The End of All Christians by Bob Hartman

The title is a bit of a hook. Of course, I do not mean the death or something that dramatic by “end” but rather the telos or purpose of all Christians.

The popular Christian metaphor of “growth” (2 Peter 3:18) asserts a sort of progress in the Christian life. Of course, there is no such thing as progress without a standard to which one is progressing. Consider bowling: if there is no standard or rule (of 300) to measure my score against, there is no such thing as “growing” or progressing as a bowler.

So, what is the standard for a Christian? What sort of things can the Christian (by God’s grace) purpose to “grow”?

I will answer these questions via by weaving the following four strands together:

First, the “ultimate” end of all creation is the Glory of God. As the prophet Isaiah writes, “Everyone who is called by My name, And whom I have created for My glory, Whom I have formed, even whom I have made” (43:7). Or, perhaps an appeal to the Westminster Confession: “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (or you could insert Piper’s reformulation). This is the end of all Christians, indeed the ultimate end.

Second, the “subsidiary” end of the Christian life is becoming like Jesus. Consider the following: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29). Whether you understand election here as a Calvinist or an Arminian is irrelevant since the purpose of election is the same—to make little Christs.

A few things are already becoming clear: first, the standard of growth to which a Christian aspires to the character of Jesus, and, second, the purpose of the Christian is to become like Jesus—this is why Christians are graciously called by God. This glorifies God.

Third, to set our minds to become like Christ—we must realize the object at which we aim; we must figure out what Christ is like. What better than Christ’s own description:

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:17-19, 21)

It is safe to say that one like Jesus is one who meets the spiritual and physical needs of others.

Answering the following question is the fourth and final strand: How do we become more like Christ—how do we “grow”?

I become a better bowler by practicing bowling. As Aristotle once wrote, “We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.” Or, to borrow from someone a little less pagan, C. S. Lewis writes, “Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature.” Thus, if these two are onto anything, it is the case that we become like Jesus by performing the same actions that Jesus did with the proper qualifications of having faith, relying on God’s grace, the quickening/sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, and the power of prayer.

Weaving these threads together, I humbly suggest that the Christian who desires to glorify God (the ultimate end for which we are made) should purpose to become like Christ (the subsidiary end for which we are made) by doing the things (per advice of Aristotle and Lewis) that Jesus did (Luke 4) with the qualifications mentioned above. For this is the end for which we are created.

As Thomas a Kempis writes, “Each day we ought to renew our resolves and rekindle the fires of our fervor as if it were the first day of our conversion. And we should say: O Lord God, help me to keep my good resolution to serve You; give me the grace to begin anew, for what I have done up to now is nothing. . . . Our spiritual advancement will equal our resolutions, so if we want to make good spiritual progress we need to exercise diligence in make our resolves.”

Here are a few potential resolves to structure “Jesus actions” into our lives:

-Get involved in North Chicago with FaithAlive
-Get involved in FaithActs malaria mercy ministry
-Get involved with the TIU Abolitionists
-Get involved with the evangelism group on campus

For Meditation:

“Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:35-36—Italics mine)


© Bob Hartman