During my high school graduation party, sitting on the bleachers watching a hypnotist’s show, God spoke to me. He explained to me the similarities between hypnosis and giving into temptations. When we give a hypnotist permission to put us under hypnosis, we are allowing the hypnotist to control us. Similarly, when we decide to act on our temptations, we make someone or something lord of our lives instead of Jesus. With this decision, we are after something. When we choose to give into our temptations, we want someone or something more than Jesus. So, the question becomes: What do you want—the World or Jesus? It’s like the question Jesus poses in Mark 8:36: “’What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’” What do you want—to gain the whole world, forfeiting your soul, or surrender to and follow Jesus?
In this search for what we want, we are often left wondering, questioning who we’ve become, asking ourselves where our lives are headed and for what purpose, and doubting there is hope for a brighter future. I think we ask these questions because we are never left satisfied with what the world has to offer. We always search for more. And we get lost in this search for more. It’s like we’re hypnotized, losing sight of reality. We become trapped in this sleep-like state, simply moving along like everyone around us. Life becomes a race with no finish line, no goal, and no purpose. We take on so many different identities, but never feel complete. We pursue and accomplish so many things, but never feel successful. We place our trust in different things, but we’re always let down. This is a hypnotizing world we live in.
False Identities
This world has much to offer. There are endless opportunities for people. With many opportunities come many identities. They are fleeting and temporary, like the world. Yet we still try to claim them. They include our occupations, politics, sexuality, hobbies, relationships, sports teams, nationality, and more. We are hypnotized into believing that we can find, build, form, and change our identity from this world.
When you have a conversation about who you are, what do you say? Do you proudly share what career you work in, activities you enjoy, the sexuality you claim, your political allegiance, the relationships and network of people you’ve built, or the sports teams you watch and support religiously? These are lesser identities. They are part of us, but they should never define us.
Who or what are you allowing to define you? This is a serious question. One that I don’t think we pay enough attention to. Our identity directs our thoughts, words, and actions. It’s what shapes everything else in our lives. For example, if our identity is in our career, then we may begin to believe what we do for a living is our only meaningful purpose in this world. This creates our hope for the future which, for this particular example, may be money, retirement, relationships to advance our career, material possessions, promotions, and so on. These are fleeting and disappointing.
For the last few years, I’ve struggled to find the “right” job. You know, the job that will make me happy and complete. As if any job would. I often question the job I have and wonder if I’m missing out on something better. There are always a couple things that I absolutely hate about my job which results in my search for something else. When I think these thoughts, I’ve placed my identity in my job and I’m always left unsatisfied and lost.
Our identity is not from this world.
A Wandering Purpose
Closely connected to our identity is our purpose. We often feel lost or empty in this world because we don’t know what we were made for. Yes, the world is full of opportunity, but we never feel like we’ve found the right fit. So, we end up falling into this state of hypnosis, going with the flow or living for the world and self. At some point, we wonder where our life went. We question who we are because of where we end up. When we question our identity, we have a distorted view of our purpose.
My purpose is unclear when I say that my identity is in my career or my interests. I simply end up going with the flow of life. I become extremely selfish. Everything becomes an inconvenience because I walk and talk like I know where I’m going, but I’m not walking or talking for any particular purpose. I’m only moving with the world and don’t want anyone or anything to get in my way.
Our purpose does not come from this world.
Hopelessness
When our identity and purpose are unclear, we feel hopeless or we put too much hope in temporary things. For example, we often place a great amount of hope in this world. Most of us will agree, in our daily grind, we generally expect good deeds resulting in good for us and bad deeds resulting in bad. I believe this is known in our culture as karma. But what happens when this doesn’t go the way we think it should? We curse and complain. This hope that we place in the world and in ourselves is not a lasting hope. It’s more like a good feeling that we have when things go the way we want. It comes and goes with our ever-changing feelings.
What else do we place our hope in? I know I catch myself at different times placing hope in my knowledge, relationships, hobbies, money, technology, jobs, vacations, and even the weekends to get me through another day. I often tell myself: “If only I can make it through one more week, my life will be better.” Sure, this results in a good feeling for a moment, but it quickly fades, and I start my search all over for a new hope in something else. It becomes an endless cycle that never provides a different result.
Our hope is not found in this world.
Only Jesus
The world is full of a lot of good, but it’s also full of people with a broken and distorted view of who we are, what we are made for, and where we are going. The world is also temporary. Everything has a beginning and end. And nothing in this world made us, so how could we find our identity, purpose, and hope in it? We were made from and for Someone outside of this world. That Someone is also the only One with the authority to give us purpose and provide us with hope. That Someone is Jesus.
Let’s look at Mark 8:34-38: “Then He called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.’”
What does this tell us about our identity, purpose, and hope? Jesus says that whoever chooses to follow Him must deny himself. If we were meant to make our own identity in this world, would Jesus tell us to deny ourselves? I don’t think so. He’s telling us to let go of who we say we are or who we want to be because He knows us. Our Creator knows us. He tells us who we are because He knows who we are and Who we were made for. Jesus then explains that we must take up our cross and follow Him. He’s telling us to follow His example by sacrificing ourselves for God’s Kingdom and the gospel. That is our purpose—to live for the Kingdom of God by spreading His love through the message of the gospel. This is also our hope. Jesus states that whoever loses his life will save it. Whoever surrenders their life and makes Jesus Lord of their life will be saved.
Jesus is simply calling us to let go of our endless search for identity, purpose, and hope in this world. We don’t have to be someone important or do something special to come to Jesus. He welcomes us just as we are—broken, lost, and hopeless. And He asks us to admit and recognize that we are wrong and sinful for trying to go our own way. Then we are to repent and follow Him, believing who He says He is and trusting Him with our all.
