Find your IKIGAI

DON'T BE LIKE THIS GUY!  In an episode of Seinfeld, the infamous "show about nothing", the following exchange took place:

Kramer: You’re wasting your life.
George : I am not. What you call wasting, I call living. I’m living my life.
Kramer: OK, like what? No, tell me. Do you have a job?
George : No.
Kramer: You got money?
George : No.
Kramer: Do you have a woman?
George : No.
Kramer: Do you have any prospects?
George : No.
Kramer: You got anything on the horizon?
George : Uh, no.
Kramer: Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
George : I like to get the Daily News.

A recent study in my small group Bible study posed the same same question "Why do you get up in the morning?"  Once I got past the shallow "Because my phone alarm went off" or "I like getting a pay check" responses, I realized this simple question is in many ways a profound one.  This question, often asked in job interviews, is asking about life purpose and motivation.  In a previous blog post, I argued that "passion" is really a question of what you are willing to die for; this question is asking what you are living for?

The Japanese language actually has a word for this phrase - IKIGAI.  It is really a compound word in Japanese - "living" and "worth", i.e. a life worth living.  As a mulled over this question,  I began to ask "What is my IKIGAI?  Why am I going to get up tomorrow morning?"

This train of thought led me to the book of Philippians where Paul clearly identifies his IKIGAI.  It quickly becomes clear that Paul's IKIGAI is bound up in his relationship with Christ.  Passages say that his imprisonment is for Christ (1:13), he wants to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27), he counts all thing loss for the sake of Christ (3:7), he strives to know Christ (3:10), he is pressing toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ (3:14).  But the clearest statement Paul makes of his IKIGAI, his reason for waking up in the morning, is found in the famous declaration in 1:21 - For to me to live is Christ!!

For Paul - by extension for every Christian - his IKIGAI was clear.  Every day is an opportunity to live our lives for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Romans 8:29 tells us we were saved to be conformed to the image of his Son. Ephesians 2:10 calls us God's masterpiece created for good works that he has ordained.  That is my IKIGAI - an opportunity to partner with God in conforming me into image of his son and serving him with those works he has ordained for me to do.

By God's grace, we hope to instill this same IKIGAI in a generation of students at HCA - students who understand their position in Christ and will become leaders in their world, living each day for the glory of Jesus Christ.

What reason do you have to get up tomorrow morning?