I Choose: Part 1 - "Purpose Over Popularity" with Craig Groeschel - Life.Church

I Choose Purpose Over Popularity

Scripture References

• Hebrews 11:24

Overview

Craig Groeschel opened a new four-week series, “I Choose,” arguing that our lives are shaped by the decisions we make. In Part 1 he challenges believers to reject the endless chase for human approval and intentionally “choose purpose over popularity.” Drawing on Moses’ decision in Hebrews 11, everyday illustrations, and three practical observations about purpose, he shows how living for God’s calling frees us from distraction, sustains us through pain, and empowers us to please God—even when people don’t.

Context

• Series launch: four choices that form our future (today—purpose vs. popularity; next week—surrender vs. control).
• Celebration: over 1,500 baptisms across Life.Church locations.
• Audience asked to imagine (1) everyone always liking them—impossible; (2) caring only about pleasing Christ—God’s desire for every believer.

Main Points

1. Popularity Is a Trap

• “If we don’t know the purpose of a thing, all we can do is misuse the thing.”
• We constantly ask others to define our worth: likes, follows, clothing, jobs, photos, captions.
• Living for approval keeps us from the purposes of God.
• Illustration: 4th-grade Craig freezes as neighbor Misty mistakes his dad’s athletic cup for an oxygen mask—proof that misunderstanding purpose leads to misuse.

2. Moses: Choosing Calling Over Comfort

• Born a Hebrew slave, raised in Pharaoh’s palace—had every earthly luxury.
• Hebrews 11:24 records that he “chose to be mistreated … rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
• His secret: he “was looking ahead to his reward”—eternal perspective directs daily decisions.

3. Demystifying “Purpose”

• Don’t get paralyzed looking for one capital-P life assignment.
• Think “lower-case p” purposes—Spirit-prompted moments: encourage a friend, meet a need, pray for the difficult boss.
• Faithfulness in many small purposes positions us for larger assignments (“medium P,” then “big P”).

4. Three Powers of Purpose

“I’m doing a great work and I can’t come down.”

1. Purpose diminishes distractions

   • Comparison (“they’re ahead of me in school / career / marriage”) loses power when we know why we’re here.
   • Nehemiah ignored critics Sanballat and Tobiah because he was focused on rebuilding the wall.

2. Purpose pushes you through the pain

   • Every God-assignment faces resistance; the pathway to purpose is paved with pain.
   • Story: Amy Groeschel’s choice to deliver later children naturally—she embraced the pain for the joy set before her, just as believers endure hardship for eternal reward.

3. Purpose empowers you to please God

   • Peter and John refused to stop preaching:

   “We must obey God rather than human beings.”

   • We cannot please everyone, but we can please God by living in faith and obedience.

5. Everyday Applications

• Getting out of debt, staying sexually pure, raising children at home, fostering, studying diligently—each can be a “great work” requiring the same resolve: “I can’t come down.”
• Value trade-offs:
  • Liked by people < Loved by God
  • Comfort < Calling
  • Fun with friends < Faithfulness to Christ
  • Popularity < Purpose

Key Truths

• Living for human approval will always sabotage God’s purpose in you.
• Purpose shrinks the noise of comparison and criticism.
• Pain is inevitable; purpose makes it productive.
• You cannot please everyone, but by faith you can please God.
• Faithfulness in small daily assignments positions you for larger kingdom impact.

Response

• Examine motives; repent of people-pleasing tendencies.
• Ask the Creator—not the “things”—to reveal today’s lower-case-p purpose.
• Name current distractions and declare, “I’m doing a great work; I can’t come down.”
• Endure present resistance with eyes on eternal reward.
• Celebrate others’ success without comparison, trusting God’s unique calling for you.

Closing

Craig invited listeners to choose Christ’s purpose over the exhausting pursuit of popularity. Only God’s opinion endures, and He can be pleased when we act in faith. Each deliberate, daily choice shapes the person we become.

“We can’t please everybody, but we can please God.”

Prayer

Craig led listeners first in a prayer for believers to reject people-pleasing and embrace God’s purposes, then in a salvation prayer for those surrendering to Christ, asking for forgiveness, new life, and the filling of the Holy Spirit to live out His calling.

Resources

• Life.Church Open Network (open.church) – free sermons, graphics, leadership training.
• YouVersion Bible App & Bible App for Kids – digital Scripture and discipleship tools.