Imagine you’re a driver (perhaps you are) and have recently been given a special, custom car. Your Boss has instructed you that while you may use this car however you please, it must ultimately end up at a specific destination. You can take longer routes, hit bumpy roads and even do a few U-turns along the way, as long as the car end up where your Boss has asked you to take it.
Suddenly you might not know what to do with it. There’s no time limit (that you can tell) and you have the keys to a new car that can go anywhere. This car has a purpose, to end up where the Boss asked, but it doesn’t necessarily have a function that you can tell aside from getting there.
The purpose
For us as Christians this “purpose” can sound very obvious, heck it was explicitly stated by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, “… Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark Chapter 16, verse15, NIV), yet if I can be so bold I’d say that’s not specific enough.
Not to say Jesus was wrong (save me if I ever thought that), what I’m suggesting here is that each and every one of God’s creations has its own specific meaning. If Jesus’ commission in Mark is a tapestry then we are each, individually, a different coloured string being woven into it. It is the unity and diversity Paul spoke of when he said, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians Chapter 12, verse 12 NIV). We each have a different route in the new car God has given us, but how do we find this route?
The provider
But wait, your Boss has installed a communicator in your new car with a direct line to Him. Whenever you turn this communicator on and listen, carefully, your Boss will give you suggestions on where to go. The way He suggests is the best way; it doesn’t collide with His other drivers, it doesn’t take you backwards, and it certainly doesn’t destroy the car.
You probably get it, but the picture I’m trying to paint here is one of God as the planner, and us as his drivers. We have been given a specific goal and a private line to him, but we haven’t necessarily been told what way to go.
By way, I mean our own specific function on Earth. We are called to preach the gospel, but in what way? By preaching from a pulpit, by teaching in a classroom, or by working as a mechanic?
The plan
It could be any of these but may not necessarily be all of these. When Paul wrote to the Romans he said, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” (Romans Chapter 12, verse 4, NLT).
While He has called us to love each other and love others and to serve the one purpose, God has also given us each a different function… a different role to play. He reminds us that our mission is the same, but the way we drive our new car is different. So how do we find this function?
Remember how your Boss installed a communicator in your new car? In the same way God has given us a way to communicate with him; through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, so that we can talk to Him and hear His suggestions. God knows where you’re going, and He knows the best way for you to get there. He knows how you’ll be able to function in His network of cars.
So, the answer is to listen to Him, to talk to Him, and to let Him lead you. If you feel God is telling you to preach in a pastoral sense, do it. Aim every aspect of your life towards that goal and know it is the perfect function for your ultimate purpose.
If you think He is asking you to teach in a classroom sense, do it. Aim every aspect your life through this function towards your ultimate purpose.
And if He is telling you to work as a mechanic and to preach the gospel through that function, then do it. Learn everything you possibly can about cars and preach through your business. Tell the story of Jesus.
When we drive the new car our Boss has given to us we have a tendency to take the wrong route, to run into bumpy roads and to collide with other cars. But when we take the car and tune in to the Boss’ direct line He will guide us and lead us, just as He led David “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” (Psalm Chapter 32, verse 8, NIV).
God will lead you; He wants to tell you your function, and if we can only listen and learn to hear His voice it is our responsibility as Believers to obey and operate in our function. So, I ask the question; what will you do with your new car?
Josiah Gray lives in Logan City, Australia. He is currently studying teaching at Christian Heritage College and is committed to telling the story of Jesus to the next generation.