24 Down, about 51 (hopefully more) to go. . .
 
One their online journal, one of my friends was pondering whether or not someone could be content with the fact that they would never lead an interesting life. I think our first response would be that most people might want to consider that question because the vast majority don't live lives that others would find interesting (and yet we still write about them daily on our blogs and others still read about them, don't they?).
 
I was thinking about this today because it's my 25th Birthday. If you go by averages, one-third of my life has passed by. Barring any kind of sickness, getting hit by a train, shot by some thugs over my shoes (Sketchers are big on the street, I hear), or Rapture, I figure I probably have about 50 more years on this planet. And as I look back and consider the first 25 years of my life--what some people say are the best years we have, although I doubt that--I would have to concede that one the surface I don't lead a pretty interesting life.
 
I'm 25 and have a bachelor's degree in a career that I failed to pursue. I answer phones for 40 hours a week helping customers deal with their own stupidit. . . uh, issues. During my spare time I either sleep too much, eat too much, excersize too little, talk too much, or sit in a darkened room watching images projected on a white screen. The most earth-shattering moments in my life (from another persons' perspective) are moments where I either collapsed on a floor of a movie theatre or. . . well, there's not much more that people would probably find interesting. No one's ever going to write a book or a movie about me. I won't have any actors clamoring to take on my role onscreen (although if things change and I end up rescuing babies from burning orphanages, I want Owen Wilson to star in the film.) In short, my own life hasn't been too exciting. In fact, I sometimes get bored with myself :)
 
But I think that shows our error in thinking what really constitutes what's important in this world. True, I'd love to have my names on the credits of a well-written film. I'd love to be interviewed by magazines. I'd love, if I were in better shape, to climb Mt. Everest; if I were smarter, to cure cancer; or if I were funnier, be a side-splitting stand-up comic. Alas, right now that's not the life that God has given me. But does living those lives really mean that someone's existence was more interesting, had more impact, or was more worthwile than the days I toil in Warren? I think the Bible shows that living for those things, that recognition, that sense of thrill, is actually a result of our sin. In Epheshians, Paul writes that because of our ignorance and the blindness of our hearts, humans have given themselves over to pursuing sensual pleasures.
 
Were truer words for our culture ever written? I was watching the Simpsons' DVD and Matt Groening described Homer Simpson as a person who "lives solely for the gratification of his impulses." But doesn't that describe our whole world? We live so that we can feel happy and great. We live so that we can have the pride of being recognized, the recognition of being selfless (there's an oxymoron), and the thrill of "living on the edge." None of these things are wrong, of course, in and of themselves. But when we start to look at those things as what makes up a worthwhile, interesting life, I think we're sadly misled. As Christians, we should look at these things and see what Solomon wrote about in Ecclesiastes, about all these things being vanity and chasing after the wind.
 
What does make up an interesting life? What makes up a life that matters? I think that we only have to look back at Ephesians to see that. The first chapter of that book goes into great detail in how God's plan throughout time--even before time began as a matter of fact--was to be glorified through the church. The Son came to die for the church so that those who God had chosen would glorify Him. I love the way that The Message (sorry, Tim) puts one of these verses: "Therefore, the church is not peripheral to the world, the world is peripheral to the Church."
 
My pastor talked about this one Sunday. History was written to carve a path for the spreading of the Gospel. The church is the agent in spreading the gospel. So, universally, what people are leading the lives of most significance? Those who have the privilege of knowing God and are invited to work with Him. Movie stars, heroes, and atheletes are the people our thoughts are all too often focused on. And yet, they will die, be forgotten, and eventually leave a legacy that might be good for a trivia question. The church is doing work of eternal significance. I'm speechless at the fact that God not only saved me, but put me in a place where I can do the work He has planned for me. Talk about feeling significant. Talk about doing work that matters. Talk about a life that is interesting.
 
Life is wasted when all we think about is cramming it full of every achievement, experience, and possession we've ever wanted. I sympathize with those who have a goal to see the world before they die or help those in need; those goals are ones I share and I'd have to admit I would like to accomplish those things. But they are not life. They are things that we do to waste time when the most important work, glorifying God and making His glory known, are too often neglected. Whether I get out of Verizon ever and be a writer, whether I get married or live single all of my days, whether or not I have enough money to travel the World or I never get out of Michigan, those things don't ultimately matter. What matters--what gives life the only meaning it could ever have--is the desire to glorify God, to spend every minute I can in worship and meditation on his glory and riches. CS Lewis wrote this quote about the glory of Christ that I read today and I think it's fitting. It's a prayer I want to live my life by, to be reminded to take my mind off the things and distractions of this world and focus solely on Christ, the expression of God:
 
We must think of the Son always, so to speak, streaming from the Father, like light from a lamp, or heat from a fire, or thoughts from a mind. He is the self-expression of the Father---what the Father has to say. And there never was a time when He wasn't saying it.
 
C-Dubbs