Tuesday, September 23, 2008

“The Great Suggestion” (How we Hear-part 1)


I went away a few weeks back for our annual Fall Retreat. We had a great time. One of the highlights of any conference for me, is when students hear a speaker say something that I’ve been saying time and again, but they actually “hear” it for the first time. I always sit back and laugh, because I recognize that God is continually speaking to us, but for so may different reasons, we either don’t hear it, or we don’t hear it in the way we should.

This one particular nugget was about purpose. So many people, especially college students, are always trying to figure out their purpose in life. What person will I marry, what career will I have, where will I live, etc. And although God has unique paths in life for every person, we all share a corporate purpose that is laced throughout our individual lives. It’s simply to love God and love others. Jesus puts it another way in what Christians call “The Great Commission”, by saying we should go make disciples of all the nations. And a disciple is someone who is following Jesus, and helping others follow Jesus.

So if we are ALL called to do this, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know who your future spouse, employer, or home address is, as long as you’re fulfilling your greater purpose. Some Christians don’t feel “called” to reach out, because when they hear a directive, they receive it as a suggestion. Just remember, it’s called the great commission, not the great suggestion.

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