Really Understanding your 'Why'

Scripture: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior. Titus 1:1-3

Observation: In Paul's letter to Titus, he includes this introduction. Of course, Paul knows Titus very well, as he has mentored Titus and then assigned Titus his current ministry in Crete. No 'introduction' is necessary. However, Paul instead chooses to give a rather long introduction, not of himself but of his entire mission and purpose. Effectively, he takes this opportunity to give Titus his "why" statement ... why his is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

He states the "why" by stating he works for the faith of others, and so others will learn knowledge and truth in alignment to godliness, and then states the "why" ... so by faith and knowledge everyone may understand their hope in eternal life.

Then, Paul gives his "how" ... he preaches about the promises of Yahweh, which were announced in scriptures and then manifested in Messiah.

What makes this introduction so powerful is that, knowing Paul is a mentor to Titus and they know each other well, Paul is using his greeting to re-enforce the entire mission of Christianity, teaching Titus (and now others) that we effectively have one, and only one, "why" for what we should do ... giving hope to others for their eternal lives ... and we do this by just telling them about Jesus.

When we read Paul's other letters, we see him do a lot of other things, including correcting behavior, addressing misunderstandings, calling out false doctrine, and encouraging those enduring hardships. Therefore, yes, being a Christian in community involves more than one thing. However, when it comes to being a Christian in the world and evangelizing as an apostle - which Paul always considered to be his true mission - it boils down to one activity. We are to provide hope, through knowledge, in the promise that faith in Jesus provides all with eternal salvation.

Application: The idea of knowing your "why" became famous in business several years back, with a discussion that most people and companies talk about their "what" (what they do) and not why they do it, and thus lose focus and fail. The Church talks a lot about our "whats". We talk about our caring ministries, our missions to the impoverished, our alignment to core tenants, our prayer efforts. And you know what? The world sees all that ... and couldn't care less, even in fact turning against Christianity because they view all the "whats" we do and feel like they're either just something anyone can do without faith, or are even opposed to the ideals they value.

If I told a room of 100 of my non-Christian neighbors that the Church only had one reason for existing, I'd bet none of them would guess that our "why" is to give people hope.

We need to talk a lot more about our '"why".

Prayer: Lord, may I learn from this very simple yet profound teaching of Paul, that I only really have one purpose, which is to give others hope in eternal life through faith in Jesus. My "how" isn't to preach, so I will look to you for direction about how I do that, but may I focus more and more on my "why". Amen.