Made For More: Front and Center

We’re in a series right now called “Made for More.”  We’re talking about how God created you for a purpose.  Ephesians 2:10 says you are His masterpiece, created in Christ for good works that He prepared ahead of time for you to do.  When most people think about their purpose in life, they think about career.  I know that’s how I thought when I was a teenager and young adult.  I thought if I get into the career field God created me for, I would love my job and be successful, and that would make me happy.  Some of us think in terms of family: “I need to meet the love of my life and have kids, and that will make me happy.”  So the quest of their lives is to find that perfect person, their soul mate, or to turn the one they’re with into the perfect person they dream of, or to have kids, or to turn those kids into flawless little Stepford Children who will validate their lives.  Here’s the thing: Your purpose in this world, the thing God created you for, is something you’ll probably never get paid to do.  It probably won’t be your career.  And as important as marriage and family are, you were made for more than that, too.  In fact, even if you have to work a job you don’t enjoy, even if you never find that perfect person to marry (news flash: he/she doesn't exist), if you are accomplishing God’s purpose in your life, your life will be fulfilling.    

Put it this way: If my kids grow up to be successful in careers that they love, I’ll be happy for them.  If they get married to wonderful people and produce beautiful grandchildren for me, I’ll be thankful.  But those aren't my fondest hopes for them.  What I hope and pray for is that my daughter and son will find a way to bless people in the name of Christ, to help them experience His love.  To put it another way (because I know what I'm saying here is EXTREMELY countercultural, even within the church), for my kids to find and fulfill their role in God's Kingdom is more important to me than them choosing the right career or marrying the right person.  That's true success.  That's what life is all about.

Last Sunday, we introduced the concept of spiritual gifts.  God has gifted you in just the right way to accomplish the purpose He created you for.  This week, we'll start defining some of the gifts, beginning with the more celebrated ones.