This song has taken on a whole new meaning...

A few years ago, while still in college I heard a message that was about not allowing your passion to become your purpose. It took it a while for that to sink in. Up to that point, I always thought your passion was your purpose. I believed that what you were passionate about, was what you were meant to do, which meant it was your purpose in life. Surely, I'm not the only person who thought in this manner. I was so lost at what Louie Giglio meant by this, I felt that it didn't apply to my passion, I started to brush it off, I started to think -- my passion is my purpose, Louie's out of his mind, I'll just sit back and endure the remainder of this sermon without really paying attention. However, there was something inside of me, most likely God sitting on my shoulder saying "Hey, son of mine, pay attention."

This Is Relevant.

Ephesians 5 tells us to "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us..." Be. Imitators. This verse, as it has for the last 7 years, often begins to creep into my thought process, and that night many years ago was no different. Ephesians 5 snuck it's way into my thought process and I found myself asking -- what does that have to do with my purpose Lord? Again, there He was, ready to answer. Louie made a comment about how things sometimes start "with a passion for Jesus, but somewhere along the way people get seduced into the glory of "me". It was like a head-smacking moment -- "My desire for Youth Ministry and Missions, isn't about ME... it's about JESUS, at least, it should be." I started to question myself, I started to wonder, was I working in Youth Ministry because I want to glorify Christ, or because I "think" it's my purpose, because I'm passionate.

You know that moment (or moments) when you feel as if you are completely right, whether arguing with your girlfriend, a professor, a parent, a friend, whatever, and that person pulls out a book, a website, a newspaper, and says "Look! It's RIGHT HERE!" That night was that moment. It was like God was saying "LOOK! LOOK! The answer is right in front of your face, and you are REFUSING to see it" Not long before that, I had just gotten back from a retreat with Southland's Middle School Ministry. I must admit the care that I put into my studies had been lacking, I felt that I had it all figured out, I felt that I knew what God was calling me to do, and that was the end of the story. Once again though, God had more to say, I just had to listen. I realized that night that, no matter what, my studies matter. Not because I'm wasn't going to become a missionary, or because I was destined to work in the corporate business world but because -- I didn't have the answers.

I had no idea if I'll become a CEO of a Fortune 500 Company, or if I would be going to work as a bank teller, or grocery store manager, or be a stay at home parent. Only God knows that, and that night it was God telling me that, just as it says in Colossians 3:17 "And whatever ever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him".. I didn't know then what I would be doing 7 years later, and I don't know what I'll be doing in 10 years or 5 years down the road, but I realized that night that it didn't matter. I will always go where I'm called, and do whatever it is God wants me to do, if merely to glorify Him.

I still don't know what the future holds, and my guess is neither do you. The thing is, once you think you have it figured out, something will change. You will begin to feel lost, but take heart! God is there, He knows what he is doing and He will not lead you astray. So will I, one day, be a missionary full time?? No idea, but it won't matter, because I'm not doing it for me, I do it all things because my purpose is to further God's kingdom, and so is yours.

Let's infiltrate the culture, so we can influence the culture. Let's be authentic. No matter what your passion, make sure you go for it, but don't allow it to become your purpose. Make your purpose in life, to glorify the Kingdom -- He'll take care of the rest.