Your Aim Will Help

This last Thanksgiving week my siblings and I along with our spouses, our parents, and some of the grandkids got together to discuss our tradition of a family reunion ... every Thanksgiving. You see, it occurred to us that we weren't sure of the question of why we got together. Because, if we don't know why, we likely won't accomplish "why".

Turns out that this is a very common thing -- the "why". Everything has a purpose. Maybe it's as simple as "filling that void in my stomach" or "because it's cool", but everything has a purpose. Conversely, it's a very common thing, I think, that we fail to ask "why". We assume we know what we're doing and why we're doing it, but if we haven't asked, it's likely we won't actually accomplish the mission.

So, let's look at a timely example. It's Christmas time. Have you finished your shopping? Have you asked yourself why you're doing it? I'd bet there are a lot of reasons we do it. Originally it came from the gifts of Christmas themselves. We know that the magi gave gifts to the infant Jesus. More importantly, we know that God gave us His Son at the Incarnation. So the original intent was to remind us of the gifts. But, let's be honest, that's not the common reason today. At our best, it's because we like to give good things to those we love. But even that isn't always the case. Some give in order to earn favor. The kids will like you for it. The family will appreciate it. Your friends will thank you. Some give because it's expected. Less "They'll be grateful", the thought is more, "They won't like you if you don't." There are even devious reasons. "If I give them a gift, they will owe me." You see, there are lots of "whys" for that question. But if you don't know why you're doing it, you won't know if you met your goal. In fact, you may not realize it if your aim was a poor one. "So they'll be grateful", for instance, is not a good reason.

Just an example to go along with the time of year. Think about all the other things we do for reasons we don't consider. Why go to church? To "get fed"? Or to feed? Because Scripture calls us all to be ministers (e.g., 1 Cor 12:1-27) and, yet, they tell me that 80% of the work and giving at church comes from 20% of the people. Are you among the 80% that go to get and not to give? What's your purpose? Why are you doing the job you do? Some people do it to "get ahead". Very rarely does anyone work to just feed their family. So while we tell ourselves we're working hard to give them the best, we miss the point and don't give them ourselves. Because we didn't ask "why". Or simpler things like "Why are you wearing that?" Do we dress to impress? Is that a good reason? Is there a better one?

Jesus said, "The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man." (Matt 15:18-20) Our primary problem, then, is what's in the heart. That's the "why" of what we do. Clearly we can fail to do good because we have bad hearts. We can also do "good things" for wrong reasons and lose the benefit. "Why" is an important question because it reveals the heart, and a faulty heart is our biggest problem.

God has work for us to do. In order to do it, we need to know why. The easy answer -- "to the glory of God" -- is a good place to start. Skipping that is an automatic step in the wrong direction. And operating blindly without a genuine aim is simply a poor way to accomplish our primary task -- glorifying God. Think about it.
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Helpful Hint: If your "why" is something that requires someone else to accomplish, count on having your task frustrated. If the reason you are doing something, whether as noble as "to make someone happy" or as understandable as "to make someone love me" or everything in between, if it relies on someone else, there is a good chance it won't happen. If you're buying gifts at Christmas, for instance, in hopes that they will be grateful, you're setting yourself up for a disappointment.