David Yong-gi Cho - Church growth manual no. 7

Contents

Worldly Goals Offer Limited Satisfaction

Today people have many goals: the achievement of educational degrees, the expansion of ownership in business, an increase in holdings and investments in the financial arena, marriage and family harmony, happy and problem-free living, championships and gold medals.

There are problems with each of these goals, however, because they cannot give lasting fulfillment . No matter how many degrees, how much money, how many children, or what type of home you have, these goals have limited ability to give deep satisfaction. The fulfillment that they bring is either temporary or limited, and in most cases, both.

With these goals, you can only reach a certain level of satisfaction and peace, but you will still have a sense of emptiness in your life. This emptiness may not surface until you have raised your children or reached the top of the ladder in business or education.

It is possible to be successful and still have the right perspective on life. For example, a group of young boys from Victory Christian School recently made a trip to Kansas City to see the Oakland A's and the Kansas City Royals play baseball. The pitcher for the Oakland A's, Mike Moore, is a born-again Christian.

Mike signed a contract with the Oakland A's for a huge sum of money for one year. He gave our boys 45 minutes after the game to ask him any questions they wanted. The first question was, "How does it feel to make that much in a year?" Mike responded, "It's all God's money. The most important thing in life is that I would be a good steward of what God entrusts to me." Mike answered every question the boys asked based upon the Word of God. Mike is an example of proper balance in handling success.

His main goal in life is clearly not baseball success.

At different points in people's lives, they reflect, take stock and look back objectively where they have come from and where they are going. One of the milestones in my life that caused me to reflect was my fortieth birthday. I looked back thinking, "Twenty years ago, I was a student in college. If the next twenty years go as fast as the last twenty, I'll be sixty in a hurry."

I've thought about the things that really count. What is the value of what we do? What is the purpose for our lives? What gives significance to my life personally?

As you reflect on your past and future, there is one thing to keep as the goal in your life. No matter what happens in business, on the job, in the family, or in the educational arena, you will not come up empty at the end of your achievements if the goal is Jesus Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

Galatians 2:20

Paul Re-evaluates His Goals

The man who wrote almost half of the New Testament focused his life on the greatest possible goal. In Philippians 3, Paul is writing to the church at Philippi about the primary goal in his life.

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

"More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,

"And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

"In order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.

"Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

"I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:7-14

Paul is saying, "I have evaluated everything I have done in the past, and I have come to the conclusion that I no longer count certain things priority as I once did. I have re-evaluated where I am." He saw that knowing Christ was of far greater value than any other pursuit.

Paul simply went through a review process. He looked over his life and basically said, "What I used to live for is about the same as trash. Therefore, I am putting those things on the bottom of the list. I have new priorities in my life now as a result of this change."

When you re-evaluate something, you place new value on different things. Although you previously may have considered certain things of value, your priorities change. Paul was saying, "Knowing Christ is what really counts. In relationship to everything else, my intense desire is to know Him."

What are your goals? Will you one day look back and call everything you are living for trash? Why waste your life on empty dreams? If Jesus Christ is not the goal of your living, then what is your goal? Will you be fulfilled if you achieve it? Today is a day to re-evaluate goals.

"Thus says the Lord, Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

"But let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness , justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, declares the Lord."

Jeremiah 9:23 ,24

Possessing Righteousness Through Faith

"And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."

Philippians 3:9

Paul was saying, "My desire is to gain Christ, to be vitally united with Him, to be linked up with Him through faith that is not of my own works, but that which comes through faith in Him. My goals in life have changed. I want to know Christ. I want to live my life in Him, through Him and for Him."

Righteousness is received through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ at the new birth or salvation experience. It is something we maintain through the grace of God, that we continue to walk in a right light, putting away things that are wrong.

In other words, Paul is talking about the ability to stay right. After we get right, we don't stay right by our own works.

Sometimes people think we attain righteousness by faith, and from there, it's all works. No, it's faith all the way, although it is a work of faith. In other words, we are doing it, but we are doing it through trusting in Jesus every moment of the way.

The goal then is to live righteously by faith in Jesus Christ.

"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."

Philippians 1:27

That I May Know Him

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."

Philippians 3:10

"That I may know Him" simply means "that I may come into an intimate relationship with Him, to fellowship with Him, to know all about Him, to learn of Him and hear from Him. I am going to know the deep things about Christ, and He is going to know them about me. My whole life is wrapped up in Him."

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection..." (Verse 10). The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is what raises us up on a daily basis. It is that power that gives us victory over sin, over the world, the flesh and the devil. Paul says, "I want to know the power that was in Christ. I want to know it in my life experientially. I don't want to just be able to talk about it. I want to deeply know it. That is my pursuit."