Purpose (Gladiator inspired)

     Today I had on my mind the idea of purpose. I wrote 2 whole blogs ago about "the goal" but I started to think about the purpose of even being in the race.  I was watching Gladiator today and I couldn't help but put myself in the shoes of the main character, Maximus Meridius. He starts the movie fighting in wars for an "ideal" known to him as Rome.  He has never been to the city itself and as the movie later mentions is a Spaniard so the Rome he is fighting for isn't the literal location on a map.  He fights for what Rome stood for. A place much like America would later be viewed as, the "land where dreams come true".  He risked his life in hand to hand combat to fight for a nation he simply lived on the edges of, because he believed in what it stood for.  After the murder of his wife and son and the attempted murder of himself he then gets a new purpose for living, vengeance.  He endures slavery, many gladiator battles, and difficult living situations to get back at the new king who took everything from him and restore the dream that was Rome. In the end he dies accomplishing that dream. He kills Commodus and restores the power to the senate of Rome as Marcus Aurelius had wanted before his murder.  Those who read this and have watched this movie understand completely what I'm talking about.  The whole movie was based on one mans purpose in life.  And as I begin to think of other movies that I love I see that many have the same idea, a man fighting, sacrificing, and even sometimes dying for a purpose that he himself has deemed worthy.  i.e. The Patriot, The Bourne Identity, The Princess Bride, ect.
     On Saturday at roughly 4pm (one hour before I finish work) I looked around and saw that many people were just standing around doing nothing.  I began to think then, what is the purpose for them being here.  They have no loyalty to QVC so to speak other than a source of a pay check. And why am I there. I also would have to admit that i hold no allegiance to the company itself but use it as a pay check which will eventually help me achieve my dreams.  But when i take just a snap shot of my current situation and examine it from an outsider’s perspective I regret to say that one may think I have no purpose.  Honestly what purpose does a man, who picks shirts for people who are too lazy to go to a store and try them on, have in life? (Please don't think that how I view all the customers because I shop online often)
     When I first graduated high school I worked for a paper company and I will admit that I thought that was going to be my life.  I thought that most people just resign to the fact they will work their life away and then die. That was basically my goal. Then when it got shipped over seas I went to a ribbon and lace factory and again developed the same purpose. It wasn't until I went to college that I realized I could be bigger. It wasn't college itself or even the idea of having a degree that made me realize this but more so the realization that there is more to life than just myself and there are people out there that need help and I could be the one to aide them. 
     During college a few books came out by the same author with basically the same premise, so I refused to read them in part because I viewed it as a marketing ploy. "A Purpose Driven........."  Yes that’s right I opposed the purpose driven movement because I figured it wouldn't be long until the man printed "A Purpose Driven Pet".  But in retrospect I suppose that those books may have seemed valuable except for the fact that the people who had referenced those same books in conversation didn't seem to me to be people living with a purpose.
     As of late we have been discussing world views and such in church, I have been watching shows such as "Undercover Millionaire" or something like that and seen the reason people need to have a purpose beyond themselves.  Also stated in previous posts was that I was going through Nehemiah lately for daily devotionals.  These things have made me begin to question, what is my motivation and how do I make it action?
   
     "And I said, "O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.  We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.  Remember the words that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there."

     I bolded some of the places that I thought were interesting.  Here is a man that is the cup bearer for the King and decides he wants to go back and fix the old city.  A man living in a palace, probably getting treated pretty well wants to go back to the slums of Judah and fix Jerusalem.  He has determined a purpose for that period in his life.  More importantly he equates himself with the rest of Gods people.  He has found a reason and purpose to fight. He puts himself as part of the people who have sinned against God though he was a generation or so removed from the original exile, he realizes that his bloodline has done wrong, and he aims to right the wrongs and restore Israel back to its rightful spot as the City of God. 
    For a while now my wife and I have questioned purpose as it pertains to churches in general.  Honestly as I view many churches all I see is a bunch of spectators sitting in pews paying 20 bucks a week for a message they don't always even listen to.  Is it tradition that keeps us in the pew? Is it that we are afraid of the ridicule from friends and family if we are not there Sunday morning? Or is it truly because we are part of a mission and we are purposed to see it through.  I'm sure we can all admit it’s not because we like to sit on old wooden furniture early Sunday mornings.
     A little while ago I felt I had purpose in my church, being that I helped with youth group.  Now that doesn't exist and I am just the power point button pusher once a month. (thank you Dan Francis for all the help learning that specific trade during class chapels) What is my purpose now? To make sure people have the right lyrics on the screen? Where can I be involved? Do we have outreach? Do I have to just do it by myself and be a maverick? So many questions arise mainly, "As part of a congregation what are our plans on the grand scheme of things?"
     So many churches have programs, classes, choirs, bands, and so on but how are we going to do what Nehemiah did? Stand strong in the face of a secular king and build the city of God.  When are we as a body going to show the world that the Bible has the answers to the world’s problems?  How to raise a family, how to manage money, how to run a government, and most of all how to exist are all answers found in scripture.  I purpose to be a part of the big picture, to encourage those around me to join in and begin to impact the community, the country, and the world.  (Not like Westboro Baptist Church which may be my next entry)
We are a body. It's time we stop sleeping and do some action, together, as one, with PURPOSE!