Why Are You Here?

Why are you still on the earth right now, given that departing and being with Christ is far better?  What do you hope to accomplish here?  As part of the Body of Christ on the earth, you are an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20) and a minister of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).  So one of your major purposes in life is to glorify God and be a shining light that draws others to Jesus Christ.

Sure, God is interested in your well-being and in giving you things richly to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).  But if you want things to enjoy, there will be a lot more of them in heaven!  You aren’t here just to see what you can get out of life (and out of God).  Your life is not your own!  You died and now Christ lives in you.  You are Christ’s servant for the rest of your days on Planet Earth.  God wants you to bear fruit for Him.  The old “you” died!  (See You’re Dead! for more on this topic.)

Once you understand why you are here, you will understand how ludicrous it is that God would want you to be sick and unable to care for yourself.  He can use members of His Body in a greater way when they are well than when they are sick.  You can’t “go into all the world” from a bed in a home.  You can’t go out and do the works of Christ when you are in a hospital needing the works of Christ to be done to you!

Since Jesus’ main reason for coming was to save sinners, that needs to be a major priority to us, too.  Jesus sought that which was lost, and so should we.  This is a major reason why God wishes above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (3 John 2).  Jesus needs you to be able to work to advance His kingdom!

I am not suggesting that you ignore your family and become a workaholic for Jesus.  Some people do that (and sometimes lose their families in the process), but even Jesus told His disciples to rest a while (Mark 6:31).  Sometimes getting some rest is the most spiritual thing you can do.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.  If you want to be around for a long time, you have to take care of yourself and not have an insane schedule.  I know a couple ministers personally who almost died because they pushed themselves way too hard booking back-to-back services for multiple weeks.  I’ve always thought that the best mistakes to learn from are other people’s mistakes, and I’ve learned some things from them about what happens if you push yourself too hard – it’s downright scary.  Besides, if you’re a wreck, how many people will want to become a Christian like you?  That isn’t much of a witness.

On the other hand, we do not have the luxury of living for ourselves anymore (2 Corinthians 5:15).  Everyone whose name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death (Revelation 20:14-15).  What about all the people Christ died to save who are still heading toward that never-ending torment?  At the end of your life, you will not look back and say, “I wished I’d played a few more of those shoot-everything-that-moves video games,” but you might say, “I wish I had told more people about Jesus.”  You’re still here, so you still have the chance to make Jesus’ priorities your priorities.  This doesn’t mean that you have no recreational time for yourself, but it means that you must seek first the kingdom of God, not your own kingdom and pleasures.

Having said all this, please understand that your MAIN purpose in life is not ministry.  If God put man here mostly for ministry, why did He put Adam and Eve somewhere where there were no sinners to reach and no sick people to lay hands on?  So God above all else wants to love you and have you enjoy fellowship with Him.  That’s easy to forget in our fast-paced society with all the need out there for ministry.  In fact, it’s all too easy to forget what I think is our most important ministry – ministering to the Lord with thanksgiving, praise and worship.  You’ll still be doing that in heaven long after there is no need for healing ministries.  If you go to the extreme that some evangelists do that your SOLE usefulness is reaching souls while you’re here, you will spend eternity not being “useful” by your own definition!