In last month’s blog we shared some basic life coaching terminology and a developed a definition of life coaching based on that terminology:

Life Purpose is the energy of Passion, channeled through Experience and Design in the service of a greater Calling.

To create a uniquely Christian definition of life purpose, we need to make one change to that general definition:

A Christian’s Life Purpose is the energy of Passion, channeled through Experience and Design in Allegiance to a God-given Calling.

For Christians, calling comes from God. Allegiance means that I have signed ownership of my life over to the lordship of Christ, and my fulfillment lies in a Kingdom that is not of this world. The idea of letting go of what we can gain in life and living to serve God is one of the distinctives of Christian coaching.

Another distinction is that Christian life purpose is founded on the idea of the eternal. We believe that there is a real, ultimate reward and ultimate judgment in the next life. This leads us to coach what I call “living toward heaven”—aligning our lives to maximize the eternal payoff instead of the temporal one.

One of the most serious errors among those who coach Christians on life purpose is concentrating exclusively on creating temporal blessings and improving this life. Making the focus aligning with your passions and design to create a significant, satisfying life in the here and now falls far short of God’s plan for you. Jesus did not spend his life seeking a better existence on earth—he was seeking to do on earth what created a better future for many others in heaven. And in that way, every Christian’s life purpose resembles Jesus’—it is about doing what creates a better future for many in heaven, not about making a better life for me on earth.

There are many situations where we will coach people in practical ways toward a great life. But for our coaching to be distinctively Christian, that ideal of the “great life” must be grounded in the reality and primacy of the eternal as the ultimate objective.

A final distinctive for Christian life coaching is the idea of purpose as being. Our primary calling in life is not to do a certain task, but to incarnate the person of Christ through that task. In other words, we are first called to be something, then to do something that communicates that being to others.

Defining calling in being terms is a huge win for the client. While the stars may never align for you to do all you dream, nothing and no one can ever stop you from becoming the unique embodiment of Christ you are called to be.

Distinctives

So let’s summarize five crucial distinctives of uniquely Christian life purpose coaching:

Allegiance
We foster alignment with the Kingdom through allegiance to Jesus, viewing believers as stewards who have chosen to order their lives for his purposes.

Calling
We help people discover God’s call on their life and learn how to steward their life for the Kingdom instead of spending it on self.

Giving
We understand that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and that the giving, serving life is not only the best life, but the greatest life.

Eternal Rewards
We seek to help coachees to find practical ways to live for lasting, eternal rewards instead of only creating temporary benefits in this life.

Being-Centered
We help people find the heart of their calling: that their primary purpose is not to do something for the world, but to be Christ to the world through what they do.

Tony Stoltzfus is a master coach, author and coach trainer. A presentation of a thorough, practical toolkit for coaching Christian leaders to discover their identity can be found in his book the Christian Life Coaching Handbook.