Men Without Mission (Men, Avoiding the AWOL Life)

I want to offer a series of posts over the next week or so about the dangers of men living an AWOL life and how they may recover a sense of meaning and fulfillment in the Jesus' Great Commission as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20.  For sake of brevity I will need to chop them into smaller portions.  I hope you take the time to follow along.  (this is part 2)


As I stated before, fewer and fewer men are attending church.  I would also argue, that for the men that do, fewer of them actually embrace what is going on in the church.  What’s the problem?
Men are mission oriented.  A man without a mission is a man who will waste his life.  He has no directive, no purpose, no goal, and no measure of accomplishment.  But is it even possible for a man to assess himself as he is, in his current station in life, and to answer with confidence, “So far, have I done what I was born to do?”  What’s a man’s mission anyway?
In 2 Timothy 4:7 Paul writes to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  Paul, as a man, expressed not only confidence, but a total sense of accomplishment.  “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day (2 Tim. 4:8a).”  Paul goes further.  He invites others into the same experience, “And not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing (2 Tim. 4:8b).”  
Indeed Paul’s principle of the living a fulfilled life is not gender exclusive.  Women should avoid living an AWOL life as well as men.  I am not intending to exclude the women in the sense of suggesting that God has nothing for them, my intent here is merely to address the men.  For men a sense of mission is critical.  If a man loses his mission, he loses his sense of manhood. Paul was a man with a mission who went from an AWOL existence to living a life full of meaning, purpose, and a great sense of accomplishment as he looked forward to his reward.  
How did Paul go from AWOL to living a life with a clear sense of purpose and a measurable sense of accomplishment?
More to come . . .

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