The Voice
Today I listened to Mark Driscoll outline his life’s mission that God gave him at age 19. He didn’t stumble over one word, he confidently and quickly laid out three things God wanted him to do with his life. Mark has been doing those things for the past 21 years. His life’s impact is apparent.
I find that the most effective people know what it is God has asked them to do. They are confident, resolute, and passionate about it. When you know you have heard from God and you know what He has said you can press toward “the mark” as Paul calls it. A person with clarity of God’s calling are undaunted by set backs, difficulties, and failures. Even when it seems the entire body of work has crumbled they seem to get up from the rubble, dust off and continue the work. They never seem to loose sight of the finish line.
A life lived with trust in what you have been told by the One who knows all things and is your King of Kings results in clarity of life, and clean actions. In other words when we know what God has asked us to do and we see God as the absolute voice of authority in our lives we see the path way clearly (clarity) and we waste little time and emotional energy on things that do not contribute to that mission (clean actions).
The other byproduct of a clear understanding of God’s life direction is it creates cooperation. Plenty of great leaders find it more than difficult to get things going and get help doing them. The problem they don’t see is they themselves are easily discouraged, or they change their “passionate pursuits” often. Depending on what mood they are in or what has happened this week they are excited about something totally new or they are sad about the end of the last mission. People who commit to following a person who is the leader of a cause don’t like when that cause decides to change. A leader who is tossed back and forth by every new thing or new thought that enters his or her mind will see his help leave. Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision the people perish”, Rick Warren re translated this verse to say “Where there is no vision the people find another parish.” It is true. It the leader can’t articulate his life mission and personally sell out to it won’t get people to sell out to it either. You cannot attract or keep high level leaders in what you are doing without a clear, consistent, steadfast vision that you, yourself are not passionately pursuing.
A shadow mission (fake mission) of a life mission is to define ourselves by what we are not or what we are against. A life mission has to be about WHAT YOU ARE, AND WHAT YOU ARE PURSUING. Not what you are against. People are not attracted to a leader that is against something, that is a shadow of the real mission. Seven-Up got away with being the UnCola but leaders don’t get such a pass. You must be able to define what you are for. The Atheist movement has seen little growth because the very nature of being an Atheist is to define what they are against. A-theist- Against God. Ok, so what are you for? No one climbs out of a fox hole, or charges an armed robber because he or she is against something. They do it because they know what they are for.
In a world that is hungry for the next new thing, sticking to something is truly being drowned in the idea that nothing is worth being sold out to. The limited pursuit of what God has said is far more important than the diluted drift of a life lived like a buffet.
What is your life’s mission?
”My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
John 10:27 NASU
July 28, 2011