"Purpose"

In our examination of words used in some circles how could I leave out Purpose? In any dictionary you will read a pretty standard definition like this:

pur·pose (pur-puhs)

1. The reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.

Pretty straight forward, right? Well maybe not, as many associate this word now with a book “The Purpose Driven Life” written by Rick Warren. It’s because of this book, and all that has happened since it's writing, that when I use the word "purpose" I am careful to be abundantly clear what I mean and not have it be simply a cliché.

In some circles “purpose” is used quite often in broad sweeping terms but with little information as to what that "purpose" is, let alone who is the author of that "purpose".

Sadly in the 21^st century church we can do most anything and say it’s God’s purpose for our life. No need to see if it is Scriptural, if we do something we see as purposeful, then by golly it must be His purpose for us, After all we feel it’s a good thing to do and it makes us feel good about ourselves, then it must be OK. This is especially true when we can use Christian themes and catchy acronyms to announce our intentions. But is it truly representative of God’s Purpose?

We can answer that question best by seeing His “purpose” and asking if we carry that on, as we are His Bride and are the ambassadors of His Kingdom. We read Jesus in His own words as He is in the final days of His life, pressing on to the cross.

Mark 10 gives us a scene where His disciples are walking with Him and misunderstanding much of what He was doing. They were so fixated on temporal things and projecting that into a Kingdom they grossly misunderstood what was taking place in their midst.

How reminiscent of today’s church, that some are so busy about kingdom stuff, that they are oblivious of The Kingdom that is coming. The one of which He said His people would inherit and not build.

As Jesus put it;

⁴² “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. ⁴⁴ And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

In this and many other places we see Jesus had a Purpose. Peter tells us more in that he uses a term we translate in English as “Purpose”

Acts 2

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— ²³ Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ²⁴ whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

So the “determined purpose” of God was that Jesus was to be crucified? For what reason and to what end? Jesus tells us the answer by letting us know His death was no accident, but the will and “purpose” of God to reconcile mankind to Himself. He was consistently telling all who would hear what His “purpose” was. He then went on to tell us what The Holy Spirit would do in furthering His message of “purpose”

Jesus lets us know the gravity of this truth in John 16:7-11

⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Question: Who does The Holy Spirit use to speak His message?

Answer: If we answer, we do, then how does a me centered purpose fit with preaching the Gospel that makes man aware of his sin, his need for righteousness supplied in a new life cleansed in the blood of The Lamb, and how that blood frees us from the judgment to come? Well, simply, it doesn’t.

Jesus, when He was before Pilate, had this exchange;

John 18

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” ³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

If so with Him, then what about us? Are we here for any other reason other than to testify of The Truth? If our “purpose” is not ministering the whole of The Gospel, and calling people to repentance, then it is either a self centered “purpose” or a kingdom building social gospel that lacks a “purpose” that can save a human soul.

No wonder the word “purpose” is such a prickly one to use.

The Co-opting of Words

As a Pastor I often find myself in the odd position of carefully considering words when trying to explain passages in Scripture. Sometimes I will avoid words because they have been stripped of meaning by the modern consumer driven church. You see, when a passage presents a wonderful truth I look for ways to explain and describe them using similar words to illustrate a thought or concept. I find this list of no-go words is growing by the day and my frustration grows along with that list.

Doesn’t sound like a huge problem does it? Well at least for me it is, as clarity is no small matter, because I know my enemy is famous for twisting words. Maybe I am too sensitive, or am I?

Anyone remember Genesis 3?

¹ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had

made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not

eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” ⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will

not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

You see Satan is a master in creating confusion and giving alternate views of reality. With this in mind, I will seek to explain this point over the coming weeks on this blog. He is cunning, as Genesis records, and he sows confusion as his vocation.

Words are used in the consumer (Seeker Sensitive, Emergent, New Spirituality) driven church and these words have now been given alternative meanings. By co-opting the language, people who take a different view of Scripture have introduced teaching that Scripture either doesn’t support, or warns against entirely. Gimmicks and catchy bumper sticker slogans are used so frequently, and books carry the same meaningless, powerless slogans, that words are robbed entirely of their meaning, simply to promote some program or new thought.

We will take these words one by one and explain the correct meaning, as the Bible uses them, and contrast them with how churches muddy the water, and create confusion with those words. We have to be on guard as never before, as we see the decline of Truth Seekers, in favor of Program Driven movements, and Seeker Driven churches.

One last thing, for those who think I am picking on other ministries, or causing dissent, think again. I seek to sound the alarm and I ask you to look at the information presented and decide for yourselves.