Monday Memo 355: Waiting to Be the Person You're Not

How early in life does purpose start? How far back can you look and expect to find clues or specific indications of your ultimate purpose? We have looked at Paul the last few weeks and would like to do so for one last time before we move on, for I believe this last look will help answer the questions I just raised.

It's my theory that Paul was partially fulfilling his purpose when he was a Jew by the name of Saul. It's an important point, for I believe that is true for you as well. Most of us have had some experience in our purpose, sometimes early in life, but we are looking past it, expecting it to be something or someone that we are not. Before I explain that, however, let's look at my theory about Paul.

WHAT DO WE KNOW?

We know that this man Saul was from Tarsus, located in modern-day Turkey. Tarsus was one of the most cross cultural cities in the Roman Empire and Saul was truly a man of the Empire. He was a Roman citizen and a Jew at home in a Gentile world. Saul knew four languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin, and was a Jewish scholar who studied in Jerusalem. He was a tent maker and probably did a lot of business with non-Jews.

Jesus informed us that there was such a thing as a Jewish evangelist when He said:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Matthew 23:15).

In Acts 9, we are told that Saul asked for letters of recommendation so he could go to Damascus to pursue and persecute believers. Here is where my theory kicks in. No Jerusalem Jew wanted to go to Damascus due to the risk of becoming unclean through contact with Gentiles. Saul volunteered to go because he had been there. He knew his way around and was comfortable in the Gentile world. He could speak their language, interact with their world and maintain his ceremonial purity as a good kosher Jew.

Does this prove my theory? Absolutely not, but it is possible that it's true. Saul was already working in the Gentile world when he met Jesus on his way to Damascus. He continued to work with Gentiles after that encounter, only after that he went to convert his audience to Jesus and not to Judaism.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

So what clues does your past hold to your present purpose? What did you love to do as a child? What was easy for you to learn? What did you enjoy doing? Perhaps you have dismissed the answers to those questions as irrelevant for your present Purpose Quest. I maintain that the answers are important, even critical.

I have found many people waiting to be something they are not in order to fulfill their purpose. Often the answers to who you are and what you were created to do are as close as your own heart, but you look past that with an expectation that God is going to make you someone you are not, someone He never intended you to be. Is this your tendency?

I dreamed of travel when I was young. I collected stamps and loved to gaze at foreign stamps, finding the country on a globe and then thinking of how I would get there one day. Today I have visited many of the countries I dreamed of visiting. The clues to my present purpose were there in my past, just as they were for Saul.

It doesn't really matter whether or not Saul was a Jewish evangelist. It supremely matters that he was true to who he was and, by so doing, changed the world. If you are going to impact the world or your world, the same will hold true. You must be true to who you are, and who you are is who you've always been.

Spend some time reflecting on your past this week and check out if you're waiting to be someone you're not. The insight you gain from yesterday can provide important evidence as you seek to confirm your purpose today. Have a great week!