How do I reach my goals?

Last week at Ignite I was asked "will we have a combined night where we look at setting goals?" I am not sure that we will next term but it might be something we do in the future because setting goals is an important topic to look at.

I was reminded of how important it is when I picked up a copy of the briefing this morning (an Australian Christian magazine on the Bible). In it was an article by a bloke named Tony Payne called God's Agenda. It is an article that really got me thinking.

Tony started the article by getting us to imagine that our life is like one big boardroom meeting. Your birth is when you come into the meeting and your life is when you go out. His big point was that all meetings have agenda's. An agenda is a list of priorities that is discussed at a meeting. We need to ask what is the agenda for our life? What are your goals? What are your priorities?


For most average young Australians our agenda or priorities might look like something like this:

1. Get that new sweet video game (boys) or that awesome hair straightener (girls)
2. Spend plenty of time with friends having fun
3. Get good marks at school without having to work so hard that I have no life
4. Be the hero of my footy/netball/soccer team as we win the premiership
5. Stop that acne problem and wake up without having a bad hair day

You get the picture. I am sure your parents priorities might look a bit different. But it is true that all of us have goals, agenda's and priorities even if we don't spend time thinking about it. 

I often meet Christians though who tend to think that for them they just add some Bible/prayer/church/youth group stuff to that list and that is to have Christian goals. To be honest this sounds very Christian and in some ways is a step in the right direction. But the reality is that this is more religious than Christian. So why is it religious?

Religion is all about doing good so God will give me his blessing. Many people may add these "Christianised" goals because they think that it will help them achieve there other goals. They may think that by doing Christian things that God will have to give them what they want. But that is to misunderstand who God is. God is not a cosmic vending machine where if we put in the right prayer or action we should expect what we want to come out. God is our heavenly Father. Good parents don't always give kids what they want, and for good reason too. Those parents that do literally "spoil" their kids. Being a Christian is about relationship with God and not having the right mechanics to make God do what I want.

Secondly this sort of thinking is religious because people think that if they do good things it will make them be closer to God. If Bible reading is bumped up the list than God will love me. Relationship with God does not work that way. It is clear God loves you! He sent Jesus into the world to die for you, it is absolutely 100% clear that God loves you. It is a good thing to read your Bible but God wants you to read it because you know he loves you. Many Christians feel closer to God when they are doing the right thing when they are doing more God stuff and further from God when they are not. Sure doing God stuff is a good thing but it does not make you closer to God. In Christ I am as close to God as I can possibly be. The blessings Jesus has are mine. The relationship Jesus has with Father has been given to me because I am united to Christ. It is a good thing for us to have a clearer understanding of this relationship, but my good relationship is given to me by Jesus. I don't have to earn God's approval by doing God stuff. Sound good right!

But here is the bit that we often don't like (not because God's way is bad but because we are sinful and don't trust him as much as we should). Even though we are friends with God we need to remember God is God and we are not. God is our ruler. Religion adds and removes things from our lives to be acceptable to God. The Gospel changes our hearts so our entire way of life is different. God is no longer something we just squeeze in to life. God is not something we add to our agenda. God is the one who sets the agenda. Christians don't set their life's goals, God does. 

Tony Payne puts it this way "God is not an agenda item we push further up the list, hoping that it will keep him happy. He is the owner of the company, and the chairman and CEO of the meeting. He is the boss, not us. He sets the agenda, not us. Our role is not to type and distribute the agenda, but to have it handed to us when we file into the room."

Life does not revolve around us and our goals, it should revolve around God. For Christians Jesus sets the goals of our life. That is what it means to make him Lord. This means there will be some new things added to our list (God stuff) but where they are on the list and everything we do on the list will be set by him. Even our motivations will be changed. For example; I don't work hard at school to get good grades, I work hard at school because I want to bring Jesus honour and glory by being a disciplined student. But coming to youth group will come higher on the list than studying because Jesus considers encouraging Christians and learning from God's Word more important than school.

So what do you think are some of the goals Jesus would have for you? It is worth thinking about. Here are a few to get you started:

1. Get to know Jesus and who you are in Jesus better (Philippians 3:7-11)
2. Trust more and more that Jesus has completely saved you and gives you what is best, knowing you can approach God with confidence (Ephesians 3:12, Romans 8:28, Hebrews 10:19-22)
3. Share Jesus with others (at school, at sport, with friends) so they can have life to the full as Jesus' disciples (John 10:10, Acts 5:19-20, Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Corinthians 10:31-33)
4. Encourage other Christians to keep following Jesus by coming to youth group to serve and build them up (Ephesians 4:29, Hebrews 10:24-25)
5. In everything you do, do it for God's glory with thankfulness (Colossians 3:17)

It is worth asking are Jesus' goals, our goals? It is also worth asking how do we make Jesus' goals a priority in all we do? Jesus loves us better than we love ourselves, his goals for us are the best we can get.