FCC's 40 Days of Purpose!
In the Fall of 2003, FCC Bentonville had a 6 week study on Rick Warren's best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, in our worship messages, individually, and in small groups. These pages served as a forum for Pastor Don to share his own thoughts and reflections regarding the daily readings from The Purpose Driven Life. We have left them here because of the continuing popularity of that book - and because Don's reflections give a unique insight into his theology and understanding of God. If you have any questions or comments about statements made or issues raised on these pages, Don would be more than happy to talk with you. Feel free to e-mail him at dmorrow@fccbentonville.com
Week 1: WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
Links to other 40 Days pages: Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Home
DAY 1: It All Starts with God
It's not about me... The theme for this first day is fundamental not only to the notion of this book, but to the Bible itself: it's not about you. We live in one of the most successful cultures in the history of the world - but it is also an extremely self-centered culture. We must consciously, consistently remind ourselves that life is not all about us. In order to live purposeful, meaningful lives, in fact, life must first and foremost be about God. While some people may think that the American dream is that you can "have it all", the truth is, you cannot. But once you've centered your life on God, you no longer even want it all! One of the greatest gifts of discovering your God-given purpose is in being able to simplify your life by focusing more on the things that really matter, and letting the rest of "it all" go.
Already in this first day, someone has asked me if I agree with one of the things Rick Warren writes for Day 1. On page 21 of The Purpose Driven Life (referred to hereafter as PDL), Warren says: "You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get to choose your purpose." Actually, I agree with that entirely. For me, saying that you may choose your career, spouse, etc. is not to say that God does not play any part in those areas of life. I believe God is always trying to help us and lead us in all the areas of our lives, and has a great deal to reveal to us concerning things like our career choices and the person we choose to marry. But ultimately, as God has created us with ultimate freedom, we have the power to choose our own path. When it comes to your purpose, however, how can a person possibly choose his or her own purpose? We can choose what we do with our lives and what we are going to be focused on... but the One who created us in the first place is the One who determines why we were created. We cannot "choose" that purpose for which we were made - we can only discover it. And once we've discovered that purpose, and learn to live in it, we find true fulfillment.
DAY 2: You Are Not an Accident
The topic for Day 2 is one in which Rick Warren and I do not exactly see eye-to-eye. Before I get into a couple of points where he and I differ, let me affirm a couple of points on which we certainly agree. First, you are not an accident. As I'm fond of reminding you in my sermons, you are a child of God, made by God, and God don't make no trash! You are highly valued by your Creator. Second, I echo Warren's understanding in saying that nothing in your life is arbitrary. I'm not a believer in luck, either good or bad. I believe every moment of life is filled with meaning and purpose... and filled with God.
However (and this is a BIG however), I do not read the Bible to say, as Warren does, that every single, minute detail of our lives was mapped out for us long before we even existed. I am not of the opinion that God planned everything that was ever going to happen, from Creation forward to the end of all time - or that God has known from the beginning of time everything that was going to happen henceforth. (I realize that statement is tantamount to heresy in some people's eyes.) One of the characteristics that we know of God is that God is creative. I believe God is still creating, in every moment of time. But if everything was determined at the dawn of time, then there really is no more creating allowed, in a sense.
Moreover, the biggest characteristic we know of God is that God is loving - and in the words of Sting (lesser known among the saints), "if you love someone, set them free." In God's ultimate wisdom, God knew that the only true love is that love which is freely given. So God has given us freedom: freedom to choose this way or that way; freedom to choose not just right or wrong, but various degrees of in-between as well; freedom to choose God, or not to choose God, in every moment.
Let me comment a little on the scripture verses that Warren utilizes in his Day 2 writings. As quoted in PDL, Psalm 139:16 (LB) reads: "You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book." Before interpreting any particular line of scripture, we should also make sure we read it as part of the whole book or passage it was written within. Looking at Psalm 139 as a whole, the overarching principle being communicated by the author was an understanding of human reality being enclosed within divine reality. The writer is saying that God's relation to him transcends his understanding - that God is present in ways beyond his comprehension. This is affirming the mystery of God. (We should be very careful to never feel as though we have everything figured out as far as God goes. The Old Testament writers were especially mindful of that, but that is true in the New Testament as well.)
More than being a scientific explanation of how God thought him up, the psalmist is here poetically expressing that God is with him more intimately than he can possibly explain or understand. In reading the entire psalm, we see that is both a comfort to the psalmist and a frustration - a comfort that God would love him so much and be ever so close to him, and a frustration because he sees that there is no hiding from a God who is that close by! The closing lines of the psalm (v.19-24) are more like a confession, whereby the psalmist is revealing his hatred for the wicked. It's almost as though he is asking God for permission to feel that hatred (see v.23-24), and to test his innermost thoughts and motives. But from beginning to end, the theme is: You know me and are with me.
While I see how people may read this scripture and others like it to say that, as Warren puts it, "God decided when you would be born and how long you would live" and "planned the days of your life in advance" - I just don't read it that way. A common question against that line of thinking is something along the lines of, "So did God plan for Hitler to do what he did? Was the Holocaust part of God's purpose?" My answer to that is a resounding "No!" But God can use even the worst of human sins and errors and utilize them to serve God's greater purposes. For instance, Hitler and the Holocaust can show us where the road of self-righteousness, hatred, racism and arrogance leads. That was not part of God's original plan, however. It was a result of people who took the freedom that God had given them out of love and using that freedom to serve themselves rather than to love God in return.
In short, while you are not an accident, God loves you SO MUCH that he has given you the freedom to go against God's plan and make accidents... and has given that same freedom to others who may abuse that freedom and make their own accidents... and their accidents may even be harmful to you. But the amazing thing is, since God is with us through it all (remember that psalm), once those accidents have occurred and the damage has been done, God loves us SO MUCH that God will begin to pick up the pieces of the wreckage and craft it in such a way that even that horrible accident can serve his ultimate plan. And that's how, even in the accidents, it's all for a purpose!
DAY 3: What Drives Your Life?
My response to the biggest part of this chapter is "Amen!" Warren is so right about us being products of our past, while at the same time saying we don't have to be prisoners of that past. We allow so many things to limit our lives: resentment, anger, old wounds, unmet expectations, unfulfilled dreams, unresolved fears. If we focus too much on any of those things, they can keep us from reaching the fulfillment that comes from living a purpose driven life. Those things, in a sense, can even become our gods - and as Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters."
One condition that Warren touches upon that really rings true for me is how so many of us try to do too much, leaving us feeling stressed and worn out. He says, "If you can't get it all done, it means you're trying to do more than God intended for you to do." Remember that the next time you're trying to decide whether to sign your kids up for yet another after-school activity, or before you agree to be on yet another committee at the PTA, or at work, or at church! Ask yourself if whatever it is you are considering would help you achieve your purpose. If the answer is yes, then go for it! If not, walk away.
The only point with which I don't concur with Warren is in the final section of today's reading, where he says that knowing your purpose "prepares you for eternity." We'll discuss this further in the days ahead, but I disagree somewhat with Warren's understanding of seeing this life as merely a precursor to the life to come. More than that, let me comment here about his use of Paul's words in Romans 14 (PDL p.34), which I see as being taken out of context. If you read the whole of Romans 14, Paul is writing to warn people against being judgmental. The thrust of what he has to say is not that "one day you will stand before God, and he will do an audit of your life." Just consider verses 10-13 in their entirety (NRSV): "Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' So then, each of us will be accountable to God. Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another." Paul does say that we will all stand before "the judgment seat" - but he says that to remind us that judgment is left to God and God only, not to scare us about some divine "final exam" that God will be giving us all. Really, Paul is warning us, yet again, against being self-righteous and thinking that we know all the answers, and that our way of living life for God is the only way of living life for God. It just ain't so.
That is not to say that Paul doesn't talk about judgment, for indeed he does, both here and elsewhere (consider 1 Cor. 3:10-15 & 2 Cor. 5:10). But everywhere Paul addresses the subject of God's judgment, it is done with a focus on the fact that with the Christian's freedom and liberation also comes a great deal of responsibility - and a disciple of Christ had better take those responsibilities seriously, because God certainly does. What Paul does not say, however, is that this is a judgment to determine whether each individual is worthy of salvation or not. (In fact, if you read 1 Cor.3:10-15, note than in v.15 Paul specifically says that even the incompetent builder, whose life's work is burned up in the fire, is himself also saved.) Such a judgment would go against everything Paul says elsewhere about God's grace. And Paul does not give the impression to me that he thinks on the day of judgment we will go through "an audit", which implies that every detail of our lives will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb. Paul paints with a much larger stroke. I interpret him as basically asking: did you focus your life on God?
DAY 4: Made to Last Forever
Okay, fasten your seatbelts...
This is probably the reading with which I have the most trouble in this entire book. But again, let me affirm where I am in agreement with Warren's interpretation before I get to those points on which we disagree. Where I agree wholeheartedly is in saying that God created us for eternity. As we read in the opening chapter of the Bible (Gen.1:27), all of us are created in the image of God. I love the way Warren puts it when he says, "You have an inborn instinct that longs for immortality... because God designed you, in his image, to live for eternity." And certainly Paul states that in 2 Cor.5:1 when he talks about God having a house in heaven for us to live in forever. How cool is that!
There are two important matters, connected to one another, with which I disagree with Warren altogether. The first is the notion that this life is merely a precursor to real life in heaven - or as Warren puts it, "life on earth is just the dress rehearsal before the real production... the staging area, the preschool, the tryout... the practice workout... the warm-up lap." If that is the lens through which you look at life now, it will certainly effect the way you live life now - and that is what Warren wants and believes the Bible endorses. I am not of that opinion. While I fully affirm that the Bible points to eternal life with God, and states in several places that this world is not our permanent home, I am very leery of denigrating this life as simply a "dress rehearsal." I believe we are already living in the "real production", that this life is the beginning of eternal life. One reason I think it is important to make that distinction is because of what Warren states on p.38 when he says:
"If your time on earth were all there is to your life, I would suggest you start living it up immediately. You could forget being good and ethical, and you wouldn't have to worry about any consequences of your actions. You could indulge yourself in total self-centeredness because your actions would have no long-term repercussions."
I couldn't disagree with this idea more strongly! It seems to me that this suggests that the reason we should live good and ethical lives, and lives that are focused more on others than on God, is because that will earn us rewards in the life to come. Where is the love in that - and in a sense, isn't that self-centered? The reason I believe we should live lives that are loving - lives that are good and ethical and not self-centered - is because we are born of a God who is loving, and who created us with a purpose to be both recipient of and instruments of that love. I fully believe, even if there were no life after death (a promise which I fully believe), that living lives of love would still be the most fulfilling way to live this life! A life that is lived in total self-centeredness results in an empty life, whether you consider the hereafter or not, because we are made for relationships! We are wired to be fulfilled only when we are living in loving relationships, both with God and with other people.
The other point where Warren and I differ is one which is probably more controversial. He says on p.37 that if you learn to love and trust Jesus, you will be invited to spend eternity with him; otherwise, "you will spend eternity apart from God forever." I know that is traditional Christian thinking, and is fundamental to many people's beliefs... but I don't see this matter as being nearly as black and white as Warren does. Heaven and Hell are matters that are solely in God's hands, and to pretend that I completely understand who is going where and why is tantamount to me playing God, which I refuse to do. One of my favorite sayings is, God is God, and I am not. As a matter of humility, as a matter of putting ourselves in proper relation to the Almighty, we should all understand that we cannot possibly fathom all the ways of God.
So, who do I believe will inherit eternal life with God? Well, I certainly believe that those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior are given that gift. That is a fundamental promise of the New Testament. But to say that anyone who does not accept Jesus is precluded from that gift... that is entirely left to God, is it not? My belief and my hope (I emphasize "my" because this is my own interpretation, based upon my own personal relationship with God) is that God will eventually save all people who follow and put their trust in God, including those who follow God via a means other than Christianity. The truth is, in my heart of hearts I would love for God to reach out and save ALL people! Will that happen?... Well, speaking strictly from scripture, it is hard to say so - but again, the matter of salvation is entirely left to God. God is God, and I am not.
Lest you think I am out of bounds by hoping for salvation for non-Christians and even going so far as believing that will happen, let me assure you that I have some pretty good company in that hope. One person who shared that hope, at least the way I read him, is the apostle Paul. Take some time and read Romans 11. In that chapter, Paul is talking about what is to become of Israel (Jews who had not accepted Jesus), God's chosen people of the Old Testament. Let me especially lift out a couple of verses, that I believe give great insight into Paul's hope and understanding of God's ultimate plan. Several times throughout this chapter he makes it clear that all is not lost for Israel, and that God's election of them is irreversible. He even goes so far as to say that "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (v.29) and that "God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all" (v.32). In light of Paul's argument throughout the whole of Romans, what I hear him saying (and more importantly, what I hear God saying through him) is that God has given all people the freedom to rebel and be disobedient, knowing full well that we will at times do just that, in order that God may reveal the fullness of God's love to ALL PEOPLE, through God's mercy and grace.
I believe that Paul is right, and that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. I also believe that all people are born as children of God, and as such are born with God-given gifts and callings - even though some have yet to figure that out. By God's grace and mercy and love, I also believe it is at least possible that God will give the ultimate gift to all those whom He loves (which would exclude whom?), and certainly to those who also love the One True God.
That is my hope and belief. But again, I'll just close with these words of humility: God is God, and I am not.
DAY 5: Seeing Life from God's View
I love the quote from Anais Nin that Warren uses to begin this chapter: We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. How true! The way you see your life absolutely plays a part in shaping your life. I hope you'll take some time to seriously consider what some of your life metaphors are (do you see life like a party, a sprint, a marathon, a mystery, a battle, a game, etc...), as they do influence your life more than you realize. And once you recognize your personal life metaphors, check them to see that they fit the biblical model.
Warren submits that the Bible offers 3 metaphors that teach us God's view of life. I think the Bible offers many more than that... but the categories that Warren offers are a great starting point. The 3 metaphors he suggests are: life is a TEST, life is a TRUST, and life is a TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT. The first 2 are covered in this reading; tomorrow's reading covers the third.
As far as life being a test... I agree, although I would say that it's not so much that God is testing us, as it is that life tests us, and God walks with us through those testing times. So, whereas Warren might say that God's hand is behind every trial we face in life, I would say that God's hand is present even in life's trials - and that God is usually trying to lead us through the trial, so that we might safely reach higher ground. However you look at it, there is no doubt that you will be tested in life. The good news is, if I look back on the times of my life that produced the most spiritual growth, that growth most often occurred during or immediately following a time of trial and testing.
Life is also a trust, and what Warren has to say about that is right on the money (pun intended). Everything is God's, and God has given us everything as a trust. As Psalm 24 states, "The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are His." God is the owner of everything, and wants us to use everything to honor Him and give Him glory. In our culture, I believe Warren is right about God using our finances most of all to teach us to trust Him. Several places in the Bible, we are told that there is a direct relationship between how we use our money and treat our possessions and the quality of our spiritual walk. Money and material possessions are talked about in the scriptures more than just about any other single thing! If really want to turn your life over to God and allow God to be #1 in your life - if you really accept Jesus as your LORD as well as your Savior - then that must prove true in your finances and material wealth as well. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to give all of your money to the church... but it does mean that you have to treat all of your money as though it is God's, and not your own! Growing in spiritual maturity for the most part boils down to us being able to TRUST in God. In our materialistic culture, one of the largest obstacles to that trust is that we often put more trust and find more security (undeservedly) in our financial status than in God.
DAY 6: Life is a Temporary Assignment
I don't have a great deal to add to what Warren says on Day 6 (I know that must come as a shock). While I do put higher value on this life than what Warren has said up to this point, I believe one of the biggest problems with American culture is placing too much importance on worldly things. There is a legitimate danger, I believe, in focusing entirely on the life-to-come (of becoming so heavenly-minded that you are no earthly good); but there is an even greater danger, especially in a prosperous culture such as ours, of focusing entirely too much on material things in this life. We've been speaking all year long about the "life more abundant" that Jesus promises in John 10:10; but as Warren writes, "the abundant life has nothing to do with material abundance, and faithfulness to God does not guarantee success in a career or even in ministry."
DAY 7: The Reason for Everything
Again, Warren is right: it is all for God. If we could only get this through our thick skulls, it would revolutionize our lives. Once we make everything in our day-to-day lives about God, life suddenly begins to make sense in ways that it otherwise never will. Our lives should be about giving glory to God.
Warren spends a great deal of time in this chapter talking about God's glory. He talks about how that glory has been revealed to various people in various settings in various ways over the course of history - from Moses to the tabernacle to the temple to the church, appearing as everything from fire to clouds, thunder, smoke and a brilliant light. And Warren ends that section by stating, "God's glory is best seen in Jesus Christ. He, the Light of the World, illuminates God's nature." And to that I say, Amen!
Now let me connect that to what I wrote on Day 4 regarding the hope that even those who have not accepted Christ may be given the gift of eternal life with God, as my statements on Day 4 have prompted a couple of questions from folks (questions which I welcome - it's in our conversations about these matters, and perhaps especially in our disagreements, that we find growth). I do fully believe what I've quoted above from Warren, that God's glory and nature are most fully revealed in Jesus. But I also believe that God's glory is revealed by other means as well - as does Warren, who several times cites the glory of God revealed in creation. So when Warren says that "because of Jesus, we are no longer in the dark about what God is really like"... I agree, for the most part. The distinctions I would draw are two: first, that we were not completely in the dark even prior to Jesus coming; and second, that we are not completely out of the dark even after Jesus has come! As I mentioned earlier, I think it unwise and prideful for us to think that we have God figured out. So for Warren to say that "Jesus came to earth so we could fully understand God's glory" overstates things a bit for me. Add a couple of important words to that, and instead say that Jesus came to earth so we could more fully understand God's glory, and I am in complete agreement.
Splitting hairs?... Not really. The exclusivist view says that my understanding, my viewpoint, my theology is right, and everything else is wrong. It's either my way (which is presumed to also be God's way) or the highway - in this case, literally the highway to Hell. Although you can certainly find verses in the Bible that can be read in that exclusivist way, you can also find verses that run completely counter to that line of thinking. (Some passages of scripture contradict other passages, and those who try to say otherwise are fooling themselves.) I think this exclusivist attitude in Christianity has been the single largest hurdle in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus becomes more of a story of Good News / Bad News (accept Christ... or else!) when we say that this understanding is the only valid understanding. In fact, when Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, remember his reply? He said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ' You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." So basically, Jesus is saying you can sum up the Bible in these commands: love God, and love your neighbor... and he takes these commandments from the Old Testament (his scriptures): they come from Deut.6:5 & Lev.19:18. What Jesus reveals, it seems to me, God has already been revealing, even since the beginning - Jesus just does so differently and more fully. Jesus reveals the personal side of God more fully, and so I think Christianity offers greater access to that part of Who God Is than do other religions. On the other hand, I believe some other religions (namely Judaism) offer a greater awareness to God's otherness and mystery, which is also an important part of Who God Is. We are all children of God, and we can learn more about God, more about one another, and more about ourselves if we remain open to what other followers of the One True God have to say about their own experience and faith. But enough about that, at least for now (I can already sense my e-mail filling up again... and again, I would love to hear any of your questions or comments at dmorrow@fccbentonville.com ).
Warren closes this section by giving a glimpse of what he calls God's 5 purposes for your life. As he says, there are many ways to bring glory to God, but these 5 ways serve more or less as summary categories. We bring God glory through worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, and evangelism. It is on those 5 purposes that our study will now focus.
Links to other 40 Days pages: Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Home