In the last 10 years our economy has switched from mass produced to customized. You can customize just about anything now.
If you want a particular color, design, or to have you name on it…no problem. Open up Canva and create it.
Want a custom sushi order delivered to your house, work, or school. Door Dash will do it.
Design your own tattoo, of course. You pick it and the artist will tattoo it.
The only constant is nothing is fixed!
In recent years it has gone from customizing our shopping and preferences to customizing our lives. It seems for every person I meet I discover another approach to life.
Some of the new wave of life customization is incredibly helpful. A flexible work schedule, easy access to opportunities to pursue your passions, and having endless resources a screen tap away can make a life much richer.
Some of the new wave of life customization is incredibly harmful. Endless choices are creating mile high anxiety. Disregarding cultural norms and traditional morality is making people angry and filled with angst instead of feeling free. All those digital resources on the screen are turning us into slaves to the screen.
Whether you like it or not, people now feel the freedom to customize their life down to its most elemental parts. Identity is now customizable and fluid in the minds of many.
Don’t like your gender, change it. Don’t agree with definition of marriage, ignore it. Feel like being a cat today, get your purr on.
Yes, these are extreme but it is becoming more and more mainstream. Even children who often are too young to know the difference between reality and make believe are caught up in life customization.
A younger generation pushing back on an older generation and wanting to change some things and often improve situations is nothing new.
This is different.
The implications of all of this are for another conversation. For today I want to fast forward to after all the life customization pursuits have quieted. What is left?
Usually there is a person who ran hard and worked hard to find an answer to the gnawing internal urge to get meaning and fulfillment out of life who is now exhausted, disappointed and disillusioned.
When I run into someone determined to customize their life in an effort to find what has eluded them, one question runs through my mind.
How is that working out for you?
This isn’t a sarcastic gotcha question. Just the opposite. Out of concern for them, with all this effort and likely cost along the way, is it working? Are you finding peace, contentment, and joy?
Based on the angst I hear from hurting people, the answer is no. Based on what mental health experts tell us, the answer is no.
Here is what I know is true for you, or for anyone. Purpose and meaning don’t come from customizing our life, accomplishing things, or having a great family. Purpose and meaning only come from one place….Christ.
This is why the mission statement of our church is to Bring People Back to God. It isn’t a clever tag line, a marketing phrase, or a web banner. It is the only answer.
I have worked in several companies and usually the mission statement…well it doesn’t mean much. Not to me anyway.
But this is different, our church is not a company. Our church may not even be what you think of when you think of church. Church is not a cool building, an organizational entity, or a good thing to have in the neighborhood.
Our church is you and me. You and me following Jesus together and loving each other that is our church. So, the mission statement of our church is not something for the conference room wall we can ignore. It is the description of what we do.
I help bring you back to God. You help bring me back to God. Together we bring other people back to God. People who are consumed with trying to customize their life into meaning and purpose and finding nothing but pain and frustration.
Mt Ridge Church is FOR you, we are FOR your neighbors, and we are FOR all those who are ready to receive from Jesus what they can’t manufacture on their own.
This is why we host events like Cinco De Mayo Celebration, conduct Vacation Bible School for kids, send our older elementary, Jr High, and High school students to camp.
We aren’t filling a calendar or offering alternatives for busy families. This is real. This is serious. We are deeply committed to bringing people back to God. We will spend money, sacrifice our time, invite others, and love other people unconditionally for it.
When you ask people who are worn out from customizing their life, how is that working out for you? The answers you hear reinforce how important this mission has become.
Have you found your meaning and purpose in Christ? I hope so. If not, what are you waiting for? Now is the time.
If you have, weave this mission into your heart. Let it become a burden. It is part of your purpose. Take action steps today toward making this real. Integrate it into every aspect of your life.
Brining people back to God empowers you to live authentically and make a meaningful impact in the world. Dare to dream big, take bold action, and let your vision guide you to a life of purpose and fulfillment.
You will find you have an amazing answer to the question, How is that working our for you…
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Finally, check our our YouTube channel for great videos designed to help you move forward