Benjamin, my precious son, loves to pretend he is Spiderman. He totally gets into his role, dons his paraphernalia, and makes me be the “bad guy” almost every day. His desire to fight villains and be significant in the world of superheroes is innate. I didn’t have to teach him to shoot his imaginary web at me, jump all over me, or roar in victory. It’s already there, and it’s from God. Each one of us is born with a longing for significance and a desire to live with purpose.
If Aliens suddenly showed up on earth, what would they think we were doing here?
“Why am I STILL here?” is a question that has stayed with me over the years. It is so simple, yet it carries with it a lifetime of implications. I have mulled over this question, and I have posed it to students in several missions training schools where I have taught. I think it would do us well to personally engage and respond to this question – not once but repeatedly – throughout our lives. It is a bit like a thermometer that gauges whether we’re healthy or not. If we don’t repeatedly engage with this question, we may find ourselves missing out on the very purpose for which we were created.
When we turn our hearts to Jesus, He runs to save us from our sins and receive us into His wonderful family. But — if we are saved the moment we turn to Him, why are we not also immediately transported to Heaven? That’s our final destination, so why not just get it over with and move on into eternity? Earth has enough worries and problems for anyone to want to stay too long. There has to be a very good reason for us to STILL be HERE…
Everything culminates with Jesus’ return – “It’s the end of the world as we know it, it’s the end…” . The last book of the Bible ends with Jesus’ words, “Yes, I am coming soon.” How soon is soon? And what are we meant to be doing until “soon” becomes a “done deal”?
“You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12)
Wow, it is actually possible for us to speed up or hasten Jesus’ return – we can make Him come back quicker! That’s a big deal. But that also means that we can slow down the whole thing…
At times, we hear the appeal to go and save the world in this way: “Jesus COMMANDS you! Do something, because you MUST, because Jesus TELLS you to – it’s not an option. Why are you still here? Go already, somewhere, and do it fast or else you will not be pleasing to God!” This can bring fear and guilt on us, either driving us to the ground in self-effort, or driving us to run in despair.
I remember my wife’s mother, Sharon, telling us how she would hide under the church benches as a child whenever missionaries visited because she was afraid of being told she would have go to Africa or some-place far away. Many people have the fear that they don’t measure up, they’re not as great as those “special” servants of God out “there”. So they just retreat to what’s familiar, and never stop to ponder the question, “Why am I still here?” There is more to life than what we have known so far. My mother-in-law never went to the mission field. And she was not called to go. She was never an “evangelist” or “church worker”. But she did impact countless lives through her selfless love and care. She took the QUESTION seriously, right to the last moment.
It is un-important which part of the pie you eat, as long as you eat some (Thanksgiving is coming here in America). The key is this: we are all STILL here for the very purpose of ushering Jesus into every corner of the world and every corner of life as we know it. Each one of us. Regardless of who you are, where you live, or what job you do. The overall point of focus and destination is exactly the same. Jesus’ disciples could not possibly be both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth at the same time. They had to choose one at any given time. But the vision of all 4 areas remained, regardless of which of the 4 they happened to be in. That’s the same with us – sorry, but it’s impossible for you to do everything, everywhere, with everyone, at the same time. You have to pick what, where, with whom. But here’s the thing, the overall vision of everything, everywhere and everyone doesn’t change. Jesus won’t settle for less. That’s how big His heart is.
Some people are called to be covert missionaries in the most extreme, risking their lives every day. I know of one guy who was arrested two years ago and put in a labor camp in the very worst Communist country on earth for sharing about Jesus there. I know of another who got his arm chopped off a few weeks ago in one of the stricter Muslim nations in the Middle East for doing the same. Others are called to be home-makers, sacrificing their time and space to disciple little monsters children to become their very best. I know some of these people too. My mother was one.
I believe our response to the question “Why are we still here?” has less to do with frantically trying to comply with a command in fear that we may upset someone, and more to do with finding out our own unique calling as we grow deeper in relationship with Jesus. I do think Jesus feels something about the two-thirds of the world who don’t know Him yet; He feels something about the one-third who have never even heard of Him yet; He feels something about the millions of men, women and children sold into slavery; He feels something about a lot of things, because He Loves us and desires for each one of us to be both comforted here on earth and to be with Him forever in heaven.
Growing closer to the Lord, listening to His promptings, and taking our place in the battle, is what makes sense of why we are STILL here. The point is not to work hard so we can retire early with a nice pension. It is not about how many times we make it to church in a week.
These things won’t matter much in eternity, which is why asking ourselves the QUESTION helps filter out the essentials from the non-essentials. And when we know what matters, we will do well to spend our time here as “aliens and strangers”, not getting too comfortable just letting time fly by and never ask ourselves, “Why am I STILL here?
