The Meaning of Life

As I start typing this, my intention is to devote only one blog entry to the meaning of life. That makes the discussion tough, since normally it takes two entries to exhaustively explore the meaning of life :)

My wife actually deserves credit for this (or the blame). She was pondering the meaning of life last night during her Scripture reading. She said that for her as a Christian, the 'macro' meaning of life is to know Christ and to make him known. But how that plays out in the details and day to day circumstances of life is tougher to definitize. Here's my attempt:

For me, as a Christian, the meaning of life inexorably revolves around the idea that the Kingdom of God came in its infancy through Christ, and is continuing and expanding now through his church, which includes individual believers. The continuation of the Kingdom now is leading to the final consummation of the Kingdom at the Parousia, when all the struggles and strains of life that we are all too familiar with will be eradicated for those who have been saved. What does any of this have to do with the meaning of life?

Richard Pratt was (and is) fond of saying that soteriology, eschatology, ecclesiology, etc are really all about cosmetology. Not cosmology, cosmetology. Christians have been given the commission to beautify the earth in righteousness and stewardship. Why? Because the King is coming back to rule. If we knew Queen Elizabeth was coming to our home, what would we do? We would very likely go to great lengths to pretty up our home, clean it thoroughly, and make it as immaculate as possible, because she's the queen. How much more is this applicable to those of us who worship the cosmic King who is coming back to finalize the reclamation of all creation, including our souls? Our job as Christians is to expand the Kingdom of God and beautify the earth in anticipation of the King returning to be among us. If we want to know how the grand cosmic eschatology of Christianity plays out in real life, it helps to put it in terms of beautification. The meaning of life as a Christian is about making the world beautiful in every respect we can.

What does this mean for daily living? For me, it means that everytime I lay eyes on another person, I see the image of God that he/she is. As a fellow image-bearer, making the world more beautiful means treating people in such a way that we evoke the image of God within them, rather than provoking the depravity within them that afflicts us all through the Fall. I never do this perfectly, and sometimes I don't even do it well at all. But all this means is that through the power of the Spirit, I can always improve in fulfilling the commission God has given me to beautify the earth. Christians are very unique among the peoples of the world. It is downright kooky to many non-Christians (and even too many Christians) to suggest that we should walk around everyday seeing people as images of God and treating them with the love and dignity that such a status accords. But I ask you, what if the church universal actually did this? How completely different would our conduct be from those who don't see the world this way? How many people would long to know what we know, and to have what we have? And how many people would joyously receive what we have and become part of this spiritual kin? I suggest that the world would never be the same. From a worldview standpoint, Christians are completely unrivaled in having a fundamental ideological basis for human dignity. The Christian doctrine of imago dei demands an attention to the dignity of man that no other worldview can challenge. Instead of us resembling the world's devaluing of human dignity and all it entails, we need to present a stark alternative to a world that is ripe to be persuaded of something better than the 'death of man' reductionism it experiences day after day. This is spiritual cosmetology rooted in Kingdom anthropology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology. This is the meaning of life, because it is rooted in divine calling and commission.

So say 'hi' to people in the elevator. Say 'thank you' without fail. Smile at people; be friendly. Say nice things about people rather than bad things. Open your home to neighbors and visitors. Don't cut people off on the roadways (oy!, I've got a ways to go on that one). Defer to the needs of others on minor things and even some major things. Cry with people when they are grieving. Pray with people who are anxious. Include people who are excluded. Comfort those who are lonely. Defend those who are vulnerable. Put simply, beautify the earth.

This great meaning of life is wonderful precisely because it can never be fully grasped. It is so comprehensive, so all-pervasive, so all-encompassing, that there is no area of life that it doesn't touch. It dominates human relationships. It dictates our work ethic. It touches on material things as well, such as our stewardship of nature, our finances, what we do with our possessions, and what we choose to invest in. In everything you do, always ask yourself this question, "Will this make the world more beautiful, or will it add to the ugliness we already have in abundance?" The key to doing the right things in life has a lot to do with whether we're asking the right questions. This is the right question for Christians to be asking. We will still fail, sometimes miserably, as I too often do. But through the power of the Spirit, beauty is achievable - not cosmic beauty, since only Christ's return will achieve that. But we are not called to simply wait around for the grand cosmetologist to get rid of all the ugliness in the world. We are the Body of Christ on earth in the present age. And cosmetology is our permanent spiritual occupation in this life. If we take our job seriously, the Kingdom of Light will get ever brighter while the Kingdom of Darkness will get ever more desperate as it reaches its final defeat.

All aboard!