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What on Earth Am I Here For?

40 Days of Love

God's Power to Change Your Life

Building a Better Life

Everyone in your congregation wants to know if life really matters. Members, visitors, even your staff want to know, “What on earth am I here for?” They’re asking three basic questions: First, there’s the question of existence: Why am I alive? For thousands of years people have asked this question. Many people of the Bible did. Jeremiah asked this question, “Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow? To end my life in disgrace?” Second, there’s the question of significance. Is there some meaning and purpose to my life? Is all that I’m doing just a waste of time and energy? Is my life significant? In Psalm 89, David asked, “I remember how short my life is [in other words, it’s not that long]. Why did You create us? For nothing?” Job asked the question, “Why should I work so hard for nothing?” If there’s no meaning and purpose, why am I even doing this? Solomon even questions the significance of pleasure. He says, “Laughing and having fun is crazy. What good does it do?” Is there any significance to what I do? Why keep going? Without meaning life is petty, trivial, and pointless. Third, there’s the question of intention: “Is there a purpose for my life?” Isaiah said this: “My work all seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.” The British philosopher, Bertrand Russell, who described himself as an atheist, said, “Unless you assume a God the question of the purpose of life is meaningless.” In other words, if there is no God, there is no grand scheme or significance to anything. If there is no God, your birth was an accident. You simply represent a random chance. If there is no God, there is no right or wrong and no Heaven or Hell. This is why it is so important that we teach our people that God made each one of them for a purpose. They need to know nothing matters more than knowing God’s purpose for their lives and nothing can compensate for not knowing it — not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. We need to teach that, without purpose, life is motion without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason; yet, it’s never too late to discover our God-ordained purpose. They need to understand God makes everything with a purpose. Every plant has a purpose, every animal has a purpose, and if you are alive, that means God has a purpose for your life. The Bible teaches that God had five purposes in making us. These five purposes are explained by Jesus in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. They’re demonstrated by the early Church in Acts, chapter 2. They’re explained by Paul in Ephesians, chapter 4, and they’re prayed about by Jesus in John, chapter 17. Number 1: Planned for God’s Pleasure The first purpose of your life is this: You were planned for God’s pleasure. I think the two words that best describe the Christian life are “love affair.” God wants you to know him and love him. Everything else is secondary to that. There is a word for expressing love to God: WORSHIP. Worship is expressing your love to God. And worship is living a life pleasing to God. You know, there is a big myth today in most of Christianity. Today the word “worship” in most people’s mind is a synonym for music. We say things like, “Well, I liked the message, but I really liked the worship.” As if the message wasn’t worship. Worship is more than music. Worship is everything you do that brings pleasure to God. Your whole life is to be a life of worship. Number 2: Formed for God’s Family Just as worship brings God pleasure because he wants us to love him, fellowship with other believers brings God pleasure because we’re formed for God’s family. One of the most misunderstood ideas about the Christian life is that it’s just a matter of believing. But God says, “No, you’re not just ‘believers’; you’re ‘belongers.’” You belong in the family of God. Did you know that the words “one another” are used 58 times in the New Testament? Love one another, care for one another, pray for one another, exhort one another, encourage one another, greet one another, and on and on and on. God wants you to care for other people. That’s called fellowship. Enjoying God’s family is called fellowship, and that’s the second purpose for your life. Number 3: Created to Be Like Christ You were planned for God’s pleasure; that’s called worship. And you were formed for a family; that’s called fellowship. Here’s the third reason God made you: You were created to be like Christ. That’s called discipleship. God made you to transform you into a likeness of his son, Jesus Christ. God is far more interested in what you are than in what you do. He’s far more interested in your being than in your doing. A lot of people ask, “What is God’s will for my life in my job or my career?” You know what? You could probably have a dozen different careers, and God would say “That’s fine.” God is more interested in your character, and I’ll tell you why: You’re not taking your career into eternity, but you are taking your character. There is no problem you can’t grow from if you’ll learn the right response. You become like Jesus. This is God’s third purpose for your life. Becoming like Christ is called discipleship. Number 4: Shaped for Service The fourth purpose God created you for is this: You were shaped for service. God made you to serve him. You’re planned for God’s pleasure; that’s worship. You’re formed for a family; that’s fellowship. You’re created to be like Christ; that’s discipleship. And you’re shaped for service; that’s called ministry. Every Christian is created to serve — called to ministry, created for ministry, saved for ministry, and gifted for ministry. The Bible makes it very clear that every Christian is a minister. Not every Christian is a pastor, but every Christian is a minister because to be Christ-like is to be a minister. You can’t be like Jesus Christ without serving others. What is ministry? Ministry is any time you use the abilities God has given you to help someone else in Jesus’ name. The Bible teaches that God uniquely wired you in a certain way for a purpose. God gave you your abilities — not for your benefit, but to bless other people. Number 5: Made for a Mission The fifth reason you were put on this Earth is that you were made for a mission. Paul was extremely passionate about this particular purpose. He says in Acts 20:24, “The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus Christ gave me.” And what is that work? To tell people the good news about God’s grace. There’s a word for fulfilling my mission in the world — it’s called “evangelism.” That is the fifth purpose God has for your life. My dad was a man on a mission. He was a pastor for 50 years but died a few years ago of cancer. The last week of his life he was delusional, and my wife and I were sitting beside him. He was very frail, and he’d lost all this weight from cancer. One night he became agitated and tried to get out of bed. Kay said, “Jimmy, you can’t get out of bed. Lie back down; you’re very weak. You’re dying.” But he tried to get back out of bed, and my wife said again, “No. Please lie back down in the bed.” She forced him back down in the bed, and she said, “What is it you need?” He said, “Gotta save one more for Jesus. Gotta save one more for Jesus. Gotta save one more for Jesus.” He said this over and over maybe 100 times. “Gotta save one more for Jesus.” As I sat there by his bedside, I put my head down and prayed, tears coming down my cheeks. My dad reached up and put his hand on my head — like a blessing — and he said, “Save one more for Jesus. Save one more for Jesus.” I intend for that to be the theme of the rest of my life. And I invite you to make it the theme of your life. You were made for a mission. Now, I have shared from God’s Word what it means to live a life of purpose, a purpose driven life. What are you going to do about it? The Bible says, “David served God’s purpose in his own generation.” I can’t think of a better epitaph. That’s what I want for my life — that when I die people will say, “He served God’s purpose in his generation.” And that’s what I want people to say about you, that you served God’s purpose in your generation.

Recent Articles

Tell God How You’re Feeling

“[God] has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead. . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.” Lamentations 3:4–6, 8 (NLT)If you’ve been in ministry long enough, you know what it feels like to be poured out and still feel empty. The sermon is preached. The hospital visits are made. The hard conversations are had. And yet, sometimes, instead of joy or peace, all that remains is silence—and sadness.Maybe it’s a critical email after a long Sunday. Maybe it’s watching your church shrink despite your best efforts. Maybe it’s conflict in your leadership team, or the quiet ache of seeing people walk away from the faith. And in those moments, you wonder, Where is God in this?Jeremiah knew that feeling well. In Lamentations, he’s not giving a neat theological answer—he’s groaning. He says, “[God] has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers” (Lamentations 3:4, 8 NLT).Sound familiar?It might surprise you that such raw emotion is in the Bible—but it’s there for a reason. Jeremiah didn’t bottle it up or try to sound strong. He didn’t pretend everything was okay. He poured it all out before God.Pastor, you don’t have to stuff your emotions either.God isn’t intimidated by your questions. He doesn’t flinch when you’re angry, exhausted, or confused. You’re not less spiritual for being honest—you’re actually stepping into a kind of worship that leads to healing.If you try to keep all that pain inside, it will find its way out—maybe through anxiety, resentment, even burnout. But when you give it to God—every ounce of frustration, fear, and fatigue—you start to find space to breathe again.God doesn't need you to be strong for him. He already knows your heart. So tell him the truth. Not the polished version. The real one.He can handle it.And more importantly, he’s not going anywhere.

Why Christians Need More than Classrooms

Many churches define spiritual maturity in terms of biblical knowledge: quoting verses, knowing theology, and explaining doctrine. But that view is incomplete.The Christian life isn’t just something to study—it’s something to live. True spiritual maturity comes through a variety of experiences that touch your mind, heart, hands, and relationships. God uses all five purposes of the church—worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism—to grow you into maturity.1. Don’t Settle for a "Classroom Church"Churches that focus solely on information-transfer are what I call "classroom churches." These churches emphasize teaching doctrine and filling your mind with truth. But they often neglect your emotional, relational, and experiential growth.While we absolutely need sound doctrine, study alone doesn’t produce mature Christians. As Gene Getz once said, "Bible study by itself will not produce spirituality. In fact, it will produce carnality if it isn’t applied and practiced."James 1:22 says, "Do not deceive yourselves by just listening to his word; instead, put it into practice!" (GNT).2. Spiritual Growth Requires All Five PurposesMature believers don’t just study the Christian life—they experience it. That means engaging in worship, participating in ministry, building fellowship, living out evangelism, and growing through discipleship.Deuteronomy 11:2 tells us, "Remember today what you have learned about the LORD through your experiences with him" (GNT).Even painful experiences have value. Proverbs 20:30 says, "Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways" (GNT). Some lessons are only learned through experience.When churches downplay experience out of fear of emotionalism or false doctrine, they rob people of part of how God designed us to grow. God gave you emotions for a reason. If you strip experience out of the Christian life, all you’re left with is a cold creed to memorize—not a vibrant life to live.3. A Balanced Strategy Builds Mature DisciplesGenuine spiritual maturity includes:A heart that worships and praises GodLoving, accountable relationships with other believersActive ministry using your gifts and talentsSharing your faith with those who don’t yet know ChristWhen churches focus only on Bible study, people fool themselves into thinking they’re growing because they’re taking notes and filling binders. But they never apply what they’re learning. Impression without expression leads to depression.That’s why a church strategy must intentionally include all five purposes. You need environments that stretch people to serve, share, love, grow, and worship.4. Learning Is Meant to Be LivedIf Christianity were merely a philosophy, studying it might be enough. But Christianity is a relationship (John 14:20-21) and a life (John 10:10).Jesus didn’t say, "I came so that you might study." The Bible uses verbs like love, give, and serve far more often than study. The last thing many believers need is another Bible study. They need a place to serve, someone to reach, a small group to belong to, and a reason to praise.Don’t get me wrong. I deeply value Bible study. I even wrote a textbook on the subject that's now in multiple languages. But it’s only one part of a mature life in Christ.If you want your church to grow deeper, don’t just fill minds; develop whole lives. People need more than sermons and studies. They need spiritual experiences that shape their hearts, stretch their faith, and lead them to live out what they believe.

Are You Focused on the Immediate or the Eternal?

As a pastor, you deal with many immediate needs every day—from counseling issues to leadership concerns to preparing your regular weekend messages. And added to that, we’re in the middle of an election year, when everyone is fighting for our attention.  It’s easy to get caught up in the here and now. But faithful ministry in our world today that impacts our communities requires something else. Every pastor needs to keep an eternal perspective.  Keeping an eternal perspective means realizing there’s more to life than just here and now. C.S. Lewis once said, “All that is not eternal is eternally out of date.” You’re in an eternal struggle for the hearts and souls of people in your community. Nothing matters more than that struggle.  An eternal perspective realizes there are long-term implications for every action we take. Pastors who make a difference in the world around them focus on those eternal implications rather than the immediate ones. At the most, you’ll only live on earth for a mere 90 or so years, but your time in eternity will never end. Your ministry on this side of eternity is simply a prelude to the real thing.  Noah understood this. The Bible tells us, “[Noah] was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will” (Genesis 6:9 TLB). Noah was single-focused, always asking, “What does God want me to do?” That’s what an eternally focused life looks like. Noah had a filter. Each decision he made was guided by God’s will.  Hebrews 13:14 captures what it means to be eternally minded: “For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven” (TLB). If you believe and base your ministry on that truth, it will change everything for you and your church. Suddenly, yesterday’s contentious business meeting and your church’s budget failings won’t matter nearly as much.  Your focus will be on what doesn’t change—helping people to worship the Lord, build Jesus-honoring relationships, become more like Jesus, serve God faithfully, and tell others about Jesus.   A ministry with an eternal perspective focuses on the purposes of God, which never change. That’s why I wrote in The Purpose Driven Church: “Unless the driving force behind a church is biblical, the health and growth of the church will never be what God intended. Strong churches are not built on programs, personalities, or gimmicks. They are built on the eternal purposes of God.” Programs, personalities, and gimmicks might produce short-term ministry success, but the results of pursuing God’s purposes last forever. When you have an eternal perspective on your ministry, you realize the most important areas of your work can’t be easily seen. Paul says, “We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NCV). A thousand years from now, our church buildings will be nothing but piles of rubble. Our budgets and our strategies won’t matter at all. What really counts is the lasting impact we’ve had on people who will worship Jesus for all of eternity.  If you truly understand this perspective, you won’t need to stress over the ebbs and flows of your ministry week. The headlines won’t depress you each morning. Your church’s budget shortfalls won’t cause you concern.  Instead, as you focus on what God’s Word says about eternal issues that matter most, you’ll be free to make a difference with your ministry. Remember the words of Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (NIV). If you are building a ministry on God’s eternal purposes, you can’t fail. God’s purposes will always prevail.

Three Ways to Grow While You Wait

God wants to do something incredible through your ministry. No one can take that away. Your critics can’t. Neither can Satan. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have to wait for it. Sometimes God cracks a door and lets you see your future before you’re ready to walk through it. Why does he do that? First, if God showed you all your future at once,it would scare you. You’d take one look and say, “Oh no, God wants me to do that?” You’re simply not ready right now to see everything God wants to do through you. God also wants to keep you close to him as you trust him to do what he is calling you to do. It’s like he writes his plan for you on a scroll. You unroll the scroll a bit and do what he says. Then you unroll a bit more, and he gives you a little more of the vision. You’re not the first leader God has let glimpse the future long before it’s become reality. In fact, he has done that over and over again throughout history. Centuries ago, God gave Habakkuk a vision for Israel and then told him: “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” (Habakkuk 2:3 TLB). God wasn’t late for Habakkuk. He won’t be overdue when it comes to his vision for your life either. God’s timing is perfect. God is always at work, lining up everything according to his plan. God can do more in five minutes on his timing, than you can do in 50 years on yours. While you wait, God has something important for you to do. You're supposed to be preparing by learning. So what do you need to learn while you’re waiting on God’s vision for your life to be fulfilled? Learn discernment. You need to learn which doors to walk through and which ones to walk past so you can avoid wasting time, money, and energy as you pursue God’s vision for your ministry. Paul writes to the church of Philippi: “This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:9-10 NIV). God wants you to grow in your love for others, but he wants you to do that with both knowledge and discernment so you’ll make the right choices about the doors he puts in front of you. Learn courage. You may already know the right choices to make about the doors God has placed before you, but you need to grow in your courage. You don’t have the faith right now to take the right step. Pastor, it’s not enough to know what to do. You need the courage to actually do what the Lord is calling you to do. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s stepping out in faith despite your fear. When Solomon received the assignment of building the temple, David gave him some advice:“Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or abandon you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished” (1 Chronicles 28:20 CSB). I’ve been scared about every single important decision in my life, but I decided long ago not to let fear dominate my life. So I have constantly acted contrary to my fear. God doesn’t sponsor flops. If he gives you the vision, you have nothing to worry about. Learn to open doors for others. Waiting isn’t easy. When you have a glimpse of something God wants to do through your life, you want it now. But you’re not the only one waiting. Look around in your ministry, and you’ll see other people waiting for their own open doors. Often, they will have doors in front of them you can help open. As often as you can, learn to open those doors. Love other people. Care about how God will use them. God will put people in your life to do the same for you. Don’t waste your waiting time. Let God help you grow into the leader he wants you to be on the other side of the door.

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