《标杆人生》作者访谈

This is a　short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--
but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort.　God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your　life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain."

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off
yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money,notoriety
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide
what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan
to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God,if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better .

God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

人们问我，生命的意义是什么？我的回答：简单来说，人在地上的生活是为永恒作准备的。我们是神创造的，会永远地存留，同时，神要我们在天堂里永永远远地和他在一起。

总有一天，我的心会停止跳动，那只是我肉身的终结，并不是我这个人的终结。　我可能在世上活60岁或100岁，但是，我将要在永恒里永永远远地存留下去。如今在世的年月，是热身运动，是彩排。

神要我们在世上练习我们将来在永恒里做的事情。我们是被神创造的，我们也是为神而造的，在你还没搞明白这一点之前，生命就没有任何意义。　整个人生就是一系列的问题堆积在一起的：　要么你现在就陷在一个问题当中，要么你刚刚摆脱一个问题，要么你马上将要面临另一个问题。

为什么会这样呢？因为相对你的舒适，　神更关心你的品格；　相对你的快乐，　神更愿意让你的生命圣洁。　我们虽然可以让自己世上的生活尽可能地快乐，但那不是人生的终极目的，而人生的终极目标是磨炼我们的品格，让我们更象基督。

去年，是我人生中最棒的一年，也是最难的一年，因为我的太太，珂，得了癌症。　过去我把人生想象成在山间行走一样，有在幽暗谷底的时刻，也有在光明顶峰的时刻，循环往复。　可现在我不这么想了。我觉得人生更象双轨的火车道，一条铁轨是好事儿，一条铁轨是坏事儿。　在人生中不管多么灿烂的时刻，总会有难处要你面对。在人生中不管多么困难的时刻，总会有好事儿让你感谢神。　你可以专注在你人生的终极目标上，你也可以专注在你面对的具体问题上。　如果是后者(专注在你面对的具体问题上)，你就会变成一个自我为中心的人 (我的问题，我的困难，我的痛苦)。有个简单的摆脱苦难的办法，那就要从只关注自己转向仰望神和关心别人。

太太生病，尽管好多好多人为她祷告，但是很快我们就发现，神不会治愈她，或减轻她的痛苦。　这对她来讲是非常非常艰难的，然而，神就用苦难来塑造她的品格，让她有机会帮助别人，见证神的信实，让她更加爱神也更加爱人。　人真是要学习如何面对人生路上遇到的好事儿和坏事儿。

实际上，有时学习面对好事儿更加困难。　比如说，去年我写的那本书(标杆人生)卖了一千五百万册，一下子，我就暴发了。　同时，也让我成了知名人士，我以前从来没经历过。　我不认为神让一个人有了很多钱或很大的声誉是要这个人骄傲的或过舒坦日子的。　所以，我就去问神，他到底要让我用这些钱，名声和影响干什么事情。　他通过哥林多后书九章和诗篇第七十二篇来帮助我决定作什么。

第一，虽然我们有了很多钱，但是，我们没有改变我们的生活方式，也没买什么贵重东西。
第二，从去年年中开始，我不拿教会的薪水了。
第三，我们设立了一个和平计划(PEACE PLAN)启动基金，为了建立教会(Plant churches)，装备领袖(Equip leaders)，帮助穷困 (Assist the poor)，关怀病弱 (Care the sick)和教育后代 (Educate the next generation)。
第四，我把过去二十四年，从我开始服侍这间教会到去年，教会付给我的薪水全部还给教会。　分文不取地服侍神，感觉真自由。

我们需要问问自己：我是为工作而活吗？为别人的喜恶而活吗？　什么是我的动力：　压力？负罪感？苦毒？物质？　或者，是神对我生命的目标指引我的人生每一步呢？

每天早上起床，我坐在床边，说：　神，如果我今天做不成什么其它的事，我愿意更多地认识你，更深地爱你。

神把我放在地上，不单单是要我去完成许多工作，他关心我这个人比关心我作的事更多，这也是为什么我们被称作有灵的活人而不是会做事的动物。

幸福的时刻，赞美 神

艰难的时刻，寻求 神

安静的时刻，敬拜 神

痛苦的时刻，信靠 神

每时和每刻，感谢 神

正想有时间把这段文字译出来。莲花真勤奋。

是个勤快的弟兄翻译的，我改改就抄过来了

有信仰的人，是充实和幸福的

引用

引用第4楼renée于03-29-2006 17:57发表的“”:
有信仰的人，是充实和幸福的

那么，你也来充实一下幸福一下吧

宗教引导人向善，净化心灵。

[quote]引用第7楼笨笨牛于01-06-2010 02:23发表的  :
宗教引导人向善，净化心灵。[/quot

有人觉着信仰是生活的一部分，我却以为生活是信仰的一部分才对

刚看到这篇，谢谢莲花，学习了