Lent begins with week. My small church is using Rick Warren’s “40 days of purpose” as our Lenten study. I’ll be using this blog to journal through the 40 days. Your thoughts are welcome! And if you would like to be a guest blogger for a given day, email me at rmatson573@aol.com and I’ll consider handing you the pen.
Day 1. It All Starts with God
I have to admit that when I first read PDL in 2004 that I was a bit jaded. What could a Baptist have to contribute to us Methodists? I’ve since concluded that such arrogance as mine may well be to blame for the continued decline of the mainline denominations. I needed to get over it. A book that has sold 30 million hard copies in the United States alone must have something to offer!
In the past few years I’ve traveled to a number of fruitful United Methodist Churches that are growing by leaps and bounds. What I see is Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church formula (see The Purpose Driven Church) written all over them. I’m convinced that God has used Rick Warren as an instrument to advance the church at a time when the culture is encroaching on God’s message for humankind. And with his ministry in Africa, God continues to use him to mobilize the faithful to meet the world’s great needs. I’m over my jaded attitude. Rick Warren has an important message for all of us—God’s message, “You were created for a purpose, to be loved by Me and to love in return.” Finding that purpose is the theme of Warren’s book.
And it is not about me! Clearly, it’s not!
Warren’s clarion point is that meaning exists only if God exists, created us, and loves us. A life of meaning (and our purpose) is our response to that love. God created us and loves us without condition and without our merit. That is grace. It all starts with God but moves quickly to us. By observing those around us, it is pretty obvious that we can accept grace or reject grace. We can choose. We can live with purpose or live without purpose. What say you?
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