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Revelationship As Our Purpose
Revelationship is God revealing himself as he pursues us for relationship. His purpose for us—and, therefore, our purpose for existence—lies in relationship.
The Bible summarizes this relational purpose in God’s three-part statement: I will be their God, they will be my people, and I will dwell in their midst. In short, relationship centers on God dwelling among us.
Finding My Purpose
Growing up, I struggled to discover God‘s will for my life. I went to numerous seminars and camps. I consumed a copious number of books—both secular and Christian. But nothing helped me find my purpose.
I had often heard that our purpose is to worship God but working that out in a practical way didn’t make sense to me. It’s not practical to walk around the house and school and work singing Kari Jobe songs all day long. Others would tell me worship was doing everything “as unto the Lord,” which seemed to make a little more sense, especially since worship is much deeper and broader than singing. But it still didn’t explain one very clear lesson that the Bible makes: I can’t do anything good enough without God. Everything good comes from God. Logically, my purpose can’t originate from within myself…if worship is limited to what I do “as unto the Lord,” then it’s works-based.
It was not until Fuchsia Pickett preached an indelible sermon about the callings of God that I began to understand my purpose. As I scrambled to take notes on the wealth of wisdom that poured from her heart, she shared one answer that completely changed my life and settled the questions “What is my purpose?” and “How should I go about fulfilling my purpose?”
She asked, “Do you want to know what your purpose is? Do you want to know how to live a life abundantly? Do you want to know how to follow God‘s call on your life, particularly?” (I was on the edge of my chair in anticipation.)
She said, “All you have to do is say ‘Yes’ to God every time he asks, and ‘No’ to the devil and your flesh every time they ask.”
That was it. That was the “rocket science” distilled down to one key element: How to respond to God when he calls to us.
When Moses encountered God’s presence in the burning bush on the mountainside, his response was “Here I am Lord.“ This is the Hebrew word Hininei. It means “I am here. I am available. Yes.” In the Jewish tradition, the cantor (scripture or prayer reader) reads the Hininei prayer and everyone is required to say every word together. Jews consider this prayer the right response before a holy God who reveals himself. By saying Hininei, we are saying we are here. Present. And all in.
For me, walking in the “Yes” has meant, saying yes when God asked me to do something or not do something. It has also meant that I say “Yes” when he requires me to surrender to him some part of me—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Even though I resisted the legalism, I realized I had acquired quite a few half-truths and a performance-based understanding of God. I couldn’t find any other way for my purpose to mean something other than doing something. When I read scriptures stating my purpose was to worship God and serve him only, follow his commandments, seek first the kingdom of God, etc., I read them as things I had to do, not things I would become if I spent time in his presence. Psalm 27:8 says:
When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].” (Amplified)
As Fuchsia Picket shared the callings of God, I began to understand my purpose was less about doing and more about being. The two go together, certainly, but the doing must flow from the being or they are mere strivings. Actions had to come from a life of surrender to a holy God or they’d be just “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). My performance-based view of God had to die.
As I scribbled furiously under Fuchsia’s tutelage, a plan began to take shape. It was a plan of relationship—dwelling together. This is the purpose God declared at the beginning of creation, so it is the purpose of every human. But it requires the mission of Christ to be accomplished in our hearts for us to be reconciled to God before we can step into it.
Her sermon freed me to pursue God’s presence as the single most important thing in my life—to become all in.
Communion and God’s Presence
The second piece to the puzzle came as I studied communion as a channel of Christ’s presence. My evangelical roots had not provided an in-depth understanding of this. But I began to put all the pieces together when I discovered Athanasius’ explanation of the word “Eucharistesas,” a term used when Jesus held the Last Supper with his disciples. From the moment Jesus takes to connect with the Father—which our Bibles translate as “gave thanks”—I realized our purpose is to receive fully from the Lord and return it to him in unbroken communion. The bread and the cup were important as they allowed Christ’s body to be consumed and consummate the New Covenant, but it was the moment Jesus connected with the Father, received glory from the Father, and returned glory to the Father, that I saw the full circle.
It was such a revelation to learn that God intends to pour himself into an available vessel that he made us expressly to receive his presence and that he longs to pour himself into available vessels! Thus, I am supposed to overflow with that presence of our Living God, returning that glory back to him, in an eternal, reciprocal exchange, where nothing is lost as I return it to him.
This is the flow that Jesus experienced while on earth: constantly saying what the Father is saying, doing what he sees the Father doing, and never losing the connection that he has with the Father or stepping out of that eternal flow between them.
This is our purpose: Christ, revealing himself to us in all the surprising and wonderful ways that he does. Pouring himself out and his presence in us, and to us. Then us returning it to him. This is eucharistesas.
Absolute Surrender
Eventually, after I prayed the prayer of Absolute Surrender (all that I am, all that I am not, and all that I ever hope to be, I surrender absolutely), it was less about saying “Yes” each time God asked, but instead living a life that breathed in his presence and breathed out his presence in unbroken fellowship. This is living an abundant life.