The most important thing in life is that one must have a strong philosophy. Our philosophy about the meaning of life can be an indicator of the decisions we make in life. What kind of philosophy you have is what kind of life you will have. If your belief is in material satisfaction, you will spend your life in material desires. If your belief is to love God and love people, then your life will be a blessing to others in an altruistic manner.
Let us take a non-Christian example: Kazuo Inada, one of the four saints of Japanese management (the founder of two Fortune 500 companies and the legendary CEO of Japan Airlines who fabulously brought it back from the brink of bankruptcy within a year), has a philosophy in honouring god and loving people,(even though his god is not our God) which has created his legendary life and has been the deciding factor in the choices he has made. When he was faced with some major decisions in his life, he did not consider his own interests or the interests of shareholders, but was guided by his belief in honouring God and loving people.
What are the beliefs of Christians in life? What is your conviction in life?
As for me, my conviction in life is to fulfil the mission that God has entrusted to me: to equip the saints, so that they can do their duties and build up the Church.
The Declaration of the Global South of the Anglican Communion (GSCA) at its meeting in Bangkok in July 2012 said forcefully: “Mission is not finished until we have led people to become obedient (cf. Romans 12-16) to God through Christ. We anticipate that the global church will be challenged by the revival of traditional cultural religions, secularism, and materialism. Amid these challenges, our greatest need is for deeper rootedness in discipleship. The direction is to equip the church to focus on discipleship and character building that demonstrates “humility, integrity and simplicity.”
Discipleship is a strategy for implementing the church’s vision and enabling lay people to fulfil their calling. This strategy is consistent with the example of Jesus and the teachings of Paul’s epistles. Discipleship builds churches full of the stature of Christ and enables lay people to become Christ-like, Christ-committed, and actively evangelizing disciples. When both lay people and pastors can move towards the goal of becoming fully human in discipleship, the church will be able to function and fulfil the mission that God has entrusted to it.
Pastor John Oak, founder of Sarang Church, said, “The highest level of discipleship is to be able to reveal Jesus Christ through us. That means letting the world see the changes in our maturity as little Jesus. Discipleship is a much-needed ministry for lay people who have to live among many unbelievers every day.”