Each week people walk through the doors of our churches, and we don’t know what is happening in their lives. Every person has a story and is living the current chapter of that story. For some things are going great. They are winning at work, winning at home, and winning in relationships. However, for most, their reality is hidden behind a fake smile. Over 40 million Americans are dealing with anxiety, and those are the people who are brave enough to step forward and admit how they feel. Further, only 36% of those are getting help! People are dealing with depression, divorce, broken relationships, abuse from their past, fear, and failure. So what are we supposed to do? Each week people walk into our lives, and they are looking for two things: Purpose and Community.
Purpose. We know Jesus provides the most meaning to our lives and we can’t even really equate how that feels. Jesus is the hope. Introducing people to Jesus is the ultimate win of what we do, not the systems, not the most artistic stuff, not the latest leadership podcast, those are tools not mission. We find purpose when we connect to something bigger than ourselves for something more significant for others. Purpose is about doing for others what they can’t do for themselves; it is about being the extension of Jesus to our world. Purpose is about answering the question “why” an answer found in Jesus, and the answer people are looking for every day. Purpose brings clarity to our chaos. It brings peace to our heart and direction to our path. Purpose gives people the ability to try one more day.
Community. Relationships make our lives full. This weekend Jackie and I were able to hang out with one of our closest friends in the entire world. We had not seen her for almost two years and the last time we saw her was in the middle of all of our lives crashing simultaneously. If I learned anything this weekend, it is that the people you do life with matter more than the work you do during your life. The relationships are where the fullness and the richness of this journey live. Every person who joins a team, a life group, raises their hand can find a better community by identifying it IN your church! Help people make the relationships, connect people to new friends that can become family, fill the need that exists in their lives for people to experience a relational life.
Purpose and community matter. When we help people find it, we give them more than just art, slick messages, amazing experiences or great environments; we give them the tools to live their best lives. Lives that are intentional and fill the voids they can’t fill on their own. The art we make is alive in people, and it can live full!
