|
A Lutheran Guide and Reading Schedule for Rick Warren’s The
Purpose Driven
Life
Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life,
is a wonderful devotional journey into discipleship. However, it
is written with
some Baptist and Presbyterian
overtones. Because we do not want to get sidetracked by differing theology, we
offer this guide to help you in your day-to-day reading. It is healthy to read
different perspectives. Doing so calls us to remember and clarify our own beliefs.
The basic truths and questions in this devotional get right at the heart of our
relationship with God in Christ, and offer us a deepening journey into discipleship.
May God bless your journey, and our church’s journey together!
-- Pastor Charlie and Pastor Jay
Day 1: It All Starts with God (Sunday, February 22) -
[ TOP ]
Focus on the idea that we cannot arrive at our life’s purpose by focusing
on ourselves. We must begin with God. It is only in God that we discover our
origin, identity, meaning, purpose, significance, and destiny. We are given our
God-intended identity in Baptism when God declares, “You are my child,
forever!”
Day 2: You Are Not an Accident (Monday, 2/23) -
[ TOP ]
God created us to serve God’s purposes. But God also created us with free
will, the freedom to make choices. God, as Parent, encourages us and wants us
to choose wisely, but will not force us to choose God’s way. An important
point: As Lutherans we believe that God is like the best possible parent. No
loving parent would intentionally inflict or harm his/her child. However, for
some reason, God does allow suffering to impact our lives. Even Jesus - God
in human form - was not immune to suffering. What the Bible teaches is
that God suffers with us, and that God will see us through whatever storms we
face. We can trust that God is with us.
Day 3: What Drives Your Life? (Tuesday, 2/24) -
[ TOP ]
God’s forgiveness is all about being set free from what holds us in bondage.
Sin is what separates us from God. The death and resurrection of Jesus has overcome
all that separates us from God and holds us captive. Through a Lutheran lens,
it is not so much about “preparing for eternity,” as helping to bring
the Kingdom of God’s grace into this world. Like Jesus, as we live out
God’s purposes here and now, the Kingdom of God becomes real for others.
Jesus invites us to begin living into eternity, starting now.
The goal of life is to grow into the likeness of Christ. When Lutherans think
about standing before God and accounting for our lives, we picture Jesus standing
with us before the Father, interceding on our behalf, claiming us as his sisters
and brothers for whom he lived and died. At the same time, we are held accountable
for our stewardship of life. How have we used our God-given gifts and passion
to serve God’s purposes? How did our faith lead us into loving service?
We can please God with our choices.
Day 4: Made to Last Forever (Wednesday, 2/25) -
[ TOP ]
Lutherans emphasize that we are created to serve God here-and-now. We are Kingdom
Builders! We continue the work of Jesus. We live in the light of God’s
love for us in Jesus, and we serve out of gratitude and love. When we realize
the love God has for us in Jesus, we begin to live differently. It might be helpful
to substitute “God’s love” for the phrase “light of eternity.”
Day 5: Seeing Life from God’s View (Thursday,
2/26) -
[ TOP ]
What’s our worldview? Is the world benevolent or capricious? Is our goal
serving or acquiring? Do people look out for you, or are we to take advantage
of others? Is it about giving or accumulating? Life as a “test” is
a biblical metaphor. Another way to say this is “life often challenges
our faith in God, and our trust in God’s goodness.” These times of
challenge are opportunities for growth in our faith, if we choose to invite God
into them. We always have to choose whose “will” will be done and
how we will view what happens to us. Do we invite God into our struggles, and
ask God to use them to shape us for God’s purposes? Doubt is not the opposite
of faith. Doubt and questioning, and even anger, are integral components of faith.
Total honesty with God, and offering these feelings, questions and experiences
to God, are how God uses life’s hardships and trials to continue our growth
as maturing disciples of Jesus.
Life on earth is a trust. This is a very positive Lutheran perspective. On page
45 Warren moves into the theme of judgment. The Bible makes it clear that we
will be held accountable. But Lutherans tend to see judgment through the lens
of accountability, not fear. The Lutheran perspective is that God’s grace
leads us to trust in God’s love (faith), which leads us to respond in acts
of loving service. Grace -> Faith -> Response. A life without a loving
response toward God is a life without faith, and therefore, void of hope and
meaning.
When we think about the maturation process, what Warren calls “tests” we
see as “opportunities for growth.” We are growing into the likeness
of Christ, which is a process. The situations we encounter in life are viewed
not so much as “tests,” but as learning and growing experiences.
Day 6: Life Is A Temporary Assignment (Friday, 2/27) -
[ TOP ]
This chapter deals with the transitory nature of life. Our attachments divert
us from God and our purpose to serve him and his Kingdom. Page 48 - It
might be helpful to translate “Your identity is in eternity, and your homeland
is heaven,” by “The most important thing in life is our relationship
with God in Christ and serving him.” As Lutherans, we remember that in
Baptism God gives us our identity - children of God. In Baptism, God gives
us purpose - to love him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind,
and our neighbor as ourselves. Page 50 - First paragraph - Another
perspective is that we feel discontent when we go our own way and buy into the
cultural gods of power, prestige, and materialism.
Day 7: The Reason for Everything (Saturday, 2/28) -
[ TOP ]
What is God’s glory? Go back to Genesis. God made everything and it was
good. God intends for everything to live in relationship with God and each other
and serve God’s purposes. It is a symbiotic relationship, everything created
for a purpose and working together to serve that purpose.
Sin is anything and everything that leads us away from God and serving God’s
purposes; anything that breaks our relationship with God and/or with each other.
God is to be worshipped because of who God is, not because of what God can do
for us. God is worthy of our praise, thanksgiving and service. Liturgy means “the
work of the people.” For us, worship is not a spectator event, but an encounter
with the living God. We gather to worship to renew our relationship and enjoy
God’s presence. Worship is not about what we “get out of it,” but “what
we bring to it.” Worship is how we live our lives each day in serving the
God whom we love.
Day 8: Planned for God’s Pleasure (Sunday, 2/29) -
[ TOP ]
Baptismal emphasis: You are a child of God, and you bring pleasure to God like
nothing else he has ever created. (p.63) Life is an act of worship as we bring
an awareness of God into all our activities and seek to serve Jesus through them.
Day 9: What Makes God Smile? (Monday, March 1) -
[ TOP ]
Emphasis - we are created for relationship with God. Page 71 - Trusting
God implies that God knows what is best for our lives. Think about the parent/child
relationship. Like our own human experience, God doesn’t plan every event
that happens. Rather, God walks with us and helps us deal with situations as
they occur in our lives. Is there randomness in the world? Many Christians say
yes. But God is with us in that random-ness. In fact, it is often in chaos or
brokenness that we find God creating something new and good.
Day 10: The Heart of Worship (Tuesday, 3/2) -
[ TOP ]
Lutherans do not use the word “surrender” much. Nevertheless, it
lies at the heart of our faith. It is giving up claim to our own lives, what
we want, and giving ourselves over to what God wants with us and for us.
When we are created, there is a “true self” that God intended us
to be; a self created in God’s image, the image we see in Jesus. But we
are shaped by our culture and the world in which we live. This is the “false
self.” Often we talk about wearing masks to keep others from knowing who
we truly are. Many think that we can get from the “false self” to
the “true self” by willing ourselves to change, through human effort.
The Bible indicates that the only way to move from the false self (the old nature)
to the true self (new nature) is by surrendering ourselves to God, falling into
the hands of the living God. In essence, this is what confession and forgiveness
is about - a change in direction. As Luther would say, it is a daily dying
and rising in Baptism; dying to our old way of living and rising to live God’s
new way. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Day 11: Becoming Best Friends with God (Wednesday,
3/3) -
[ TOP ]
Page 88 - “The key to friendship with God is not changing what you do,
but changing your attitude toward what you do.” Awareness of ourselves
is the first step in changing our attitudes and the way we respond.
Day 12: Developing Your Friendship with God (Thursday,
3/4) -
[ TOP ]
For Lutherans, obedience grows out of love, not coercion, not fear, not guilt.
Parents hope their children will listen to what they say out of respect and love.
Obedience grows out of our trusting that our parents and our God have our best
interests at heart, and truly love us no matter what. Caution is needed on page
98. Why is there pain and suffering in our lives? Lutherans understand the message
of the Bible to say that God pours himself into our suffering, and that God teaches
us through suffering, but not that God wills it for us.
Day 13: Worship That Pleases God (Friday, 3/5) -
[ TOP ]
Focus on the 4 characteristics: (1) accurate - “in truth;” (2)
authentic - heartfelt/genuine; (3) thoughtful - engaging the mind;
and (4) practical - a life that reflects love for God. Romans 12:1-2: True
worship is offering our lives to God’s service, placing God first, last
and only in our lives, discerning God’s will and then doing it.
Day 14: When God Seems Distant (Saturday, 3/6) -
[ TOP ]
We do not believe that God intentionally tests us with absence. However, there
are times when God will seem absent in our lives. There will be arid times when
our relationship is dry. Similarly, there are times when we feel separated or
distant from our spouse or friends, but that doesn’t mean that they do
not love us or that we’re being tested. During these periods we remember
that we walk by faith, not by sight. We trust God even when everything else seems
to indicate otherwise. We look to the cross and Jesus’ own experiences
of feeling abandoned by God. Jesus trusted that God was with him and would ultimately
deliver him and vindicate him.
Day 15: Formed for God’s Family (Sunday, 3/7) -
[ TOP ]
From a Lutheran perspective, Baptism is the sacrament of belonging and inclusion.
This is God’s action, not ours. God initiates. God chooses us. We respond
to that choice. Just as we did not choose our parents, but respond to their love,
so it is true in our relationship with God. For Martin Luther, Baptism was the
primary sacrament. It marks our birth into a life lived in God. It reminds us
of God’s claim upon our lives and God’s desire for us to know the
joy of his love.
Baptism also reminds us that a life lived in God is a daily
dying and rising; dying to living our way or the way of our culture, and rising
to live, like Christ, in God’s way. In Baptism God claims us as children,
adopts us into the family of God’s people, forgives us our sin for turning
away from God, gives us the gift of his presence through the Holy Spirit, and
promises us eternal life. A life of faith begins in the water and Word of Holy
Baptism.
Day 16: What Matters Most (Monday, 3/8) -
[ TOP ]
It’s all about love! Being in relationship is the training ground for learning
to love and growing into maturity. We cannot do this when separated from the
community of God’s people. A life of faith is a life lived for others.
It is not about “me,” it’s about how I might serve you. A guiding
question might be: How would Jesus respond to or love this person? How does Jesus
want me to love? It’s a variation on “What Would Jesus Do?”
Day 17: A Place to Belong (Tuesday, 3/9) -
[ TOP ]
The church is not a building or organization, but a people, an organism. We exist
to carry on the mission of Christ! We are literally the Body of Christ in the
world. Christ has no hands or feet or arms or legs or eyes or ears but ours!
We need each other in order to carry out the mission Christ has left us. The
community of God’s people becomes the very place where we get “on
the job training” in learning to love and serve one another.
Day 18: Experiencing Life Together (Wednesday, 3/10) -
[ TOP ]
Note the importance of small groups and experiencing the intimacy and support
we need for the journey of faith. Note the qualities that define the community.
Day 19: Cultivating Community (Thursday, 3/11) -
[ TOP ]
Note the principles for small groups and building fellowship within the church.
Where do we experience fellowship? What would it take for us to risk forming
and being in a small group? Note the barriers and what is needed to overcome
them. “Speaking the truth in love” is difficult, but essential. It
is sharing how we affect each other, not with the desire to put down or hurt
another person, but for the sake of nurturing and deepening our relationships
as meaningful and whole.
Day 20: Restoring Broken Fellowship (Friday, 3/12) -
[ TOP ]
Because God blesses our lives and restores our relationship through Jesus, therefore
we work to restore our relationships with each other. When relationships are
restored, we experience the peace God wishes for us.
How might we be God’s blessing to the world as we work for “peace” as
described in this chapter? How can we embrace diversity and yet find a sense
of unity?
Day 21: Protecting Your Church (Saturday, 3/13) -
[ TOP ]
Unity not uniformity! We are called to build up, not tear down, to focus on understanding,
not criticizing. What unifies us? One Lord, one faith, one hope, one Spirit,
one baptism, one God and Father of us all. When we focus on personalities, preferences,
interpretations, styles, or methods, division always happens. But if we concentrate
on loving each other and fulfilling God’s purposes, harmony results. (P.162)
Day 22: Created to Become Like Christ (Sunday, 3/14) -
[ TOP ]
Lutherans would understand the goal of the Christian life as growing into greater
maturity until we have the mind and heart of Christ, through the work of the
Holy Spirit. As Luther says in the Third Article of the Creed: “I believe
that I cannot by my own effort or understanding believe in Jesus Christ my Lord,
or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened
me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way
the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian
church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”
We are all works in progress. We cooperate and make ourselves available to the
Holy Spirit and give ourselves to the faith practices that God uses to form us.
It’s not so much imitation as inhabitation. We pray that the Incarnation
we witness in Jesus happens to us. God invades and occupies our lives. We invite
God to do so.
Day 23: How We Grow (Monday, 3/15) -
[ TOP ]
Baptists emphasize a conscious decision made by the individual. Lutherans emphasize
God’s decision about us, and our decision to respond to Christ, through
the community. WE CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER HERE. Jesus calls, and we respond.
As Warren mentions, we are not working to “earn or deserve” our salvation.
That has been won for us through Jesus. But we make conscious choices to grow
in our relationship with Christ. Faith practices take intention. Just as we make
conscious decisions about what we eat or how much we exercise or study, so we
make decisions about praying, reading Scripture, worshipping, using our gifts,
inviting others, giving of our time and resources, and serving others. To get
better at music, sports or a hobby, it takes practice. That’s the way we
are designed. Likewise, practicing our faith helps us mature.
Day 24: Transformed by Truth (Tuesday, 3/16) -
[ TOP ]
As Luther said, the Bible is the cradle in which we discover Christ. The Bible
is the Word of God. It reveals God’s character, love and purpose. But the
Word of God is most fully known in Jesus, the Word made flesh. The Bible is God’s
love letter to us. As we read and reflect on its message, we encounter the living
God.
Day 25: Transformed by Trouble (Wednesday, 3/17) -
[ TOP ]
Lutherans do not necessarily believe that God has a purpose behind every problem.
Our perspective is that God can use every problem/situation to serve God’s
ultimate purposes. Why do bad things happen to good people? It is the question
of Job and Jesus. Warren gives the sense that God allows suffering or causes
it, as opposed to a Lutheran perspective of God enduring it, entering it, and
overcoming it with us.
In this chapter we deal with what is sometimes called “God’s permissive
will.” Does God control everything that happens or does God permit it to
happen as a matter of human choice or circumstance? Lutherans believe that ultimately
God will get what God wants. This is predestination. But God does not manipulate
everything that happens. Romans 8:28 indicates that God is working with us to
serve God’s ultimate purpose. Philippians 4 would indicate that we should “rejoice
and give thanks” NOT FOR everything but IN everything.
Day 26: Growing Through Temptation (Thursday, 3/18) -
[ TOP ]
This is a good devotion on how to deal with temptation.
Day 27: Defeating Temptation (Friday, 3/19) -
[ TOP ]
Here are some helpful strategies for dealing with temptation.
Day 28: It Takes Time (Saturday, 3/20) -
[ TOP ]
This is a good devotion on growing toward maturity. Patience is key.
Day 29: Accepting Your Assignment (Sunday, 3/21) -
[ TOP ]
As already stated above, Lutherans believe that we are saved from sin in order
to be saved for service. We are created for ministry in the church, to build
up the Body of Christ, and for mission in the world, to help bring in the Kingdom
of God as a reality for others. Maturity, while the goal of the Christian life,
is not an end in and of itself. Maturity leads to ministry. This is a good place
to emphasize our Gifts Ministry.
Day 30: Shaped for Serving God (Monday, 3/22) -
[ TOP ]
The beginning of this devotional is a little heavy on predestination. God created
us for a purpose - to serve God as we use our gifts and passions to work
for the Kingdom. We remember that each day is a gift in which God spreads a banquet
table before us from which to feast. God gives each of us gifts. Whether we use
them to serve God is our choice. (Free will) SHAPE is a great model for understanding
our giftedness.
Day 31: Understanding Your Shape (Tuesday, 3/23) -
[ TOP ]
Each of us is unique. We are called to serve God’s Kingdom. If we don’t
fulfill our calling, others go unfulfilled. If we don’t share our gifts
or serve in the Body of Christ, we weaken it and it won’t function as God
intends. Page 146 - God permits and uses our situations as learning experiences.
We can learn from every type of experience, sometimes more from adverse situations
than good ones. God does not wish painful experiences in our lives any more than
we parents wish our children to suffer. But God uses painful situations to help
us learn and trust that God is with us.
Day 32: Using What God Gave You (Wednesday, 3/24) -
[ TOP ]
A good development of Gifts. We need to learn to accept ourselves, and our God-given
shape.
Day 33: How Real Servants Act (Thursday, 3/25) -
[ TOP ]
Life offers us “tests.” With God, they become opportunities for growth
and serving others. There are limits to being available, but no limits in the
situations in which we find ourselves. It’s a matter of attitude, focus
and orientation. Key for Lutherans: Servant attitude - how might I be Christ’s
servant for/to you?
Page 262 - Lutherans do not believe we serve for reward. That is more of
a cultural understanding and motivation. Rather, we serve as a means of showing
our love for God as we love our neighbor. Page 263 - We can serve God’s
purpose wherever we are. Place is not as important as faithfulness.
Day 34: Thinking Like a Servant (Friday, 3/26) -
[ TOP ]
Underlying question: What does it mean to have a servant mind and
heart? What does it mean for Jesus to be my Lord? Is Jesus the only
one I listen to, take
my directions from, and seek to honor or please?
Day 35: God’s Power in Your Weakness (Saturday, 3/27) -
[ TOP ]
Emphasize learning to accept our limitations. How does our self-perception limit
our responding to God? Henri Nouwen writes: we are wounded healers. God uses
our brokenness as a way of bringing help to others who experience similar situations.
Day 36: Made for Mission (Sunday, 3/28) -
[ TOP ]
This devotional seems a little tilted toward judgment. What is my piece of God’s
dream that I am to work on in order to help bring in the Kingdom of God, the
kingdom of love, grace, mercy and justice? Consider the Via de Cristo motto:
Make a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ. The goal of mission is
to introduce people to Jesus, not make them members of a church. That introduction
happens by the way we love them in Christ’s name. When they see and experience
Christ through us, they will want to know and experience Christ, too.
Day 37: Sharing Your Life Message (Monday, 3/29) -
[ TOP ]
This devotional might be uncomfortable for us. How can we become more comfortable
sharing our God-story? Most likely we will need to practice. Try it with some
friends, or meet someone for coffee from your group. This would be a good opportunity
to get people to share their faith stories. It’s important for us to share
our stories of how God’s love has touched our lives. Each of us has a story
to tell. Try to express yours, and practice.
Day 38: Becoming a World-Class Christian (Tuesday, 3/30) -
[ TOP ]
We are to be mission-minded. God’s love is not turned in upon itself, but
is outwardly directed. Read Acts 1 and 2. We live under the Great Commission
to make disciples in all the world and teach what Jesus has given us. We need
to think both globally as well as locally when it comes to mission. Check to
see if anyone has served on a mission trip and, if so, get him/her to share the
experience.
Day 39: Balancing Your Life (Wednesday, 3/31) -
[ TOP ]
Life is all about balancing priorities, and living out what is most important.
How do we make sure the five purposes are at the center of our lives?
Day 40: Living With Purpose (Thursday, April 1) -
[ TOP ]
Good ending devotion. Develop a purpose statement and commit yourself to it!
Say a prayer of thanks to God for this experience of 40 Days of Purpose. Ask
God to bear fruit in your life, and in our congregation, for years to come, as
we move forward in God’s Purposes together.
|