Recently I had a conversation with another Christian from RPC. Our talk turned to Mission, and I was told that it has been extremely difficult for him to determine where to start when figuring out what his Mission for the Lord will be. Why?

Well, many people come here and begin to read the resources on the Sidebar, particularly the Mission-related posts:

209 - Developing and Articulating Your Mission

and

210 - Mission Matters. Nothing Else

They may also come across my Mission fill-in-the-brackets framework:

  • When turning a Vision into a Mission, I like to break it down with a framework that I think covers the essence of a successful Mission:

  • "My Mission is to become a man who brings glory to God in [these ways] by pursuing [these kinds of goals]. I will accomplish that by sharing the Gospel, as well as by doing [these things] and developing [these aspects of my character]."

  • Remember, God is as concerned about that as He is the works you do, because His goal is to transform you into the image of Christ. A good barometer of this is examining the evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit in your life. Which one or two Fruits are most in need of development in your life right now?

And they end up going “Man, that’s a LOT of information! Where do I start? There’s so much to learn, so I guess I can’t begin to figure out my Mission until I finish all the readings.”

It can seem like a truly daunting task to figure it out, and getting started is always the hardest part.

Think about it:

When we talk about learning RP principles, we tell people to read the Sidebar? Why? Because most of the information is there to help you figure out not only what you’re doing wrong in many areas, but what to do instead to get results. If you’ll notice, when we talk about the books there are three that come up more than any other: the Bible (obviously), NMMNG and WISNIFG (If you don’t know what those acronyms are, CHECK THE SIDEBAR and do the reading).

Reading the Bible is a no-brainer, but why do the other two get recommended so much? Because they are great starting resources that address the most common problems that cause people to find us in the first place. They don’t have all the answers, but if you start with them you can begin to build a solid foundation that will help you begin to make progress. Once you learn those and are able to put some of the principles taught into action, the rest of the Sidebar readings begin to make a bit more sense and you can start adding to what you’ve already learned.

When we talk about lifting, we recommend StrongLifts. If you do StrongLifts for more than one year you will end up looking like a T-Rex, right? Then why do we recommend starting with that program? Well it’s simple: it’s because it gives you an easy system to get started, and has a free app that makes it even easier to do and track your progress. Most people stick with StrongLifts for about 6 months, and during that time they learn more about lifting, as well as gaining a bit of experience in the gym. Then they transition to another program that is more complicated, but they understand what they didn’t before because they are doing it already.

When we talk about diet:

If a person needs to lose weight, we tell them to start by figuring out their TDEE, and then take that number and cut 500 calories a day to start losing weight. Why? Because macros, intermittent fasting, food prep, and weighing your food are all good things, but the main thing is to just get started. Cutting your TDEE by 500 calories a day does that. The rest can be learned as you go.

If a person needs to gain weight, we recommend figuring out your TDEE and then adding 500 calories a day to start. We’ve also recommended the somewhat extreme step of eating an entire pizza in one sitting. Why? You can’t eat an entire pizza in one sitting every day, nor would you want to. But it helps hardgainers understand how much more food they need to be eating, and gives them a simple strategy to force that food down and begin the process of eating more than they’re used to eating. A pizza is something that everyone knows the size of and most people enjoy eating anyway. Once you get started, the rest can be learned as you go and you can ramp up your eating to make gainz.


Most of what we do here is not a beginning-to-end plug and play program that will guarantee you success. Instead, we make posts, comments and share notes to help you figure out what to do based on your own personal circumstances – as the Holy Spirit leads. They are starting points, and it’s up to you to figure out what you can use and what won’t work for you, within a biblical framework.

So what about Mission?

Here’s my suggestion to give you a starting point when figuring out your Mission – it consists of three basic things:

  1. Figure out one or two things you really love to do already. Things that you give your time to. Things that energize you.

  2. Do any of the things you listed above stand between you and a passion for serving God?

  3. Start connecting with others by inviting them to do those things together.

That’s it. Trying to figure everything out before you get started will never work, because the plan will never be perfect. Most people who do this will end up with analysis paralysis and never DO ANYTHING. It doesn’t have to be a perfect plan, it just has to be a plan that actually gets executed. God will guide you as you step out in faith and move forward, and you will make changes as you gain experience and as God reveals more of His will and His plan to you.

Always remember, you were created to serve God, and “…He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) Start with the three steps listed above. In the meantime, as you follow those, keep diving into the Word and the Sidebar resources. Focus on learning and practicing one or two principles at a time and see what works for you. Don’t try to do everything at once. Then come back and ask questions and share what you’ve learned. Who knows, your insights may be on the Sidebar one day to help others figure things out too!