99.5% of all Christians miss their goal
Here is how this can change.
10% of all humans who have been conceived never reach the age of five
Only 10% of all humans are born again
Only 10% of all born agains know their divine calling, their mission in life
Only 5% of all who know their calling actually finish it
This means that, out of 8 billion people on the planet, only 3.6 million finishes well reaching the goal God has set for them. That is one out of 222,222 people!
Children are a heritage from the Lord, like arrows in the hand of a warrior (Psalm 127). Each human being lives because God wanted it. It is our maker who gives us purpose and aim – to be an arrow of God. Should we not all be able to say, “He made me a polished arrow in his quiver” (Isa 49:2)? David prays in Psalm 39, “Lord, make me know my end (goal).” Paul exhorts the Corinthians, “Run so that you get the prize.” And he writes to the Colossians, “Let nobody disqualify you” (show you the red flag or red card in a sport event). Martin Luther translates it as, “Let nobody move your goal!”
However, this nobody has done a thorough job! He has not only moved the goal of most of mankind, he has literally stolen it. Could this be the biggest theft in history – stealing the life-goal of billions – and get away with it? What happens if nothing happens; If all remains the way it is now? Then the world will turn into one gigantic graveyard of callings…
Let’s look at the numbers again. Every year 44 million babies globally, are killed in abortions. Add to this the unreported numbers of 50% (= 22m per year), and we are speaking of 66m killed unborn babies a year. Infant mortality (up to 1 year) is 4.6m per year; child mortality (up to 5 years of age) is 10m per year. In a ten year period, these numbers add up to a staggering 806 million that, even if they make it into this world, do not survive the age of five. Out of 8 billion people, we are left with only 7.2b. Out of the 7.2b people who are born, only about 10% are born again. Only the children of the Father in heaven have a chance, at least in theory, to find out about their purpose in life, why they are here. That sums up to just 720 million. Out of those 720m, only about 10% say they have actually found their divine mission in life. We are now down to 72m. From those 72m, only a shocking 5% say, when asked towards the end of their life, that they have finished the race, that they hit bull’s-eye. We are now down to a mere 3.6m. These 3.6 million are 0.5% of all Christians and 0.00045% of all of humanity, one out of 222.222.
American leadership researcher Dr. Robert Clinton found out that there are about 1.000 people mentioned by name in the Bible. We only know enough about 49 of them to discern if they have, or have not, reached their goal in life. Clinton concludes that only 30% of those 49 have reached their divine goal in life, 70% fell by the wayside and did not make it. 30% who hit bull’s-eye means that only one out of three, in biblical days, finished the race. Today this number is down to one out of 200! Things have become dramatically worse since then.
What do people without a goal actually do? They do not live; they are being lived. They miss their very own, personalized, original life’s mission from God and follow a herd of people, conforming to a number of plastic, artificial life styles created by peer pressure and the media. They are driven, not sent. They become the product of their environment, whereas, their environment should actually become the product of them! Many resign sooner or later to this kind of a goal-less life and conclude that talk of a goal is probably only for “doer and achievers types”. But the reality is that they simply live parallel to the life of a godless humanity and fall for the fake and cruel goal that many dedicating their lives to: Work and earn, pay taxes and burn. The harshest and most brutal truth about this is that people without a goal in life are not only without success, but without significance. They missed the very reason why they are here. They came, did their round, and left, without a trace, without a legacy. What can be worse than that for a human being?
Quoting Confucius who is attributed to have said, “The way is the goal” is no help either, because every way eventually leads to a destination. The fact remains, “If we do not have a goal, we will surely reach it!” If we are asking for the reasons why people are not reaching their goal and drop out of the race before they finish it, we will find issues like abuse of finances and power, pride, sexual misconduct, family problems or laziness.
But these are only the symptoms; the true reasons for endemic aimlessness lie somewhere else. The first is: Most people do neither know nor realize that God has not only numbered the days of man, but appointed him a goal (a task) (Job 14:5). If they do not know of their goal, how can they do what Apostle Paul describes: press toward the goal for the prize of the high (=divine) call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14)? At the time of his conversion, Paul had asked a crucial question to his new King, “What shall I do, Lord?” Not many are asking that same question today with the same ultimate urgency and readiness to unquestioningly do the bidding of their new King. We are so used to that familiar voice of our ego that keeps on asking, “What is in it for me?” “What will God do for me?” That is why only few are getting such a clear answer like Paul did, “Go to Damascus where you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do” (Acts 22:10). Paul clearly did not mean that such directives are only for God’s apostles. He writes to the Ephesians that God has prepared the works in which we should walk (2:10). There is a divine, royal directive about our lives goal and task. If we do not ask for it, we should not be surprised that no one comes to us, like Ananias to Paul, to declare what our life is all about in God’s perspective. If we do not even know we have a divine mission that we need to find and finish, we will never even search for it. And if we do not seek, we shall not find. That is why someone has to tell us: Seek your mission from your King, Jesus Christ. Only you can do that, no one else is going to do that for you.
The second reason for the aimlessness of most Christians is: Democrats have no king! They are not under order of a commander in chief; they are their own king and commander. If you grow up in Western democracies (and are not enlisted in working for the police or the military), you will be repelled by the very idea that you have to follow anyone’s’ advise or even directives. Such a thought is downright obscene! The notion that there is a task ordained for you to do sounds like a bad joke. The very idea that God has a plan for you would mean that you are not free to do what you like, when you like, with whom you like, if you like. It seems like an attack against what we think is freedom. Those that are Democrats at heart will find it very hard to be Kingdom citizens. They want to be in the driving seat themselves; they want to decide, want to be asked, consulted, won over, but keep all the options open, and remain picky. In this case, Jesus might be their savior, healer and deliverer, but definitely not their acting King. They would care less about the constitution of the Kingdom of God (the 75 commands of Christ) and the personal life assignment God has for them. And that is the core problem. If we are not “under orders,” we will simply receive no order at all. And if someone cannot even obey his commander in chief, the apostle and King Jesus Christ, how then will such a person align himself to the apostolic teaching of modern day apostles? The first followers of Christ are described like this: They exposed themselves to the apostles teaching (translation from the Greek in Acts 2:42). Today, apostles play next to no role in most churches. Hardly anyone can even name a few of today’s active apostles, and many believe apostles are actually extinct. This is why only a minute number of Christians would even know what apostolic teaching is; let alone they align themselves, their company, church, foundation or charity to it. One of the central messages of the apostolic is: Lead the life into which God has called you (1. Cor 7). But if most Christians live in an apostle-free zone, they will miss this message, because part of the role and function of apostolic servants is to help connect followers of Christ with their divine calling. As a result, many run in circles and lead a life that is not sent.
What can we do to change this?
Let us make no mistake: cosmetic changes won’t help. Attending one more seminar about charismatic gifts won’t help as well, because this is not about gifts, but about our role and position in the Kingdom of God – and that is no democracy! We will never be able to step into our role if the condition of our heart is rebelling against the Rulership and Kingship of Christ, if we ignore his constitution or his revolutionary house rules - Kingdom economics. Who in his right mind would allow a ruffian and rebel, who scoff at the man of the house and who laugh at his house rules, to have any significant role or position in his own house? Such a person is far better off running in circles, outside the house. This is why only a radical, not cosmetic, change in our minds will help. We will need to take three steps. Step one is our apostolic conversion. Our conversion to the King and his Kingdom is not finished as long as we have not asked our new King, like Paul, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Part of this apostolic conversion is to align ourselves with those apostolic servants active today. Otherwise, how can the contribution of the apostolic help to shape us if we ignore and avoid it?
The second step is to take an oath of office on our King as our commander in chief and the constitution of his Kingdom. Just like in real life, no government will allow anyone a role who is only serving himself, refusing to function within the order of law and remain loyal only to himself. A good start is to get yourself the poster The Constitution of The Kingdom (the 75 Laws of Christ; www.simsonmedia.com).
The third step is our decision to live in the economy of the Kingdom, honoring the house-rules of God. This includes the principles of selfless sharing, that we accept that we are no longer our own, after God bought us for a price (1 Cor 6:19:20). This means that all we have, including God’s money on our bank account(s), is not ours, but God’s. Our abundance shall supply the lack of others. And this house rule of God also includes that the Apostles are not the recipients of alms, of what is left after Christianity has spent almost all their money on themselves and, but they are the first and central recipients and distributors of the resources of God (Acts 4:35; 5:2), because it is part of their brief to make sure that the plans and goals of God are pursued and we all, as an apostolic people, press on towards those goals and, collectively, without leaving too many behind, finish the race, and finish it well.
The endemic aimlessness and lost condition of so many in the Body of Christ can be healed, if we understand the roots of the problem and act accordingly. This includes to pray and do whatever you can to make sure that the apostles, that have been literally banned from Christianity, can again do what they are made to do: to help all of us to live a life with a goal; an apostolic life!
(Wolfgang Simson)