Wanted to endorse a wonderful read.

John MacArthur’s The Book on Leadership is a wonderful look into the keys to leadership and discipline, as well as a great biography on the leadership of the Apostle Paul.  I highly recommend it.

In a recent trip I came upon a common slogan in which I now conceed is the theme of man in America.  A perversion of our LORD and common outlook by a large portion of claimed believers and non-believers alike.

Let me first say that my apparent judgement of this slogan does not fall upon the bearers of it, but only upon the interpretation of the slogan as I have chosen to translate it; or rather the way I truly believer a large majority in America and other countries might use and interpret such a phrase.  In truth, it is the concept and interpretation, not the arrangment of words that I stand up against.

The slogan read, “What does God mean to you?”  Innocently enough, this could mean nothing more than “how has your King impacted your daily persuit of holiness” or “what does your relationship with the true God mean to your everyday purpose.”  This slogan, where I found it, may just as well have been written with such an interpretation in mind.  However, free of context, standing upon it’s own two feet - it seems to say much more.  And so we find the concept I stand up against.  The concept is this:

That God, in purpose & truth, could and does have an entirely different “meaning” for each and every person, in accordance to their own will upon such a meaning; 

OR, to put it differently,

That God, giver of life, shall in some way fullfil the will or expectations of the one who gives Him personal, daily, arbitrary meaning.

WHEN IN FACT, our outlook and slogan should be, in my own view, and what I would reason to say is a scriptural & logically sound view - just the opposite.  Instead of questioning what the creator means to the creation (which seems an illogical question in and of itself) - we should daily ask instead “What do WE mean to GOD?”  A daily, even moment-by-moment evaluation of such a query should and would in my view provoke the self-surrendering, humble servanthood that is the foundation of our true purpose and meaning to God.

What do we mean to God?

God has chosen, in the first place, to allow us to mean anything.  How does an omnipotent, omniscient creator find any need or meaning of any kind from his creation?  The answer:  because He Himself chooses to need us, chooses to allow us to mean something to him.  If such a reality, meditated upon, does not drive from our hearts every ounce of self-service and self-exaltation and pride, then those whom it does not should truly be pitied - for this is the basis of a relationship with an everlasting God - that is, His complete sovereignty, and the wonderous mercy that He would choose to need us - having needed nothing.

“What does God mean to you?”  This world will claim a shotgun of answers, ranging from concepts of peace to the magical hand that casts the die of each day.

To ask what you mean to God is to face a stark and logical truth - which is this:  We SHOULD mean absolutely nothing. 

There is this false, continually furthered concept of Christ that life with him will be filled with success.  Of course that success is what we as humans, dragged into the hollow and deceptive philosophies of this world, try to define ourselves.  Far be it from us to glance one moment into the scriptures to give us our definition of “life to the full” - we prefer our own definition.  And so this concept becomes false in that context.

Does that mean that Christ does not bless us with gain upon this earth?  Of course not.  But gain upon this earth is not success in the eyes of God, rather, our purpose is not for worldy gain.  We may come to know some of those things, but as believers, we must realize that Christ is faithful in all our needs, and our needs must not be defined by the philosophies of this world.

The world teaches us to strive for power, money, things, idealistic concepts of love, sex, popularity.  And yet, as Christians, with access to the word of God, some of us prostitute Salvation as the key to those things.  Key to worldly success.  May we never show God as the key to this world, but rather the key to Salvation and eternal life, not within this fallen world, but in his perfect future kingdom.

For a God whose exalted as the key to success in this world’s definition, will cause those to find no God as they fail to accomplish their false and temporary goals.  When success runs out, so will their “spirituality” - for our God has been painted upon their mind’s canvas as a God of this world.  Of this world’s success.

He isn’t.
” There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!” - Ecc 4:8

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” - Matt 13:22