Life

Life is not about how much money you have in your 401K, what kind of car you drive, how you look, what you wear, what type of education you get, the size of the house you own, the people you associate with, the latest mac toy, the vacation trips you can take, the country club you belong to, or even the ring on your finger. How shallow are most of our understanding about life! Jesus says that those who hang tight (loose interpretation of the Greek) to their lives will lose it, but whoever gives his life to Jesus will indeed gain eternal life. Have you ever stopped to contemplate death? The idea of dying, departing from this world into the unknown, where only one man has returned from, never again living or breathing on earth? He who has the most toys does not win. I know most of us don't believe that in theory, but in practice I think we do. We think we need so much - a nicer car, just one more cute t-shirt, the latest great cd, that new videogame, etc. Why? What are the purposes of these things? "Only what's done for Christ will last eternally." And yet almost no one lives like this. We spend 30 dollars to get our nails done for Spring Banquet, after paying $40 for the ticket, $15 in gas to get there and back, and $50 on a dress. Are you kidding me? That $135 can buy a family out of slavery in Tibet and get them back on their feet. How do we sleep at night? How will we stand before the magnificent throne of God on Judgment Day, as part of the richest 4% in the world, and justify the use of the riches Christ gave us on hair products and new shoes when others were starving and suffering?? I don't think there will be any excuses. "I didn't know" won't work... there cannot be a single American that does not know that somewhere in the world there are "starving children in Africa" that would eat our leftovers when we don't like them. Our world is too quickly becoming globalized - we cannot help but hear about child slavery, tsunami devastation in Asia, earthquakes in South America, etc. We will be responsible for the wealth that we have!!

Murray said today in class, "If you need to get your nails done to feel better about yourself, get your nails done!" I think I disagree with that on many levels. If someone's self-worth is in their nails, they should be dealing with that. And then where does the line get drawn? "Oh well if you need a million dollar home with a three car garage, pool, and voiceless entry to feel good about yourself, go ahead!" No! At what point does the misuse of our wealth/blessings become a sin? There has to be a line. Murray says we should stay away from legalism and worry more about people's hearts and their attitudes of humility. I don't know. We should "live simply so that others can simply live." We are members of the human race and as such, we have a responsibility to the rest of the human race. The poverty line in America is $11 per day. Over half of the world lives on $2 per day. HALF OF THE WORLD! How do we feel about that $135 we just spent on Spring Banquet? I think we are responsible. Seriously, how we do justify our wealth and irresponsible spending of it?? Americans spend more on their dogs than they do giving to charities.

I think American Christians are missing the whole idea of what Christian living looks like. James 1 something talks about "religion that our Father accepts as pure and blameless is this: care for the orphans and widows." When was the last time you did this? On Judgment Day Christ will say "For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat; when I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink." and the reply will be "Lord! When did we see you hungry and thirsty?" "For what you did unto the least of these you did unto me." What are we doing for the least?!

Maybe I'm just a youngun in this line of thought and this wouldn't be appropriate for actually communicating to and changing people's minds, but I just want to take all of America by the neck and beat them silly! Don't you see, don't you realize?! The world is suffering and dying in lack of essentials to live and the Gospel of Christ right under our noses and we don't even see it! And we will be held accountable.

If the only things that have eternal significance are what is done for Christ, how are you going to live that out in your life? How will that affect what you do on Friday night and what your life goals are? Where will the majority of your earnings go and who will be your closest friends? What will you teach your children and how will your marriage function? What will your prayer life look like? Will you pray for blessings on your spaghetti or will you break down in awe and worship over the greatness of the Living God, begging Him to reveal His face to you, to accept your entire life as a sacrifice to Him who is worthy of nothing less, to pour out His Spirit on you so that you may know more and more of Him, to transform you each day to be more and more like Christ Jesus? Will you hurry through every day, somehow always not finding time to spend in prayer, or will you not be able to get through each day without spending time alone with the one who holds your world together? Will you be so impressed with yourself if you somehow manage to bring up God in one of your conversations to another already Christian friend, or will you try to find every opportunity to somehow communicate the love of Christ to someone who probably doesn't know Him? Will you be content living in Orange County, working as a business consultant, writing an occasional check to a needy cause, going to church on Sundays, or will you count everything in this life as a big pile of dung (that’s a literal Greek translation) and spend your training and expertise overseas furthering the Gospel to the farthest reaches of a dark world?

Oh Lord help us to focus more on You and let the rest of the world grow dim in the light of your glory and grace.