The Goal of Faith

On Saturday I joined a group from one of the urban churches on a prayer walk in their community.  We gathered in the sanctuary to review the plan and pray before departing.  

Our goal was to share God's love with the people in the community by listening to their cares and bringing those concerns to God in prayer on their behalf.  


We walked in small groups throughout the community.  Each group had an assigned side of a street.  For some, this was their first experience doing such a thing.  We weren't promoting the church or evangelizing, just caring for people through prayer.


My group approached 20 homes and we were able to speak with people at 6 of them.  Only 4 gave us something specific to pray about.  We prayed for the people in each home, whether we spoke with them or not.  The Lord knows their concerns. 

Our presence Allowed one woman to ask a question that had been burdening her: "Do all people have a purpose?"  And, "are they supposed to fulfill it before they die?"  Essentially, she was asking, "what is the goal of life?

Surely, the goal of this life is not merely to pass through safely to the end?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the writer explores life and determines it meaningless when lived as an end to itself.  The concept is that our lives are like a vapor, transitory and unsatisfactory, unless lived with a broader context. Life has tasks, knowledge, seasons, relationships, hardships...  

What's the point?

Mission, Jesus style is knowing that life isn't meaningless.  It is living with confidence that the Lord who created everything that exists has unending love for humanity.  You and I are not whirling through life without purpose.  The Lord is constantly inviting us to 

take hold of the life that is truly life!

On Sunday, I joined another urban congregation for worship.  The message was based on Jesus' teaching about the cost of being a disciple from Luke 14:25-33.  It is clear from all the teachings of Jesus on being a disciple that the goal is more than merely making it safely through this life to heaven!  

The pastor summarized the twofold goal of faith this way:

1. To be WITH Him, receiving the fullness of his love, and 
2. To be LIKE Him, sharing His love with others.

This is "life that is truly life"!

Mission, Jesus style invites us to know God, to love God, and to love others in the same way.  When we are in relationship with the Creator and aim to live for the good of another, it's ultimate teamwork, where 
Together
Everyone 
Achieves
More

...not merely in what is achieved or accumulated in life, rather in the health of our relationships, where each person would know how dearly and truly loved they are by the Lord, and where they too can be WITH Him and LIKE Him!