"Ministry...is not purpose driven but love inspired. Love Jesus, love others and discipleship purpose will follow"
All too often I find myself in the mindset that I'm working for a cause, but we're reminded here and also by Oswald Chambers (below, sorry I told myself I wouldn't put all of it... but it was SO good) that when we work for a cause we get burned out. The source of life is Jesus, and discipleship is defined as drawing from that infinite spring.
"Jesus did not say - Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me. We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. "If any man come to Me and hate not . . . , he cannot be My disciple." There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply - If you would be My disciple, you must be devoted to Me. A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says - "Now I see Who Jesus is," and that is the source of devotion.
To-day we have substituted credal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offence to the educated mind of to-day that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade. Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat. The secret of a disciple's life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness. It is like a corn of wheat, which falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape (John 12:24)."
-My Utmost for His Highest (June 19th)
So true, the purpose of life can be overshadowed with check lists of what to do towards the cause. BUT that is not what life is about. Jesus Christ should be the center of our thoughts and minds. Sometimes we need to stop and reorganize what we are truly striving for.
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