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What's Driving You?

Introduction

I've always enjoyed reading the stories of successful people and finding out what it is that makes them tick. What I find completely amazing and intriguing is that most people— those who accomplish the most in their chosen field—are rarely motivated by money.

Jay Leno is an example. He makes about $15 million a year hosting The Tonight Show. If he just wanted a lot of money, he could stop right there. Instead he performs an additional 100 - 150 standup comedy performances and appearances per year for audiences across the country. Why? Because he loves to work. He loves to write jokes, and he loves to tell jokes. That's the driving force in his life; he loves to make people laugh.

Years ago I remember seeing a film of Walter Peyton's summer training regimen. Part of it consisted of him running hills. There he was in the July heat struggling to work his way up a steep incline, the earth giving way with each step as Peyton fought to maintain his footing, remain upright and keep moving toward the top. It was absolutely fascinating to watch because it was obvious that he wasn't out there for the money—he already had plenty. He wasn't hoping to earn or keep a starting position — he already had a lock on the job. Why did he do it? Because he had a passion for football, and he had a passion for being the best. That was the driving force in his life.

It would do each of us good to ask, "What's the driving force of my life?" You can find the answer to that question in the answers to a couple of other questions: "What do you think about while you're driving to work? What do you think about while you're driving home? What do you think about right before you fall asleep?" The answers to these questions will give you an idea about what it is that drives your life.

Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life which, as of this writing, has sold somewhere in the neighborhood of a gazillion copies. What I like about Rick is that before he wrote the book, he lived it. As a young man he became consumed with a passion for church planting. He was still in his twenties when he moved to Orange County to start Saddleback Valley Community Church. He's been there 20 something years now and he doesn't plan on leaving any time soon. He could, of course. He could retire and spend the rest of his days relaxing on the beach and never again have to deal with staff problems or contentious church members or zoning laws or critics or any of the other nuisances of life. But he keeps on keeping on doing the job he started doing two decades ago. Now he is taking his message to the international arena. Why? Because the driving force in his life isn't to build a nest egg for retirement; it's to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ. That's his purpose. That's what drives him.

What drives you? Like Rick Warren says, we are driven by certain purposes in life. What purpose drives you? Success? Money? Revenge? Sex? Power? Leisure? Comfort?

In the second chapter of Colossians, Paul uses a phrase that never fails to get my attention. He says in verse two, My purpose is …, and he goes on to define what is the driving force of his ministry. He mentions three things that we will look at today. Specifically, Paul is talking here about relationships, how he wants to relate to those he knows and even those he doesn't yet know. He says, My purpose is … and it's about how he relates to others.

Whatever we want out of life, one thing that we will certainly have is relationships: family relationships, social relationships, business relationships, church relationships. Life is meant to be shared with others. In many ways the quality of our lives comes down to the quality of our relationships. So we must ask ourselves not only, "What drives my life?" but also, "What drives my relationships?"

Three things fueled Paul's passion for ministry; we need to develop these things in our relationships as well. Let's take a look at this passage and see what we can learn about the driving force of our lives.

Colossians 2:1-5: "I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is."

Let's take a look at what Paul includes in this phrase, "My purpose is …" These are things we should do as well. First, we need to need to make it our purpose to encourage.

When our driving force is to offer encouragement to others, they gain hope and reassurance.

Colossians 2:2, "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart …" I don't think we realize just how much and how often people need to be encouraged. I don't think we realize just how much some people struggle to get through each day. We become so self-absorbed that we're always thinking about what we need, but we forget to think about what other people need. What do they need? One thing they need is encouragement.

In the book Winning Life's Toughest Battles by Dr. Julius Segal, there is a report from the National Institute of Mental Health that says, "Many of our daily conversations are actually mutual counseling sessions whereby we exchange reassurance and advice that help us deal with routine stresses." Segel comments on the report by saying, "People need their hearts uplifted. People need hope and reassurance. Paul made it his purpose to offer encouragement to others, and we should, too."

Author Muriel Anderson says that four of the most important words in her life are "Of course you can." She says that her father always knew how to say those words at exactly the right time. She had a dream of being a writer and had begun to try her hand at writing articles, hoping maybe the local newspaper would publish them. She was thinking of all the reasons why it couldn't, and probably wouldn't happen. She was young and inexperienced; the local paper was on a tight budget and rarely bought freelance material. She told her father, "I doubt I can get this article published." He said, "Of course you can." And she did. This is what launched her career as a writer. Those simple words from her father were enough to encourage her to keep trying.

Let's look for ways we can encourage people. I'll bet there's someone very close to each of you today who needs a good word from you. Maybe it's your spouse or your children. What can you say to give them a lift? Kids, have you considered that maybe your parents need a word of encouragement every now and then? Tell your mom and dad, "I'm glad you're my parents. I know you're not perfect, but I love you anyway." Mother Teresa said, "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier." That's a good habit to get into. Paul's purpose was to encourage others. Let's make that our purpose as well.

When our driving force is being united in love, we give strength and spiritual nourishment to one another.

Another driving force in Paul's relationships was to be united in love with other believers. Colossians 2:2: "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love."

Unity and love go hand-in-hand. We can't fully experience one without the other. People who strive for unity in a relationship without a commitment to love will never experience lasting unity. For example, during World War II the United States was united with the USSR against a common enemy—Hitler—but as soon as the threat of Nazism was extinguished, so was our bond with the Soviet Union, and we stopped being friendly. We were united temporarily by a common enemy, but that was all; our unity was short-lived.

There are some churches that are precariously united over a common enemy—there against this bad thing or that bad thing—but they're not united in love for one another. Our Christian fellowship can't be determined by who or what we're against. Instead, we need to show the world that we're for one another.

As Jesus said in John 13:34, "By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Redwood trees can grow as high as 300 feet and yet they have a remarkably shallow root structure. Do you know what keeps them strong, what keeps them from blowing over in the midst of a storm? Their roots may be shallow, but they intertwine with other trees. Each tree derives strength from the others. That's not all. Each tree also shares its resources with the others. The trees that are closer to the water are able to give nourishment to the trees that are further away. The church works the same way. When we're intertwined, when we're united in love, we're able to give strength and spiritual nourishment to one another.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, "All your strength is in union—all your danger is in discord." He could have been talking about the church, couldn't he? When we start fighting with one another, we stop being effective. We need to keep in mind that we're all in this together, and we need to hang in there with one another. It's been said that the reason why mountain climbers are all tied together is to keep the sane from quitting and going home. Well, we need to stay "tied" to one another to make sure every one is able to finish the course.

I think one reason so many people find shows like Cheers, Friends, and Seinfeld so appealing is that these shows demonstrates relationships between people who understand something about being united in love. They understand something about being committed to each other. Even though their character flaws are obvious to everyone in the group, they still belong to the group. People like that; they want to experience it for themselves.

A driving force in Paul's life was to encourage the members of the church to be united with one another in love. That ideal needs to drive us as well. How will that happen? It happens because we share a common commitment to serving Jesus.

I've played in bands most of my life. In recent years the way that bands get in tune has changed. Years ago, when I was teenager, and we were getting ready to perform one of the guitar players would say, "Let's tune up. Who's in tune?" I might say, "Well, I think I'm pretty close." And so the other guys would say, "Great. Let's tune to Steve." The musicians would huddle together, I would play my E string, the other guitar players and the bass player would tune to my instrument. Maybe my E was really an E, or maybe it was an E flat or somewhere in between — but without a tuning fork we would just have to make our best guess. Now it's completely different. Musicians don't huddle together because we all have electronic tuners that tell us when we're in tune. I don't have to try to determine with my imperfect ear if my guitar is right; the machine does it for me. I don't have to check with the other guitar player or the bass player to see if they're in tune with me because I know that we're all in tune with the perfect source—our tuning machine.

This is what drives church unity as well. When a group of people are each in tune, so to speak, with Jesus—when they are all committed to following him—they will find it much easier to be committed to one another. Paul wants us to be united with one another in love; the source of our unity is our connection to Jesus Christ.

Bob Snyder wrote, "Christian unity is not found in uniformity, organization, or a particular church, but rather in Jesus and our commitment to his teachings, and living them out in our lives … It is only as we join together with others who look different than we do but share a common love and commitment to the Truth that is Jesus, that we can know the completeness of the body of Christ."

Paul made it his purpose to help the church become united in love. Let's do the same. Let's look for ways to spread unity throughout our congregation. Centuries ago Thomas A Kempis made this suggestion, "If Christ is among us, then it is necessary that we sometimes yield up our own opinion for the sake of peace. Who is so wise as to have perfect knowledge of all things? Therefore, trust not too much in your own opinion, but be ready also to hear the opinions of others."

Do you think we can do that? Do you think we can each bend a little bit for the sake of unity? Do you think we can each pull back just a little bit for the sake of unity? Let's give it a try. Let's make the idea of unity in our church a driving force in what we do.

When our driving force is to reflect the light of Christ, we live as an example of what Jesus did for us and help others know him fully.

The thirdly relational purpose him we need to strive for is to help others better understand the mystery of God and knowing fully.

Colossians 2:2: "My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Paul is saying, in effect, "I just want to help people know Christ—through my teaching, through my preaching, through my testimony, through my example, through my letters—I want people to have the complete understanding of who Christ is and what he can do in their lives." Paul had a miraculous, life-changing experience with Jesus Christ, and he wanted others to share that experience. He wanted others to know the fullness of God as he had come to know it. That was a driving force in his life. He thought, "If I can encourage hearts, if I can promote unity in love, then I will be reflecting the light that Jesus Christ has brought into my life, and I will be helping people to know him fully."

We've all been to lectures that ended with the speaker saying, "Are there any questions?" Usually, it seems that there aren't any. However, Robert Fulghum, author of Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten, liked to throw a curveball to such speakers. He would always raise his hand and say, "Yes, I have a question. What is the meaning of life?" People would usually laugh, then the speaker would shrug off the question and everyone would collect their notebooks and coats and purses and prepare to leave.

One day, however, to Fulghum's surprise, he received a serious answer. The speaker was Dr. Alexander Papaderos, a Greek philosopher. When he closed his lecture with, "Are there any questions?" Fulghum asked, "What is the meaning of life?" Dr. Papaderos said, "I can answer that." He took from his pocket a small mirror, about the size of a quarter. He said as he was growing up during the war, his family was very poor and he had few toys. One day he found the broken pieces of a mirror left over from the wreck of a German motorcycle. There were too many pieces to fit them back together, so he kept the largest piece. He scratched it against a stone to make it round and to make the edges smooth. He played with it as a toy, become fascinated with the fact that he could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and dark closets. He said it became a game to get light into the most inaccessible places he could find.

He said, "I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do in my life. With what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of world—into the black places in the hearts of men—and change some things in some people."

This is what we're called to do. Jesus is the light of the world. In him is life, and that life is the light of men. Our job is to reflect his light so that people can know the mystery of God. We can do this by explaining the words of Jesus in John 3:17 to others, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Conclusion

There was an easily identifiable driving force in Paul's life that is reflected in his writings. As he said in Galatians 4:19, "Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth" (The Message). As he said to the Ephesians 3:7, "This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message" (The Message). As he said to the Philippians 3:15, "So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us" (The Message).

The driving force of Paul's life was that he would play a role in helping people experience the fullness of God. He wanted their hearts to be encouraged so that they could experience hope. He wanted them to live together in unity so that they could experience love. He wanted them to know Jesus so that they could experience faith.

Paul lived to encourage others, to promote unity, and to reflect the light that he had experienced in knowing Jesus Christ. Can we do that? Can we make it our purpose to help others experience the fullness of God by sharing with them our hope, our love and our faith? It was the driving force of Paul's life; let's make it the driving force of what we do, as well.

For Your Reflection

Personal growth: How has this sermon fed your own soul? ___________________________________________

Skill growth: What did this sermon teach you about how to preach? ____________________________________________________________________________

Exegesis and exposition: Highlight the paragraphs in this sermon that helped you better understand Scripture. How does the sermon model ways you could provide helpful biblical exposition for your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________

Theological Ideas: What biblical principles in this sermon would you like to develop in a sermon? How would you adapt these ideas to reflect your own understanding of Scripture, the Christian life, and the unique message that God is putting on your heart? ____________________________________________________________________________

Outline: How would you improve on this outline by changing the wording, or by adding or subtracting points? _____________________________________________________________________

Application: What is the main application of this sermon? What is the main application of the message you sense God wants you to bring to your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________

Illustrations: Which illustrations in this sermon would relate well with your hearers? Which cannot be used with your hearers, but they suggest illustrations that could work with your hearers? ____________________________________________________________________________

Credit: Do you plan to use the content of this sermon to a degree that obligates you to give credit? If so, when and how will you do it?

Steve May has been a pastor to pastors for more than 20 years, helping preachers and teachers to become more effective communicators of the gospel.

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Sermon Outline:

Introduction

We need to pattern what drives us after what drove the Apostle Paul.

I. When our driving force is to offer encouragement to others, they gain hope and reassurance.

II. When our driving force is being united in love, we give strength and spiritual nourishment to one another.

III. When our driving force is to reflect the light of Christ, we live as an example of what Jesus did for us and help others know him fully.

Conclusion

The driving force of Paul's life, as it should be in our lives, was that he would play a role in helping people experience the fullness of God.