Purpose

10/31/17         Aaron           about 23

 

I asked the young man busy at his laptop in the coffee shop if he would like to take a study break to answer an interesting question.

He agreed, somewhat reluctantly, and in answer to my question about life after death told me he generally didn’t believe in it but also really hadn’t given it much serious thought. I asked about his religious background, and he, Aaron, told me his parents were Buddhist but had sent him to a Christian school because of the quality of education there, and that after that the whole family had become involved in the non-denominational church associated with the school.

 

“What, then, led you away from Christian belief?” I asked.

He agreed that he had never really taken personal ownership of the faith, and now as a young man is more concerned with his studies and getting ahead in life financially. He has some Christian friends who keep trying to get him involved in their church but he shrugs them off in favor of the busyness of his schoolwork. He is studying to be a nurse, and has a big exam coming up.

He really seemed to be too preoccupied for us to have an in-depth conversation about the Gospel, so I decided to leave him with a Gospel booklet and some observations and challenges that might help him to pick it up and read it when he had more time and a clearer mind.

I observed that his great preoccupation right now is all about preparing for his future. “You are looking five years down the road, but what about 500 years? Where will you be for eternity? I know it’s important to live in the here and now, but in my experience, what we believe about eternity totally affects the way we live today. Our understanding of our relationship with God in heaven has everything to do with the way we live life here on earth. Being a Christian caused me to look at my studies and career as opportunities to serve God and others and express my gratitude to Him, rather than just as a way of personally getting ahead financially. There is so much more meaning in life than just working for financial gain.”

Frankly, I was surprised that someone going into the nursing profession would be primarily focused on financial reward. I feel like Aaron should easily be able to see the rewards of a life well lived in the service of others in the health profession.

I may have been wrong, but I didn’t feel like he was in a place where he would have been able to hear the basics of the Gospel, but maybe he could see a vision of his life being filled with a greater meaning and purpose than self-advancement. I wish I could have shared so much more of the Gospel, so much more about why we can live out a life of gratitude toward God, but I just hope that what I shared might be enough to get him to read what I gave him when he is ready.