“We’re on a mission from God,” the classic line from the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, was used by the movie’s main characters to justify a truly ludicrous amount of lawbreaking.
When I was a child, every week on television, Agent Jim Phelps would receive a seemingly impossible mission with the provision, “should you choose to accept it.” (Must be nice. Nobody in the Air Force ever asked me if I chose to accept a mission.)
Christians who travel to foreign cultures and nations for the sake of the gospel are called missionaries. Millions of us have participated in short-term missions, ranging from a few days to a few months in length.
Organizations often have mission statements, laying out the purpose for which they exist. When I was at my Air Force tech school I had to memorize the mission statement of the Keesler Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps1. (As a soprano bugle player, I also had to be able to recite it three times on a single breath of air). But a mission in the military can also be of very short duration; for example, a aircraft crew might be assigned the mission of attacking a particular enemy target.
The first definition of “mission” in the Mirriam-Webster online dictionary is: “a specific task with which a person or a group is charged.” The Bible records a number of people – Jesus, the apostles, all of the Old Testament prophets – who were undeniably given missions by the Holy Spirit according to this definition. Matthew 28:19-20 is sometimes considered the mission statement of the church. But what about individual believers? Does God give every one of his children a mission? I believe that he does.
Writing to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul discussed spiritual gifts, using the parts of the human body as an analogy. He wrote, “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1 Corinthians 12:19) And just a few verses later, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31)
Although these passages don’t use the word “mission,” they do tell us that God gifts individuals with their own abilities, for his purposes. That sounds very much like he’s equipping people for their own various missions. And in Ephesians 2:10 we read, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God created me, and you, to do certain good works. He prepared those works specifically for us to do. That sounds very much like a mission. In fact, the only way it wouldn’t be is if I could argue that God did not actually charge me to do the things he created me to do, and that were prepared by him for me to do. That doesn’t sound very believable.
Which leads to the follow-up question: if God has assigned me a mission, which it seems he has, what is it? How do I know what good works I was created to do?
Now it would be possible, I suppose, to argue that I don’t need to know. Since God is all powerful and all knowing, he could easily set things in motion so that I end up doing what he intends, whether I know it or not. But if that’s what he’s doing, why even tell us that we were created to do good works? And in any case, that does not seem to be how he works. God wants his children to obey willingly, to allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit. (Romans 8:14) In other words, he wants children who will love him, not puppets that he can manipulate. Now, obviously I can’t willingly obey God’s will if I don’t know what it is. So again the question, how do I know what my mission is?
One way, of course, is through a supernatural encounter, such as happened to Isaiah or Paul. It’s hard to mistake your mission when God himself appears to you and commissions you for his work. But that only happened a handful of times in many centuries of Biblical history, and it doesn’t appear to have gotten any more common today. What are the rest of us to do?
I don’t have the way to know what God created you to do. I don’t think there is just one way. Some people seem to have known since they were children what they were born to do. I’m not one of those. But through experience, I have learned a few principles that have helped me figure out what my mission is.
The first principle is submission. Jesus said, “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (John 7:17). In Romans 12:1-2, Paul writes that offering ourselves as living sacrifices is what will enable us to know God’s will. God is not seeking my approval for his plan. He doesn’t reveal his will to me so I can decide whether or not to obey it; he reveals his will because I have already decided.
I won’t try to sugar coat this; committing myself to obey God before I know what he wants me to do is tough. God has called many people before me to give up their homes, their possessions, even their lives for the sake of his kingdom. All they got in return was a promise that Christ would be with them (Matthew 28:20), and that their sacrifices and their labor would not be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). These promises are for me too, but they require trust.
The second principle is to ask. Scripture says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5) No one knows what you were created for as well as the one who created you. And after you ask, take time to be quiet and listen. The answer might not come right away. In our modern society, there seems to be a constant pressure to be doing something. Just sitting can seem wrong. But God is better at managing time than we are; he created it, after all. Part of applying the first principle is submitting to God’s timing.
The third principle is to start with what’s in front of you. I guarantee there are ways to serve God in your church, your family and your neighborhood. Don’t wait for special guidance. It doesn’t matter at this point what it is; children’s ministry, evangelism team, visiting the sick, greeting people on Sunday morning, or whatever other need you see. Just pick something that you’re able to do, take whatever training there is (if there is any), and get to work. It’s by serving in whatever tasks you find that you’ll discover which ones God has made you good at. More that that, you’re also practicing the first principle by doing whatever you’re given to do.
If you do this, you’ll discover pretty quickly why it doesn’t matter what you start with. It’s because as soon as you start doing any kind of ministry, you’ll find more needs and more opportunities. You won’t just be able to pick and choose; you’ll have to. You simply won’t have time to do everything that needs to be done.
The next principle is, after you’ve gotten some experience doing whatever is in front of you, start focusing on the things that energize you and make you feel more alive. Those are probably also things that you’re good at. And don’t limit your thinking to just those activities that are labeled “ministries.” I wrote an entire article on serving Christ in a secular job, and it may well be that what you’re doing for a living is the very thing God created you to do. Any job that doesn’t involve you in sin can be done to serve others, for the glory of Christ. You should consider the possibility that God created you to build houses, stock store shelves, enforce laws, keep accounts, write software, or do any of the thousands of other jobs that people depend on every day. If that’s the case, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
Pay attention also to anything that God has placed on your heart to pray for consistently. And look for ways to be a part, even if it’s only a small one, of God’s answer to those prayers. There are far more needs in this world than you, or I, or any one person can pray for. The specific things that most touch your heart do so because they resonate with the purpose for which you were created.
The fifth principle is, don’t be surprise if the mission is bigger than you expected. God does not call you to do good works according to your ability, but according to his ability. And you’re not going alone.
When the idea for this article came to me, about two weeks ago, I liked it, but I also realized that I wasn’t sure of my own mission. As I prayed about it, and thought about it, the pieces started coming together. One piece is that I’m an archaeologist by training and profession, but it’s been a number of years now since I’ve actually done any archaeology, or felt any real desire to. I loved it while I was doing it, but archaeology does not seem to be my mission any longer.
A second piece is that I’ve enjoyed every single time I’ve had the opportunity to teach someone, whether it’s in the children’s ministry, as a TA when I was a grad student, or any other setting. I might be tired and dragging when the class starts, but by the time it’s finished, I’m excited that I got to see somebody come to understand something better than they did before. I also love writing, and I’m pretty good at both.
The third piece is that, about nine months ago, I started feeling a burden to pray that God would unify the church – the entire church around the world. Division between God’s children is not his will. This is not just common sense, but the very words of Jesus: “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” (John 17:20-21) When I look honestly at the state of the church today, bringing the entire body of Christ together in loving unity would be the biggest miracle since the resurrection. But is anything too hard for the Lord? And I really want to see that happen.
Finally, there’s this web site, Square Holes. I had been praying for a while that God would lead me to something that would provide enough of an income to cover my wife Catherine’s and my health insurance, that I could do from home, and that would be a ministry and not just a job. The initial idea that came to me was for some sort of web-based business. But as I kept praying and thinking about exactly what to do, it seemed that the Holy Spirit kept saying, “do this as a ministry and let me worry about the finances.”
Almost everything I’ve written for this site has, in one way or another, come out of my quiet times. And ever since I started meeting with God again, the phrase, “remember who you are” has been a constant theme. Consequently, the purpose of this site from the beginning has been to help believers in Christ remember who they are, and live out the truth of their identity as sons and daughters of God.
It was in a time of sitting quietly and prayerfully before God that all of these pieces started fitting together, and I came to understand that my mission is just what I’ve been doing – helping to heal the division in the church by teaching Christians how to live the way children of God should. If that sounds huge to you, it does to me as well. And if you were to ask me what I know about how to live as a child of God, I’d have to admit that I know very little. But very little is more than nothing.
On two separate occasions, Jesus fed huge crowds of people with a tiny amount of food. On neither occasion did he wait for his Father to provide the rest of the food he needed. Rather, he gave thanks for what he had and began passing it out. I can do the same thing; thank God for the little bit I do know about how to follow Christ, and began passing it out. Will God give me more as I continue to write? So far he has. That will most likely continue. If not, then I’ll reach the end of what I know and I’ll be finished with this assignment.
And that brings up the final principle: my mission can change over time. Ephesians 2:10 says that God prepared good works, plural, for us to do. God, who assigned me to one task, can assign me to another one whenever he chooses. The mission that you’ve been given, whatever it may be, is not an end in itself. The end goal is to bring glory to Christ by obeying whatever God commands.
My own, personal goal is to hear God say, “good job, son.” To finish my work, complete my mission, no matter how much might still remain for others who come after me. That’s what I’m living for. It’s what I was created to do.
1. The mission of the Keesler Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps is to provide musical support for the Deputy Commander for Technical Training, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, and the United States Air Force, as directed by the Commander, Keesler Technical Training Center.