Yesterday’s post was about knowing your identity and knowing your purpose. Today’s post is going to continue down that line of thinking. As I have a firm grasp on my identity, then I am better able to know my purpose. By knowing my purpose, I am able to avoid distractions that might cause me to wander away from achieving my purpose. We will see this tunnel-vision approach in John the Baptist’s life in John 1. John 1:6-7 says, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.”
In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, the apostle John lays out the identity of two key figures. He begins by telling us who Jesus is. He shows that He is the eternal God, the Creator, and Son of God who had come into the world to save the world. The second person we read about is John the Baptist. That is the John being spoken of here in the text. John the Baptist was important because he fulfilled a biblical role in helping identify Jesus as the Messiah. John, in speaking of himself to a group questioning him, identifies himself as the Messiah’s forerunner prophesied about in the book of Isaiah. John the Baptist knew from the beginning that his life and ministry was never about him. His role was to point people to Jesus, and to prepare the way for Jesus to come and fulfill His ministry. We see that language throughout John 1. You and I need to learn to identify with John the Baptist. No, we are not the forerunner of Christ. However, we are to be as John the Baptist was, a witness to the Light, who is Jesus. We are to help point people to Jesus, so that they will be prepared for His return. The apostle Paul picks up on this theme in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, where he writes, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” From the moment, that by His grace God saved you, you went from a slave to sin to a slave to Christ. We are not moral free agents. Yes, we have been set free from the bondage of slavery, but we have willingly become slaves to Jesus Christ. He purchased us at a price. That price was His life shed on the cross as the payment for our sins. Before we were saved, we lived to glorify ourselves by fulfilling our own desires. Now that we have been saved, saying that we are saved, we are to use our life to glorify God and fulfill His will.
When you know whose you are, and what your purpose is; you are better able to recognize potential distractions in your life. This is why we must know our identity. Let me give you an example of how being rooted in our identity, our purpose changes. Before we were saved, we typically looked at our job as a way to make money, which we thought could give us some happiness, it would pay the bills, and allow you to do some of the things that you or your family wanted to do. In our sin nature, work served our purpose. When God saves us, He begins to change our thinking about our work. By the way, we should let Him change our thinking! We choose to no longer see work as a way to get what I want, but instead, I now see my co-workers as part of the mission field that God has sent me to. Do I still get paid, does the job allow me to go on vacations, and things like that? Absolutely. But when my identity is in Christ, I begin to look at my job as a way to glorify God by reaching others with the Gospel and working hard first, and getting the other things second. A lot of times you will here pastors refer to this type of thinking as having a missionary mindset. In reality, it is learning to think and act like a Christian. John the Baptist knew that his life wasn’t about him, it was about pointing others to Jesus. Do you and I look at our life the same? If not, what needs to change so that God can change your thinking? In writing this, I am recalling a conversation I had earlier this week with someone. He said, “as soon as someone in the church expresses interest in the Bible or ministry, we immediately tell them that they are called into ministry, and that they should become a pastor.” He went on to say, “we definitely need pastors, and that is definitely a calling God gives. However, we also need men and women of God as doctors, lawyers, politicians, bankers, factory workers, accountants, and every other field as well.” I remember being amazed at listening him talk and the passion he had. His love for Jesus is undeniable, His knowledge of the Scriptures is incredible, but his calling is in business. He chooses to use his Christian witness in the world that God has placed him in. Oh, that we would all learn to have that mindset. Let it be Lord, and let it begin with us, those who are reading this post, and may it spread throughout Your body for Your glory and the building of Your kingdom!
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin