CalledExcerpt from CALLED: Becoming Who You Were Born To Be by Kary Oberbrunner

The Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.
–C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

INTRODUCTION – Your Epic Awaits You

I’m not going to lie to you. I can often lose perspective. I can get so caught up with the little things in life. Sometimes I put a whole bunch of stock in what people think of me or how the latest project turns out. Maybe you too get consumed with the small things of life: what your friend is wearing, the neighbors new car, or even what’s for dinner. Maybe life is more than this. Maybe it’s bigger…much bigger. Maybe life is an adventure of epic proportion. Maybe we’ve just swallowed the lie that life isjust about who we know, what we accumulate, and the “stuff” that defines us.

I was at a coffee shop last night with my buddy, Brian Rants. I am on a little trip out in Colorado just getting a breather from the busyness of life. Although, it’s great to be in the mountains, I terribly miss my wife Kelly and our new little boy Keegan.

Brian was talking about some pretty profound things last night. He was telling me,“You know Satan does want to destroy us. Of course, he tries to kill us in the obvious ways. He tries to make us murders and child molesters. But you know what? Satan also tries to destroy us in the subtle ways. He tires to make us safe. He attempts to declaw us by convincing us that life is about playing it small.”

Brian went on to quote Marianne Williamson’s inspiring words. Many people remember these words because they were spoken by Nelson Mandella, in his 1994 inaugural speech. These words have sparked courage in my own soul over the last couple years.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our own light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Brian is right. Our Enemy tries to kill us softly…to get us to doubt ourselves and live in fear…to get us so wrapped up the insignificant stuff of life that we are declawed and about as fierce as a piece of wet cardboard. This book is not about wet cardboard. No. Instead, it reveals the false doctrine of discipleship that many of us have bought. It exposes the lie that says, accept Jesus into your heart and then go on your merry way and live the rest of your life, calling you own shots. It debunks the myth that life is all about you and what you want.

Instead, it proves that life is all about God. It demonstrates that authentic discipleship is more about dying than living. It describes a feeling that maybe you’ve always felt, but one that scares you to death. It suggests that you’ve been called.

Called? Called to what? Called to more than you know, more than you think, more than you can touch and taste and feel. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve been called to an adventure of epic proportion. You’ve been called to become who you were born to be.

For some reason, even though I grew up in the church, somehow I never got this memo. Maybe I slept through the orientation, or at the minimum maybe I was daydreaming. Who knows? Regardless, I missed it. Rest easy, if you missed it too, THIS book is THAT memo.