The Purpose Driven Life, Chapter Thirty Eight
Becoming A World Class Christian
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You have a choice to make. You will be either a world-class Christian or a worldy Christian.
Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They are saved, but self-centered. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. It's a "me first" faith. How can God make my life more comfortable? They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for His purposes.
In contrast, world-class Christians know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are they only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they are making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways.
To be a world-class Christian, you must make some mental shifts. Your perspective and attitude must change.
HOW TO THINK LIKE A WORLD CLASS CHRISTIAN
Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking. This is a difficult mental shift because we're naturally self-absorbed and almost all advertising encourages us to think of ourselves. The only way we can make this paradigm switch is by moment-by-moment dependence on God. Fortunately He doesn't leave us to struggle on our own. He has given us His Spirit. That is why we don't think the same way the people of this world think.
Begin asking the Holy Spirit to help you to think of the spiritual needs of unbelievers whenever you talk to them. Your goal is to figure out where others are in their spiritual journey and then do whatever will bring them a step closer to knowing Christ. You can learn how to do this by adopting the mind set of Paul, who said "I don't think about what would be good for me, but about what would be good for many people, so that they might be saved."
Shift from local thinking to global thinking. God is a global God. He has always cared about the entire world.
The first way to start thinking globally is to begin praying for specific countries. World-class Christians pray for the world. Get a globe or map and pray for nations by name.
Prayer is the most important tool for your mission in the world. What should you pray for? The Bible tells us to pray for opportunities to witness, for courage to speak up, for those who will believe, for the rapid spread of the message, and for more workers. Prayer makes you a partner with others around the world. You should also pray for missionaries and everyone else involved in the global harvest.
Another way to develop global thinking is to read and watch the news with "Great Commission eyes" Wherever there is change or conflict, you can be sure that God will use it to bring people for him.
The best way to switch to global thinking is to just get up and go on a short-term mission project to another country. It will enlarge your heart, expand your vision, stretch your faith, deepen your compassion, and fill you with a kind of joy you have never experienced. It could be the turning point in your life.
Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking. To make the most of your time on earth, you must maintain an eternal perspective. This will keep you from majoring on minor issues and help you to distinguish between what's urgent and what's ultimate.
So much of what we waste our energy on will not matter even a year from now, much less for eternity. Don't trade your life for temporary things. You should use the money God gives you to bring people to Christ. They will then be friends for eternity who will welcome you when you get to Heaven. It's the best financial investment you'll ever make.
Shift from thinking of excuses to thinking of creative ways to fulfill your commission. Maybe you have believed that you needed a special "call" from God, and you've been waiting for some supernatural feeling or experience. But God has already stated His call repeatedly. We are all called to fulfill God's five purposes for our lives: to worship, to fellowship, to grow like Christ, to serve, and to be on mission with God in the world. God doesn't want to use just some of His people; He wants to use all of His people.
Many Christians have missed God's plan for their lives because they have never even asked God if he wanted them to serve as a missionary somewhere. Whether out of fear or ignorance, they have automatically closed their minds to the possibility of serving as a resident missionary in a cross-cultural location. if you are tempted to say no, you ought to check out all the different ways and possibilities that are now available, and you ought to seriously pray and ask God what He wants from you in the years ahead.
If you want to be like Jesus, you must have a heart for the whole world. The Great Commission is your commission, and doing your part is the secret to living a life of significance.
Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment. They are saved, but self-centered. Their prayers focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. It's a "me first" faith. How can God make my life more comfortable? They want to use God for their purposes instead of being used for His purposes.
In contrast, world-class Christians know they were saved to serve and made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class Christians are they only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy, confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they are making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work through them in fresh ways.
To be a world-class Christian, you must make some mental shifts. Your perspective and attitude must change.
HOW TO THINK LIKE A WORLD CLASS CHRISTIAN
Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking. This is a difficult mental shift because we're naturally self-absorbed and almost all advertising encourages us to think of ourselves. The only way we can make this paradigm switch is by moment-by-moment dependence on God. Fortunately He doesn't leave us to struggle on our own. He has given us His Spirit. That is why we don't think the same way the people of this world think.
Begin asking the Holy Spirit to help you to think of the spiritual needs of unbelievers whenever you talk to them. Your goal is to figure out where others are in their spiritual journey and then do whatever will bring them a step closer to knowing Christ. You can learn how to do this by adopting the mind set of Paul, who said "I don't think about what would be good for me, but about what would be good for many people, so that they might be saved."
Shift from local thinking to global thinking. God is a global God. He has always cared about the entire world.
The first way to start thinking globally is to begin praying for specific countries. World-class Christians pray for the world. Get a globe or map and pray for nations by name.
Prayer is the most important tool for your mission in the world. What should you pray for? The Bible tells us to pray for opportunities to witness, for courage to speak up, for those who will believe, for the rapid spread of the message, and for more workers. Prayer makes you a partner with others around the world. You should also pray for missionaries and everyone else involved in the global harvest.
Another way to develop global thinking is to read and watch the news with "Great Commission eyes" Wherever there is change or conflict, you can be sure that God will use it to bring people for him.
The best way to switch to global thinking is to just get up and go on a short-term mission project to another country. It will enlarge your heart, expand your vision, stretch your faith, deepen your compassion, and fill you with a kind of joy you have never experienced. It could be the turning point in your life.
Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking. To make the most of your time on earth, you must maintain an eternal perspective. This will keep you from majoring on minor issues and help you to distinguish between what's urgent and what's ultimate.
So much of what we waste our energy on will not matter even a year from now, much less for eternity. Don't trade your life for temporary things. You should use the money God gives you to bring people to Christ. They will then be friends for eternity who will welcome you when you get to Heaven. It's the best financial investment you'll ever make.
Shift from thinking of excuses to thinking of creative ways to fulfill your commission. Maybe you have believed that you needed a special "call" from God, and you've been waiting for some supernatural feeling or experience. But God has already stated His call repeatedly. We are all called to fulfill God's five purposes for our lives: to worship, to fellowship, to grow like Christ, to serve, and to be on mission with God in the world. God doesn't want to use just some of His people; He wants to use all of His people.
Many Christians have missed God's plan for their lives because they have never even asked God if he wanted them to serve as a missionary somewhere. Whether out of fear or ignorance, they have automatically closed their minds to the possibility of serving as a resident missionary in a cross-cultural location. if you are tempted to say no, you ought to check out all the different ways and possibilities that are now available, and you ought to seriously pray and ask God what He wants from you in the years ahead.
If you want to be like Jesus, you must have a heart for the whole world. The Great Commission is your commission, and doing your part is the secret to living a life of significance.