Calling and Mission I - Intro

Monday, Sept 14, 2009. What is the purpose of my life? Why am I here? Humans usually ask these questions at several points in their life. We want to know the framework, the goals and the overall setup of our life and our activities. We need to know! We are both goal and relation oriented and to know who we are we need to know what our goals are and in what relations we live and work.

It is interesting how strong our own perception of our value is related to purpose and relations. It can be observed on nearly all levels of individual and social behavior. When people want to be well-known for their art, for music or dance, they play the relation card. They long for relations which confirm their overwhelming value. They long for deep and strong relations, for continuing affirmation of their existence and their performance. Similar phenomena can be observed on all other levels of life.

The Christian view on the questions of purpose and relation is based on a reality which includes God. We need to include the creator and Lord into our picture. In fact he is not only a little part, some little area, but he is the fundament and source. God has started it all, he is the source and he is the end. He is the one who is holding our life in his hand. He is the loving savior. He is the one who calls us to him, to trust and love, to work and activity, to goal and purpose.

God calls us to him. He wants us to relate to him. He asks us to come to him and live with him. This is the basic calling, which puts our life into a different framework, into God's framework. We find purpose and relation in this framework. We find affirmation there. We find all we have ever searched for, all we ever wanted to achieve, when we come to God. We find answers to our questions: why are we here? We find answers to the question of purpose. We find answers to the question of origin and future. He was and he is and he will be. He is not an empty existence, his presence is not a purely logical statement. He is a living God, he is filled with purpose, with life, with love, with affirmation and value. When we come to him we reach our goal. We enter relations which completely fill our desire for fullness and meaning.

God is calling us to him. That is the fundament of his further callings and his missions. When we come to him he is taking us into his agenda. He is integrating us into his goals. We become a part of his mission - the mission of love and salvation, the mission of truth and serving, the mission of a pure heart. When we talk about calling and mission, we have to start with the character and heart of the eternal God. Here in his heart there is peace. In his heart there is love. In his heart there is complete truthfulness. When we arrive at his heart we find the purpose and mission of our life. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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