This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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How has God called you to reach out beyond your spiritual community? Does your mission mindset need a reset?
Evangelism isn’t just for preachers. If you’re a Christian, God called you to share the message of hope with the world. Your mission is to share your personal life message as well as the Gospel. Pastor Rick Warren outlines the four aspects of your life message and identifies three ways you might need to reset your mission mindset.
Read more to learn how to be more effective in fulfilling your mission.
Your Mission in the World
Whereas your ministry is how you serve other believers, your mission is your service to unbelievers. God wants you to spread the word of his love, his glory, and the promise of eternal life to unbelievers, through your unique mission and a shared mission.
Your Unique Mission: Your Life Message
The story of your experience with God helps you explain the benefits of joining his family to unbelievers. Your message has four main parts:
1) Personal testimony. Your testimony reveals how God has made a difference in your life. This is a valuable tool for connection—you come across as a peer rather than an authority figure trying to “sell” God’s Word. Your testimony should touch on how you felt about your life before you discovered your purpose, when you realized you needed God, the difference you’ve felt in purpose-driven living, and how you’ve felt God’s power and love in your life.
2) Lessons you’ve learned. Explain what you’ve learned from your life experiences. This demonstrates that everything has meaning. This is especially helpful when talking to someone who doesn’t know how to find lessons in her experiences yet.
3) Your passions. God will give you a passion for something he cares deeply about so that you’ll be compelled to speak about it to others and find a way to make a difference with it. For example, you may feel passionate about a cause such as the environment, a group of people without a voice such as wrongfully convicted prisoners, or bringing his Word to specific groups such as college students.
4) The Good News. The last part of your life message is your explanation of the gifts that come along with trusting and obeying God, such as a deep sense of meaning, unselfish love, forgiveness of our sins, and the promise of eternal life.
Your Shared Mission: Represent Christianity Everywhere
You and all Christians share the mission of spreading the word about God all over the world—just as Jesus did. Like him, share what you know about God throughout your life, to everyone you can. Make sure you’re not missing out on your mission because of a purpose-blocking mindset, such as:
- “I’ll spread the news my way.” Put others’ needs first—in speaking to unbelievers, think about what they need from you in their spiritual journey, not the other way around. Imagine the person you’re speaking to says, “All that Bible stuff isn’t for me.” You personally think Scripture is the best way to talk about your faith, but their need is a less Scripture-based approach. You respond, “I understand. How about I tell you about my personal experience of finding meaning instead?”
- “I would, but…” Don’t let excuses deter you from answering the call to spread God’s Word. There are many available excuses, such as, “I don’t speak any other languages,” or “I’m not able to travel.” You can always find a way to fulfill your mission—you might join a trip to a country that speaks your native language or spread the word about God right in your hometown by connecting with new communities.
- “God hasn’t told me I’m ‘ready’ yet.” No use waiting—God’s Word has already told us, numerous times, that we’re called to spread the Good News and show his glory.
Ultimately, your mission is to fulfill God’s mission in the way that only you can. Periodically check your mission mindset to stay on track in a way that honors God and advances his work.
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Purpose Driven Life summary :
- The meaning of life from a Christian perspective
- The five purposes that you were created by God to fulfill
- How to find the unique service you were made for
