Many in our generation live with a misconception of what it to means to live a Christian life and it is mainly because of wrong doctrines and misinterpretation of the Scriptures.
We often think that the end goal of a Christian life is to live peacefully with God and with ourselves, read our Bibles daily, regularly go to Church every Sunday, make sure our children attend Sunday school when they are little and then get married to a Church going christian partner once they’re grown up, live a happy and comfortable life, debt free, tension free, exercise daily and stay healthy till we die.
Come on, lets be honest. don’t we think so?
The problem with this understanding of a Christian life is that whenever any of the above doesn’t go well, we end up taking offense against God, accusing Him for not giving what we think is the best for us and then claiming that he doesn’t exist or if he exists then he must be a mean God.
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When the economic conditions of the world around us deteriorates and we loose jobs, when our heath conditions get worse leaving us paralyzed to feed our families, when our loved one passes away, when our children rebel against God and take their own path, when your spouse wants to quit on you, when we end up in debt, when we’re living in misery and pain, what are our thoughts about God and the perfect Christian life we always envisioned?
A distorted view also effects our daily christian walk when we become victims of the Perfect Life Syndrome, described as one’s reaction to the phenomenon of creating unrealistically joyful and ‘perfect’ narratives for either oneself or projected onto the lives of others. When we look at our Social Media newsfeed — babies! smiling selfies! travel! brunch! — and only see one thing: our own reality in jeopardy, which may include: mood swings, loneliness, a long commute, work stress, family strain, and relationship discord.
Before I share the true goal of a Christian life let me give you a perspective on life itself.
We currently live in the 21st century and generations have come and generations have gone. Different kinds of people inherited this earth from the nomads to the current age technology driven humans beings, people with different world views, different mindsets, different cultures, different beliefs.
Even today people in different parts of the world have different views about life, which means what we value in our culture is different from what others value. The very definition of Perfect life is different for different people.
Imagine the amount of time, energy and resources we waste to attain a perfect life that at the end is just a vain man made idea in itself.
In this passing age if there is one thing that has remained constant and unchanged through generations is the truth of the Gospel. Anyone who examines the Gospel & the Scriptures with a sincere heart will find answers to all the difficult questions about Life.
It teaches us that we were made in the image of God and the purpose and the goal of our life is to enjoy a close fellowship with God, glorify and worship Him. Since true worship is meaningless to God if it comes from a heart that is auto programmed to do so, he gave us a free will so we exercise it to truly offer God the adoration he deserves.
But sadly we used our freewill to rebel against Him and fell into sin. And because sin deserves death we were eternally damned which describes the reason for our current misery on earth.
But God in his mercy sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins, take the punishment that we deserved so we can skip death and enter Life by putting our faith in the finished work of Christ on the Cross.
All this for what? To restore back the true purpose and goal of our lives.
And that is to have an intimate fellowship with God, glorify Him and Worship him forever.
Think about it. In today’s generation if we still have access to this Gospel and its redeeming power, it is not because of the many Christians who thought living a comfortable life was the end goal but because of the few who chose to live for the Glory of God against all the odds, pains, discomforts, persecution, loss and death.
They saw life beyond death, they understood the true purpose of their existence, they did not allow the perfect life syndrome to effect their pursuit of Glorifying God in every circumstances.
Many of them were persecuted, killed and burnt alive for defending the Gospel and they embraced it with joy in their hearts.
William Tyndale, the first man to translate the Bible into English language, he was strangled to death while tied at the stake, and then his dead body was burned. His final words, spoken at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice were reported as “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes.”
What’s your pursuit today? Are you living a God glorifying life? or Are your chasing comfort and the meaningless things of this world?
It is time we ask those serious questions.
Author / Preacher
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