16. My “telos,” the ultimate purpose for which I live, is critical in ordering my work.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR ULTIMATE DESIRE FOR YOURSELF, WHAT YOU LIVE FOR? AND WHERE DOES THAT DESIRE COME FROM?
HOW MUCH OF WHAT YOU DO IS DRIVEN BY A NEED TO BE EFFICIENT?
WOULD YOU EVER CHOOSE THE LONGEST LINE IN A GROCERY STORE CHECKOUT? WHY?
DO YOU REGULARLY DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT, 5 MPH OVER, 5 MPH UNDER?
ARE THERE AREAS OF YOUR LIFE WHERE YOU ARE INTENTIONALLY “INEFFICIENT”?
Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us carries with us questions about our purpose in life. Why was I created? What is the primary purpose or goal of my life? The answer to this question is not usually decided in a vacuum—it is influenced by our culture. This purpose, main objective or primary value that we live with is called our “telos” (Greek word that means “ultimate purpose”).
Our telos is a powerful force that shapes all of what we do, how we understand our reality, the drive in our lives, even our spiritual life, how we read the Bible, and how we look at church. Though our telos is an influential and dominant drive in our lives, most of the time, we are not aware of this force. Knowing our telos can be important. It might be that we have never thought about our telos but have simply allowed our culture to determine it. Alasdair MacIntyre, in his book After Virtue, discusses the importance of telos in our lives. He proposes that, for western culture, “effectiveness” is our primary telos.
“Thus effectiveness is a defining and definitive element of a way of life which competes for our allegiance” (page 74, University of Notre Dame Press. Kindle Edition). We can see the influence of “effectiveness” in many areas of our lives. Both secular and spiritual. Leaders are judged by their effectiveness in making their organization successful. Churches are evaluated based on their effectiveness in gathering people, “winning souls,” building facilities, etc. And when each of us imagines our vocation, even if it is for God, we tend to look at our effectiveness.
But what if God’s telos, the telos he desires to share with us, is not one of effectiveness? What if God’s telos is “relationship.” What if God would rather us be present to a relationship with him than to aspire to great things for him? What if, as Mother Theresa says, God prefers that we “seek not to do great things, rather seek to do small things with great love.”
If the primary purpose in our vocation is to be effective, our relationships will suffer. Like the quote, “the end justifies the means,” we will see relationships as less important than the outcomes of our work. The danger in having “effectiveness” as our telos is that we will struggle to have healthy relationships with others, we may not even value those relationships. We may engage in conflict and manipulation with others to accomplish our task.
But even more damaging is that we will hold an image of God that makes relationship with him a secondary goal, an optional but not necessary outcome. I deeply believe that this is not God’s desire for us. More than anything, God desires that his relationship with us be the primary goal and telos of our lives.