As I finished preaching that day as a campus fellowship pastor, one young man walked up to me with these words; “Pastor, I love your performance. “Sincerely, I went home depressed by that statement. Then in prayers the Lord said to me; “Don’t mind the young man, all he sees is performance, not purpose.”
Friend, purpose is not performance. One of the reasons some people would not step into purpose is this idea of performance. They see purpose as a place to shine. They see God’s call as a platform to showcase themselves. Purpose is for dead men. God cannot use those who are still alive to their flesh (Galatians 2:20).
Purpose is beyond you. Your life is too small to be the purpose of your life. Anyone who would fulfil purpose must not strive for personal aggrandizement. God must be all in all (1 Corinthians 1:29). When I saw the way apostle Paul referred to himself and Apollos as “mere servants”, I see a man who is broken (1 Corinthians 3:5-7). Truly, God only uses broken vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7-12).
Motive is very important in the pursuit of purpose. Motive answers the question; “Why?” why do you want to discover purpose? Why do you want to be a pastor? Why do you want to make money? God does not only weigh our actions, He also weighs our motive. If your motive is wrong, your move would be wrong. You can do the right thing for the wrong reason (2 Chronicles 25:2).
Purpose is simply God riding on a man’s back to carry out His own purpose (Mark 11:7-10). What we call; “my purpose” is actually “God’s purpose“, not ours. We must keep this in mind if we would remain relevant to God and His agenda on the earth. When men applaud us, we must be wise enough to return the glory to God who owns it (Mark 11:10).
Your motive is tested with both shame and glory. If the glory belongs to God, the shame also should go to Him. If you feel ashamed for not doing well in purpose, it could also mean that you would take the glory for doing well. God says to men of purpose; _”If you see shame, just bring it. And if you see my glory, don’t take it.” You need to heed this instruction.*
‘Demola Awoyel
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria