True Greatness

The movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, shows the story of a man who never achieved his dreams of travelling the world, but who made a difference in the lives of everyone around him. What he discovers in the end is that king Solomon was correct in saying that one should take pleasure in eating, drinking, and being married because joy in that is a gift from God. His wonderful life was not my dream life in any context, but I think I now understand something of the transformation he had to go through to recognize the great gift he had been given.

Forrest Gump follows along similar lines. He is a man to whom life happens. “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.” The thing about chocolates, though is that every one of them can be delicious…if you are not dreaming of getting the ‘other’ piece that’s still in the box. We like him because even though he didn’t try, he still became a millionaire. The lesson we forget to take is that he would have loved his life no matter how it turned out.

To take a more widely respected example, one could examine the career of George Washington and his constant desire to return to his farm. However, he consistently sacrificed his interest in a quiet and peaceful life in order to give his life for others. While his aspirations were correctly placed, his actions earned him a legacy – not because he sought to be famous, but because he did what was right.

Martin Luther, in a very different context, simply wanted to disseminate a few wonderful truths he had discovered, but in doing what was right found himself in a war with most of the established western powers. This man did not begin his life with a careful self-analysis that led him to believe his gifts and talents perfectly aligned with a career goal of ‘mastermind of the reformation.’ Instead, his legacy was created by his search for God and his consistent adherence to what he believed was the truth.

The one difficulty in this exploration is dealing with Jesus. Until his ministry began, his life seems to fit in with the model I am refining here, but after His baptism, it was completely different. One thing remains constant, though, Jesus did not seek a legacy (glory) for Himself but for His Father and only did those things His Father told Him to do. Jesus refers to taking up a cross every day, dying to oneself and taking His yoke upon us. However, the purpose behind this is a yoke that is easy and burden that is light. Even in this my greatest example, I do not find a king riding a war horse into Jerusalem, but a humble teacher riding a donkey amid his twelve disciples. This does not discount his anger against evil in the temple, His brutal confrontation of the Pharisees, and His constant war with the kingdom of darkness. However, these things do not typify our Savior.

His greatest command was not to fight the kingdom of darkness, or even don’t waste your life. The greatest command to love God and love others has remained constant since creation. For some, following this command will lead to a lasting legacy and a dramatic life. For most, however, such a lifestyle refers right back to a life of quietness and peace in which the Christian should thrive.

Such an understanding of the Christian religion is not often pursued except by default. Most Christians feel that they should accomplish something for God - perhaps even something great (a large ministry, many people saved, etc...). Usually this requires having money and influence. Considering the people that God often chose to accomplish His work throughout history (Joseph, Rahab, Gideon, David, Mary, Peter, etc...), one would be better off pursuing a life of eating drinking, and enjoying life with his/her spouse than to strive after illusive accomplishments.

It is in this way that the kingdom of God once again defies expectations and the least become greatest. It is where the quiet and peaceful life is an investment in the kingdom of God. It is not where a person can check out of reality to live in a cocoon, but it is a place where the responsibility of changing the world rests on the shoulders of its Creator.It requires one to recognize the true source of change: the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of men. When God’s people will humble themselves, pray, turn from their sin, and seek Him, then He is the one who accomplishes something great. He is the One who gets the glory, and we are the ones who enjoy the benefits of His goodness.

Pointless work and happiness

This summer I have desperately enjoyed pretty much every day including those in which I was sick for the challenge they presented. At this point, I don’t feel like there is something missing. Sure, my life is not perfect and there are a number of things I am disappointed about. I no longer live for the future, but in the moment of every day (this discounts the steps I think are wise like paying off credit, pursuing a degree and finding suitable employment). I think I have come to trust God in a way that the responsibility to make something of myself does not rest in my hands. I know my job and do not try to do God’s. He is the one who raises up and tears down. He brings poverty and riches. He knows the times, the seasons, the years of my life, and the purpose of my existence.

I do not know what He has planned for me, but I intend to enjoy the entire journey. In the situations I find myself, there is nothing that can change my state of contentment as long as my focus is on Jesus. I do not expect perfection of myself, but expect improvement.

I sometimes reflect on my past life in which everything I did surmounted to the expectations of others for the eventual accomplishment of some distant goal. Unfortunately the achievement of the goal was not worth the sacrifice taken to accomplish it and I often wondered at the happiness and success of those who did not live their life with dedication toward an ideal achievement.

In a previous reflection, I wrote on the stupidity of pursuing progress by sacrificing the life that it was supposed to improve. Yesterday, I watched another movie that took me back to the joyous simplicity of life that is lived outside the bounds of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Having food and clothes, let us be content (scripture). We do not have to accomplish something great in order to make our lives worth something. From another angle, that which is great is not often thought worthwhile to pursue.

From a Christian standpoint, this is a distortion brought about by sin. That which is great (love, service, righteousness, peace, etc…) is often sacrificed for the sake of material, physical, financial, or even mental productivity. In pursuit of becoming the ‘boss of all,’ very few undertake the path of becoming ‘servant of all.’ Yet, this is the means by which Jesus won his glory.

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As a student of economics, I appreciate the ability of industry to fight against poverty and allow people the luxury of food and water. However, more than this, I do not understand the worship of progress as the means to freedom for a people who often enjoy life more than those in advanced countries. In a question, which is more valuable: a short life of hard work and joy, or a long life of easy work without joy.  As the western world carries its treasures of economics to the developing world, it is not accompanied by a philosophy of how to use these treasures successfully.

While on the subject of Christian economics, I should note that the blessing of God is the source of prosperity and comfortable living. Certainly on an individual level, it appears that wealth can be gotten by unsavory means. However, on the national and ultimate levels, biblical prophecy and example seems to indicate that food, famine, health, power, wealth, etc... are gifts from the creator for nations of people to accomplish his purposes.

To further support this idea, one could site the numbers of people who when describing their success seem to attribute their accomplishment to some level of luck or providence. When duplicating their methods fails to produce the same results, one wonders what actually determined the accomplishment.  

Considering the western propensity toward an internal locus of control, it is understandable that I have neither seen nor searched for scholarship in business and economics from the standpoint of divine providence and a holistic lifestyle. Though I have touched on various ideas while browsing eastern philosophy, I don't believe that even these explorations have the full picture since they lack the Christian perspective. 

To end this short and somewhat scattered reflection, I quote a wise man who wrote in Ecclesiastes 6:1-3 “There is an evil I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to who m God gives wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them… his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things…a stillborn child is better than he.”