Excerpts from a student paper on their Personal Mission Statement:

 

“For a long time I felt bad about one sin in my life. I tried to get rid of it on my own but I couldn’t  I prayed and prayed over and over asking God to take it away. I tried everything I knew how to but it never went away. God didn’t remove this sin from me and I felt betrayed….  Finally, I realized that God will never take it away because He wants me to comfort others in the same trouble… If I got over it I would no longer be able to comfort others struggling like I was… So this is my life’s mission: to comfort those I find who are in the same pit I’m in—this is what I am called to do.”

 

Now, don’t be too hard on this Freshman, she is only six months out of high school. Perhaps, instead, we should discuss the theology behind the statement. If this approach is common in your congregation what would you preach to them next week? If she is from your church what does it tell us?  How does it relate to the wave of “being authentic?” How do you react to this excerpt?

 

So what do you think?

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Keith Drury   December 11, 2007

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