The Goal of Christianity

“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 10:39 NIV

The phrase that our Lord used here is what got me thinking;

“Whoever finds their life…”

I thought, ‘Why? Finding one’s life is the general theme of most of our popular Christian books and messages today.’ Whether it is, ‘Your Best Life Now!’ or ‘How to Maximise Yourself’, the central message we are preaching and being taught is that one of the main goals for life in Christ, is for one to find oneself (who God created one to be) and to maximise one’s God-given potential. On the face of it this does not look like a bad message at all and indeed there are many Bible verses that support the idea that God desires the best for us and wants us to be the best we can be. But the problem is not whether there is any truth in this message, but rather, in the central position we have come to give to it. For in placing the cart before the horse we have introduced an error.

The goal of Christianity is not for you to pursue finding yourself or your purpose or even finding meaning. Those are all by-products of the life of a Christian. The goal of the Gospel is for you to find Christ. Not just at salvation, but to make the pursuit of finding Christ your goal for the rest of your life.

Let’s look closely at the paradox of this tough declaration of our Lord. First he says, “Whoever finds their life will lose it”. If our chief aim is the pursuit of finding our life, we will lose its essence. We will never find it. We will never be fulfilled and we will never fulfil God’s purpose for us. Rather he says, “…. whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” God is not against our finding purpose and meaning and becoming fulfilled. No, he is right here showing us that there is only one way to get there – by losing your life. By giving up the pursuit of your own fulfilment for Christ’s sake, and rather making Christ your only pursuit, so that your life pursuit becomes like that of Paul:

“But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things… I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:7-8,10-11 (NIV)

So, this is the Gospel: Turn away from pursuing anything else and let Christ be your pursuit number One. Let the cry of your heart be, ‘I want to know Christ and become like him’. Then every other thing about your life will fall into place.