Leading the Purposeless

Believers know that God is good.  Mighty. Holy. Set Apart. 

But do they wonder who they are?  Who they are supposed to be and what are they supposed to do?

Just because YOU know who you are and what you are doing doesn't mean those following you do.

The movie THE IDENTICAL (opening this week in theaters nationwide) centers around this theme of discovering your identity and obeying God's calling on our lives.  To stress the deeper truths behind the film, two strategies were adopted:

First, a research survey was conducted among 400 consumers over the age of 35 spread out across the country.  All respondents had to attend church atleast once per month.  

- Nearly 100% of them believed they were created with a God-given purpose.  But, despite this belief, a majority of respondents in the total base do not believe they actually know beyond a doubt what their purpose is.  

- 83% of those knowing their purpose said the church was vital to this discovery.

- 55% of church-going respondents said they did NOT know what their purpose was.  Typical comments included...

“ I haven’t had anything great happen to me nor have I been able to make anything great happen for anyone else. So I do not know why I am here.”

“My life has changed drastically in the last two years, I no longer know what my purposes in life is.”

Second, the production team found 14 Christian leaders from all walks of life (pastors, speakers, authors) to talk about the theme of the movie for a television station aired this past month leading up to the release of the film.  For THIS WEEK ONLY, leading up to the release of the film, you can go to the website

theidentityseries.com and watch any or all of the amazing videos on the site for free.  

The Bible clearly states that God made each of us with purpose.  Psalm 139: 15-16 reminds us, “You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you.  The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (The Message)

In the movie THE IDENTICAL, theirs is a test of wills between a preacher father and an adopted son.  The dad believes God has called his son into the ministry, the PK is not so sure.  He is drawn to secular music - specifically the Motown and rock and roll sound of the 50's.  "Singing songs, writing songs, that's all I wanna do" he tells his best friend Dino (played by Seth Green).

"Our job is to be who He made us to be and do what He calls us to do,” counsels his father (played convincingly by Ray Liotta of Goodfella's fame).

But his son, Ryan (played by newcomer Elvis lookalike Blake Rayne) tell his mother "I don't hear this call daddy keeps talking about.  It's just not their."

Ryan's mom (played by Ashley Judd) replies "God seeks our good in every situation.  If He is in your dreams, nothing can stand against them."

Research revealed that believers know they are SUPPOSED to be doing something God made them uniquely qualified to do, but over half of them don't have any idea what that is.  That results in a church using HALF of it's potential.  Can anyone be satisfied with that?

As leaders, how do we solve that problem?

The movie THE IDENTICAL opens the door to have the conversation; the IDENTITY SERIES helps provide answers.