This is the fortieth and final chapter of The Purpose Driven Life. As I expected, it wraps up with a review of the five sections and encouragement to develop a personal purpose statement. Rick Warren begins the chapter with a discussion about the importance of a personal "Life Purpose Statement." Such a statement will keep me focused on achieving all of my purposes and help me remember what is most important in my life. He provides five questions that I should consider as I prepare this statement.

• What will be the center of my life? This is the question of worship. Who am I going to live for and what am I going to build my life around?
• What will be the character of my life? This is the question of discipleship. What kind of person will I be? God is more interested in what I am than what I do, so I need to concentrate on improving my character.
• What will be the contribution of my life? This is a question of service. I need to decide what my ministry will be and how I will use my SHAPE to serve the body of Christ.
• What will be the communication of my life? This is the question of my mission to unbelievers. It will include my commitment to share my testimony and to share the gospel.
• What will be the community of my life? This is a question of fellowship. How am I going to demonstrate my commitment to other believers and my connection to the family of God?

Warren suggests that I spend weeks or even months thinking and praying about my mission statement and fine-tuning it to be just the way I want it. I should then form a smaller version of it that summarizes the main points.

The book closes with a short section encouraging me to believe and accept that God truly wants to use me. By living a life of purpose I can serve God to the best of my ability and look forward to an eternity of continuing to live for His purposes.

Bible Passages

Warren quotes the Bible twenty nine times using eight translations and paraphrases. I found that he used The Message far too much in this chapter, often taking wonderful passages of Scripture and assigning them a whole new meaning. Phillipians 4:7 reads, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The Message paraphrases it "Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." I don't see what is wrong with the more accurate translation that made Warren think The Message could improve it. Another case in point is Revelation 4:11 which Warren uses to close the book. The NASB translates it "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." That is one of the most beautiful, awe-inspiring passages in the entire Bible. The Message reads "Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it." The Message paraphrase sounds ridiculous and loses the grandeur and power of the original. Again, I fail to see why he thought this paraphrase was better than a more accurate one.

Point to Ponder

Today's point to ponder is "living with purpose is the only way to really live." At this point I am not ready to agree or disagree with that statement. I am going to take a few days to let what I have learned settle and to think about what this book has taught. At that point I am going to write a final article in this series which will summarize what I have learned and what I believe about the Purpose Driven approach. So stay tuned!

Day thirty eight of The Purpose Driven Life discusses the difference between a worldly Christian and a world-class Christian. Whereas worldly Christians are most concerned about themselves and their own happiness and blessing, world-class Christians are far more concerned with their mission of reaching the lost. As the world shrinks through increased transportation and communication it becomes easier and easier for Christians to fulfill their mission of reaching out to the world. Rick Warren provides several pointers on how to think like a world-class Christian.

• Shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking. Mature Christians, like mature people, think more of others and less of themselves. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to help me think of the spiritual needs of unbelievers whenever I talk to them. I need to figure out what is keeping them from coming to Christ and do what I can to help remove that barrier.
• Shift from local thinking to global thinking. The business world thinks in global terms and we need to learn from that. I need to begin to think and pray globally, focusing on particular nations and groups. I need to pray for opportunities to witness, for courage to speak up, for those who will believe, for the rapid spread of the message and for more workers. Warren says that the best way to switch to global thinking is to go on a short-term missions trip and actually experience global missions.
• Shift from "here and now" thinking to eternal thinking. To make the most of my life I need to maintain an eternal perspective. This is an area the book has focused on in each chapter, and as we have learned, it is far more important to build up treasures in heaven than on earth.
• Shift from thinking of excuses to thinking of creative ways to fulfill your commission. If I am willing I will always be able to find a way to serve. I do not need a special call as all Christians have already been given to call!

The chapter closes with more discussion of the importance of every Christian going on a short-term missions trip.

Bible Passages

Warren quotes the Bible twenty five times using eight translations and paraphrases. One verse was used outside of its proper context. In speaking about the importance of praying for specific countries he quotes Psalm 2:8 which reads, "If you ask me, I will give you the nations; all the people on earth will be yours." He does not quote the next verse which reads, "You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." When read in context we see that the verse refers to something other than praying for the conversion of the nations. The Psalmist is talking about vanquishing nations.

Point to Ponder

Today's point to ponder is "the Great Commission is my commission." I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. The Commission was given to the apostles and extends to us today. Each and every Christian bears the responsibility to carry out this commission. However, I am not sure that it means that each of us is to go on a missions trip. I struggle a bit with Warren's teaching on this matter.

I often wonder if the thousands of dollars spent sending a person on a mission trip would not be better spent on those already engaged in missions. I have little doubt that missions trips have a great affect on those who go on them, but I am a little more skeptical that they have the same type of affect on the people they are intended to reach. It is common knowledge that the best missionaries are those who are indigenous to the nation they work in. The two or three thousand dollars I might spend on a two or three week trip to a third world nation might support one or two indigenous missionaries for an entire year! Would it not be better to use the money to support someone who can build deep and lasting relationships with the people in the other nation? Having spoken to some missionaries about this matter, they will often say that mission trips, especially involving groups of teenagers, can damage their work as it consumes resources, both time and money, that would be better used elsewhere.

I am uncertain on this matter and would love to get some comments on what other people think.

Up Next

Tomorrow's topic is Balancing Your Life

God has given me a life message to share. From the moment I became a Christian I became a messenger of God. I have a life message that I am to share with unbelievers and this message contains four parts.

• My testimony. My testimony is the story of how God has made a difference in my life. My job is not to try to convict others, but simply to be a witness to them of what God has done in my life. A personal story is valuable to people - often more valuable than sermons or doctrine.
• Life lessons. My life lessons are the truths God has taught me through my walk with Him. Though it is wise to learn from experiences, it is even wiser to learn from other people’s experiences, so God calls us to share these.
• Godly passions. God is passionate - there are some things he loves passionately and others He hates passionately. He will give me passions for serving Him and I need to speak up about this and do what I can to make a difference.
• The Good News. The Good News is that when we trust God’s grace to save us through Jesus’ sacrifice, we receive forgiveness of sins. Every Christian is called to spread this message to unbelievers. I am responsible to maximize the opportunities He provides me to share this news with others.

Of the five purposes Rick Warren has outlined in this book, this last purpose, being a messenger of His Good News, is the only one that I can do only while I am on earth. The other four purposes will continue for all eternity, but sharing the Good News can happen only now. That is why it is so critically important.

Bible Passages

Warren quotes the Bible twenty times using eight translations and paraphrases. The only verse that stood out to me was Psalm 119:33 which in the NASB reads “Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, And I shall observe it to the end.” Warren uses The Message paraphrase which says “God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course.” The proper meaning of the verse is that we are to learn God’s laws and to honor Him that way. The paraphrase speaks of learning life lessons which is quite different from following God’s laws.

Point to Ponder

Today’s point to ponder is “God wants to say something to the world through me.” There are two things that came to my mind as I studied this chapter. The first was when the author taught about witnessing and that our job is just to be witnesses and not to be the judge and jury. I was reminded of an excerpt from Keith Green’s diary which simply read, “Tried to be the Holy Spirit to [someone] today.” I read that several years ago and it has stayed fresh in my mind. Too often I can become the accuser and I can try to convince people of what I know to be true. But the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is the accuser and I just need to be the witness.

The other thing that came to mind was that I have always felt like I have a pretty poor testimony. Warren says it is important to point out in my testimony what my life was like before I became a Christian, but in reality it was not much different. I was raised in a Christian home and read the Bible and prayed every day from the time I was a child. I attended church and all-in-all was a pretty good kid. Now there came a time when suddenly it all “became real” to me and I made the faith my parents taught me my own, but it did not result in any huge changes. Now in a sense that is an exciting testimony as it shows the power of the witness of parents to their children, but when compared to people who have incredible stories of hurt and restoration, it seems trite in comparison. Of course I am thankful that I did not need to hit rock bottom before coming to faith.

Up Next

Tomorrow’s topic is Becoming A World-Class Christian

Before you get all crazy, please realize that this article is satirical.

Rick Warren’s Book Becomes More than Recommended Reading for Local Congregation

MEMPHIS, TN - Many Christians have heard sentences like these lately: “Oh, you really should read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren,” and “Wow, I can’t believe you haven’t read The Purpose Driven Life yet.” But only one group of believers has been confronted with this imperative: “Read The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren or forgo your church membership.” That group is the membership at Memphis Community Church.

In a groundbreaking move, the elder board at MCC - a nondenominational “mega-church” - passed a resolution to revoke the membership of any church member who does not, by the end of 2003, read The Purpose Driven Life, the New York Times bestselling book by Rick Warren, the founding pastor of Lake Forest, California’s celebrated Saddleback Community Church and author of The Purpose Driven Church.

“Upon encountering this life-changing book, we realized that if members of our church aren’t leading a purpose driven life, they really don’t have much value as believers,” said Senior Pastor Charles Moynihan. “After much prayer and consideration, we simply decided that they can take their purposelessness elsewhere.”

The decision was announced during Sunday morning services on November 9th, and every MCC member will have received a form letter from Moynihan by the end of the month.

Not only do MCC’s 348 members have to read The Purpose Driven Life by December 31st, 2003, they also have to pass a written test of both multiple choice and essay questions, formulated by the elder board, that demonstrates that they understand the concepts and have undergone the life-changing effects of the book.

Moynihan says that he expects that very few, if any, members will lose their membership, and that many will easily fulfill the requirement during the church’s “40 Days of Purpose,” a collective reading and study of the book, now in progress at MCC and thousands of other congregations around the world.

“We’re not looking to expel anybody here,” he said. “We know that our membership will rise to the challenge and start to actually live lives with a purpose. The reaction to this action by the board has been overwhelmingly positive.”

But that doesn’t mean the church’s revolutionary decision is completely free of detractors.

“I went through nine weeks of mind-numbingly boring membership classes, and now I have to prove my worth as a member by reading about some evangelical fad?!,” exclaimed Memphis resident Rick Peterson, who became an MCC member last year.

Despite his objections, Peterson, an avid basketball player, plans to read the book and take the test.

“I’m not ready to give up my free access to the church gym,” he said.

For his part, Moynihan is convinced that the required reading will have an effect on the church that will be just as revolutionary as the elder board’s ultimatum.

“We’re going to have hundreds of Christians finding unique purposes simultaneously,” he said. “I like to think of it as the Purpose Storm.”

This story was borrowed from The Holy Observer.