Who Is My Neighbor?: Being a Good Samaritan in a Connected World by Moore Steve

Author:Moore, Steve [Moore, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Navpress
Published: 2011-04-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

PASSION-FUELED PURPOSE

A great purpose is cumulative, and, like a great magnet, it attracts all that is kindred along the stream of life.1 Wilberforce was a great magnet, and the network of collaborators that was drawn to him made all the difference. It was not the strength of his personality that attracted them but the greatness of his purpose. Long before the public victories in his enduring struggle to end the slave trade, Wilberforce had privately surrendered himself to God's purpose for his life, writing in his journal on October 28, 1787, “God almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”2

By the reformation of manners, Wilberforce was referring to a transformation in the habits and attitudes of the day with a distinctly moral overtone. He wanted to make “goodness fashionable.” In spite of the fact that he was an up-and-coming politician, having been elected to Parliament seven years earlier at age twenty-one, Wilberforce's life purpose as defined by the two great objects appears ambitious at best and presumptuous at worst. Yet fueled by increasing levels of issue-based passion, William Wilberforce poured out his life like a drink offering in the pursuit of a God-honoring life purpose. His legacy stands as a powerful reminder of the admonition given by the apostle Paul: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

As we have seen in the life of Amy Carmichael, C. T. Studd, and William Wilberforce and his network of abolitionist leaders, God uses life-shaping experiences to establish heartlinks with issue-based passions. These heartlinks, like hyperlinks in Google's PageRank algorithm, help organize and prioritize the passions that fuel a life of purpose. While this process is not new, it is increasingly important today if we are to respond intelligently to the daily barrage of needs a Google-powered and connected world puts in the palms of our hands in real time. PageRanking your passions will help inform decisions about the causes toward which you leverage your time, gifts, and resources in the service of others. But answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” and finding your way as a Good Samaritan in a connected world will require you to move beyond high levels of issue-based passion toward growing clarity about your life purpose.

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