purpose go here and use this code: https://vimeo.com/r/26Ym/ZzBQU1pUTn
- use a laptop or desktop
- set aside uninterrupted time (about an hour)
- you need your smart phone
- read instructions on video.
Here is a podcast – (9 min)
To begin GO TO https://lifescorepurpose.com/trailer-page/
- Watch the short trailer then click on the BUTTON to the right.
- Click SELECT. At CHECKOUT enter the promo code Hill Cities. This will ensure your support of Hill Cities.
