Why Being Purpose-Driven is Overrated

(Editor’s Note: We’re sorry to encroach on our issue this week, but we ask you’d take the time to read our new Letter from the Editor, which discusses some major changes we hope to undertake here at Burnside. Thank you.)

I envy Paul. Of all the figures in Scripture (excluding Jesus), he appears to have spent very little of his lifetime wandering about without direction. Paul is a superstar in the Bible, one of the most respected figures in Christian history. He was a man with purpose. And it wasn’t finding Jesus that gave Paul purpose. Paul had a fierce sense of direction long before the Damascus road.

In Acts, we read Paul was a Pharisee and he studied the Old Testament law under one of the most respected scholars of that day (Acts 22:3). He loved Scripture and pursued it passionately. Paul set himself up for success by following his desires full-force. Paul didn’t pursue a theological education part-time, while studying medicine or civil law, just in case things didn’t work out. And he didn’t follow his dreams half-heartedly; he was undivided in his devotion. In fact, he followed his passion so strongly that when a small sect of Jews began saying Jesus was the Messiah, something he believed to go against God’s Word, he tried to have them all killed or imprisoned. Although it was misplaced passion, it was also confident and unwavering.

I have a hard time identifying with Paul. My life often feels more like Joseph’s story, recorded in Genesis. While I’ve never been sold into slavery by my brothers and I’ve never spent time in prison, I often feel like I spend much of my time reacting to events outside of my control, rather than shaping my own future. Like Paul, Joseph started out as a man with tremendous vision - only his was a literal vision that came to him in a dream one night (Genesis 37:5-9). But vision, it seemed would not be enough for Joseph, and events began to unfold that would take him on an unexpected path.

It strikes me Joseph must have felt far outside of God’s will as the days and nights dragged on in his prison cell. Scripture doesn’t tell us much about Joseph’s day-to-day attitude or whether or not he struggled with questions about God’s direction for his life. However, we can assume that, as a slave and as a prisoner in Egypt, the idea he would someday rise to the level of prime minister and save the nation from famine must have been unthinkable for Joseph. Yet, that’s exactly what God did with Joseph’s life.

At the end of his story, Joseph had the opportunity to save even his own family, including the very brothers that sold him into slavery. His response was remarkable. Rather than using the turn-of-events as a chance to get even, he tearfully embraced his brothers, saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19-20, TNIV).

Paul and Joseph walked very different paths. While Paul never seemed to doubt or question, Joseph was left with nothing but doubts and questions. I think most of us would rather be like Paul. Except for one very important thing: Paul was wrong.

Let me say that again: Paul, the great hero of the faith, got it wrong when it came to the most important question of life, What am I here for?. He wasn’t created to be a Pharisee among Pharisees or to be an Old Testament scholar. God had other plans for his life. He was to be a leader in the early Christian church, the apostle to the Gentiles, a missionary, a church-planter, an evangelist, and the largest single contributor to the New Testament. Paul didn’t study for these jobs, and he never saw them coming.

When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, God set him on a new path in a different direction. Yet, the preparation and zeal that had been such a large part of Paul’s old life were not wasted. God had been uniquely preparing him for His service, even though Paul didn’t know it. As Joseph learned, so did Paul: what we may intend for our own evil or misguided purposes, God can still use for good.

It turns out Paul’s life isn’t about being purpose-driven at all. It’s about God’s plans being bigger than ours. That’s a beautiful thought and it gives me hope, as well as the freedom to go after the desires of my heart more passionately than ever before. I’m simply no longer afraid of screwing things up. God is bigger than my failures and successes, than my good intentions and my sinful choices. I’m still seeking God’s will for my life and my hope is to honor Him with my decisions, but I’m trusting that the desires of my heart were placed there by God. Following those desires, in submission to Him, can never be a mistake.