THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD: 3 STAGES IN THE PDL WALK: PDL INSIGHTS (PART 11)
3 STAGES IN THE PDL WALK: PDL INSIGHTS (PART 11)
STAGE 3: THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD
In the last insight we discussed about the second stage in
the unfolding of the PDL which is the acceptable will of God. In this stage
someone has gone through the first stage which is about identifying the field
where one’s purpose is and is now in a role where they can deploy their gifts,
skills, talents, abilities doing what they are passionate about and consistent
with their values. This second stage however does not have everything in place
but some may settle at this stage. The acceptable will of God might be a role,
a ministry office, a job, a business, an organisation or any form of position
or responsibility.
Your purpose is usually bigger than the above but many do
not know or are not willing to take the decisions that might have to be taken
for the final stage of the PDL. In a study carried by Robert Clinton at Fuller
Theological Seminary with about 3000 full time pastors, evangelists,
missionaries, nationals who direct mission organisations, lead denominations,
establish bible schools and teach in seminaries in 4 continents something
interesting was discovered. The study revealed that only 20% of these leaders had
reached the third stage of The Purpose Driven Life (PDL) which he calls
convergence. This shows that most people settle before they reach the final
stage and he gives some of the reasons. What is this stage about?
The third stage is identified as The Perfect Will of God in
the earlier discussed scripture. This is a role that comes from lifelong learning
and application of principles leant as one serves in the different capacities
of the second stage of the acceptable will of God. The perfect will of God is
when your potential is exploited to the maximum. It maximises on the gift
cluster (spiritual and natural gifts, talents, skills, abilities and
experience), the passion cluster (passions that have become convictions) and
values cluster (internal values that motivate you that do not speak against
your conscience).
The Perfect Will of God is usually realised when one sees
beyond the natural boundaries of offices and norms. Several times man-made job
descriptions and human standards and traditions stand in the way of the perfect
will of God. I always challenge people and say that no one has a purpose of
being an Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, Doctor, Engineer,
President, counsellor, coach, musician, House wife or whatever designation you
may think of. These are offices through which you may get the authenticity and
authority to fulfil your purpose. If you see your purpose in the lenses of
office you will have a ceiling and try to force yourself to fit in the frame of
what people understand that office to be about.
This explains why some would say a pastor must not run a
business or a pastor cannot mix the work of God with politics. Several people
live all their lives restricted by the perceptions of what a doctor or lawyer
is expected to do. There is need to understand what your purpose is, what
values you want to express, whose needs you have to meet. If it requires a
certain office to get the authority to do so then be in the office and make the
most of the office to fulfil the purpose but not getting limited to the office.
There is need to use creativity and see how other skills, gifts, talents,
abilities and experiences that might not be related to the main office might
help you expand your reach and influence.
Are you a pastor with
sporting talent for example, listen to the inner convictions and hear whether you
can release your pastoral values with the help of your sporting or music gift
to increase your effectiveness. Do you have a musical gift and a conviction to
see justice where justice is deprived? Maybe you don’t have to be a lawyer or attorney,
you can pursue the purpose of facilitating justice through music. I give these examples to show that some people
fail to reach the perfect will of God because they are stuck in the traditional
expectations of offices and designations. As a Pastor you should ……. is the
acceptable order. You cannot operate outside of that expectation. Your purpose
is supposed to embrace some of the gifts that you have so that your uniqueness
or signature sound is heard.
In the earlier discussed example of the PDL journey for the
Apostle Paul, we saw him move from a zealous persecutor of the church to a
preacher of the word as the first transition into the good will of God. Barnabas
came into his life and mentored his transition into the second stage of the acceptable will of God as a teacher of
the word. Then while they were praying and fasting the Holy Spirit then
released them into the perfect will of
God in Apostolic/ Missionary work of planting and establishing churches in
all the known world then. He describes his ministry showing the combination of
the three and an inner conviction from deep rooted beliefs saying,
“to which I was
appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, I also suffer these things; nevertheless,
I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is
able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” [2 Timothy 1:11-12]
To be successful in doing this we see a combination of the
preaching experience and the teaching gift to be able to plant and establish
churches with the Doctrine of Christ. He could not be everywhere at the same
time, hence the teaching gift worked with his pre-salvation experience and
skill of writing making him the writer of two thirds of the new testament. His
dual citizenship and exposure in circular learning beyond just biblical
knowledge made him capacitated enough to preach in different cultures. Not only
that, but his tent making skill was relevant when they needed sustenance on the
mission field. This combined with the inward conviction of the Spirit, love motivation
and a value for the kingdom made him fulfil his purpose to the fullest. His
words testify to a life lived to the fullest, an ambassador of the PDL and a
hero in the kingdom as he says,
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called
an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I
am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder
than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. [1 Corinthians
15:9-10]
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but
also to all who have loved His appearing. [2 Timothy 4:7-8]
Paul was among the few who knew they had finished. The
challenge is now left for you. The perfect will of God is fulfilled when one
has a basis of a strong character and integrity, varied gifts in a cluster that
can work together, a strong conviction (something worth dying or sacrificing
your life for) of some form of needs as important and an inner drive and
passion that fuels you in face of adversity or challenges. The PDL lived to the
fullest is therefore a role that allows you
to fully express your values and convictions (1. Values cluster) doing what you
love doing and are passionate about (2. Passion cluster) and what you are good
at (3. Gifts cluster: skills, knowledge, abilities, talents, spiritual gifts
and natural gifts) building from your experience and on a stronger character and
integrity.
In most cases walking in the perfect will of God allows you
to institutionalise your purpose. Institutionalisation is turning your purpose
into an institution that does the same even in your absence and long after you
are gone. You have reached the third stage of the PDL when you are thinking of
legacy and an institution or a system that is sustainable and continues to fulfil
the same purpose. Most people leave institutions that feel the void of their absence
and die upon their departure showing that they never lived the perfect will of
God till the end. The later part of a Purpose Driven Life is in grooming
leaders and imparting your values to others so that they continue to be
expressed in the uniqueness of the wiring of those you pass them on to.
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