The primary purpose of humanity might not be what you think

For the second year in a row, Jamie and I have volunteered to coach our son’s cross country team.

My number one coaching goal is not what you may expect. It's not winning, and it's not even doing your best. For me, winning is way down the list (if on there at all). Giving your best effort is very important - probably my second most important goal - but still not the top goal.

What I really want as a coach, and my number one goal with these high school students, is I want them to fall in love with running. And for that to happen, I have to make running fun and help them experience the benefits of running.

I only get to coach them for two months. But if I can help them fall in love with running, they can enjoy its benefits for a lifetime.

So I am clear with them that, for me, it doesn't matter what place they come in a race. Nor does it matter how fast they are compared to their other teammates. But it does matter that they try their best and enjoy the experience. I would rather they do their best and come in 25th than give a half effort and win their race.

I also look for reasons to celebrate everything they do. If they have to walk every minute because they are tired, I celebrate that they ran for a minute.

This philosophy is also the same one I carry into pastoring and walking with people on their spiritual journey. My number one goal as a pastor is to help people fall in love with Jesus, and for that to happen they need to experience and enjoy life with God.

In other words, they need to be fully alive.

This desire is not new among God's people. The opening line of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1646) states:

"The chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Sometimes I feel followers of Jesus forget this (or at least the last half of that statement). We focus on rule-keeping, we teach others (especially new followers of Jesus) about rule-keeping, and we forget that we are created to enjoy life with God!

PAUSE and REFLECT: Are you currently enjoying God? Are you helping others enjoy life with God?

I often use my enjoyment of God as the measuring stick by which I gauge my spiritual health, and that's a bit of a scary thought: what if I measured my spiritual health not by which rules I'm keeping, but by how much I'm enjoying God?

If you were to do the same, how healthy would you say you are?

Of course, life isn't always fun, and perhaps there are seasons where our enjoyment of life wanes. Maybe these are the times we choose to persevere because we know the benefits of life with God, and even though we may not be enjoying life, we can enjoy (or at least be thankful for) the fact that Jesus is lovingly with us in the valley.

But let us not forget: your chief end in life is to glorify God and ENJOY him forever. This is God's primary goal for you. So don't ruin life with God for yourself, and don't ruin it for others, by losing sight of this.

If by the end of cross country season our students have enjoyed their experience with running and want to continue with it, then I have succeeded as a coach. On the other hand, if they all come in first place in their races, but end up hating the pressure, hating the experience, and don't ever want to return to running, then I have failed.

You are deeply loved, and because you are loved, God wants you to enjoy him. If you're burnt out on religion, all the enjoyment evaporates.

What is one thing you can do this week to lighten your load of religion and / or increase your enjoyment of God's loving presence in your life?

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Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash