Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Feb/88

Contributor - Tom Welscott

Title - In Search Of The Good Life

Topic - Happiness

Everyone has their own definition of what the "good life" is for themselves. The world around is many times frantically reaching for things that they think will give them the good life. At other times we see people showing off possessions or accomplishments that our world implies will lead them to the good life.

Christians cannot help but be influenced. We are bombarded through the media, on billboards and in the mail. Everywhere we look we are living with all the signs of the good life that our world implies will bring our search for happiness to an end.

The messages of our culture are often subtle and slip into our mailboxes, on the TV screen or into our neighbour's driveway. Not long ago I had such a subtle message slipped into my mailbox. I did not ask for it! I did not even pay for it! It just appeared one day.

It was the July/August issue of Good Life - The Very Best of Everything. T h e entire front cover was taken up by the most inviting temptation any man would want on a hot summer afternoon. It was a huge glass mug, full to the brim with cold beer. The foam and bubbles were just oozing over the top. I asked myself "Is this the good life - the very best of everything?" Do not get me wrong this is not an article about abstinence, but a reflection on a culture that is obsessed with signs of the "Good Life". I am trying to help us as mature Christians to realize the subtle messages that slyly maneuver their way into our minds.

As I was thinking about how to develop this idea into an article, I was returning from a hospital call. I was stopped at a red light and reading the numerous bumper stickers on the car ahead of me. I came to one that said, "Everybody has to believe in something, I believe I'll have another beer." I hope that is not an indication of the depth of conviction we find in the world today.

The issue for us as Christians is how do we respond to the messages of our times. How are we influenced, and how effective are we at reaching people in our secular times with the Gospel? For us to interact with our culture we need to define the "Good Life" in Biblical terms, and be able to recognize subtle discrepancies that creep in from the outside and finally, be able to gently but firmly stand for what we know is right.

1. "Chasing the Wind"

The writer of Ecclesiastes talks about searching for the "Good Life", or mor specifically life that is good. In chapter 3 he explores what it is that gives a person satisfaction from all the hard work he does. What is it that worker gains from all his hard work? A glass of cold beer? A new car? A nice house? What is it that really makes a person happy and gives him satisfaction?

Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, "That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is a gift of God." Everyone is in search of satisfaction from what he or she is working so hard for. Satisfaction, however, is a gift of God. It is a gift that God gives to us when we seek the things that are most important to Him. It is also true that when we are only looking to things that appear to us on the outside as symbols of the "Good Life", we often come up empty. The gift of satisfaction that only God can give is not there when we look to things for satisfaction, so the world keeps on looking.

The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18 came to Jesus asking some similar questions about the meaning of life. He comes to Jesus and asks, "What must I Go to inherit eternal life?" You might suspect that someone who would ask that kind of question would know very little about God and religious life, but not in this case. Jesus tells him that he should obey the commandments, and the ruler tells Jesus that he has done this diligently since he was boy. He probably came to Jesus because inside himself he knew that something was missing. The satisfaction that Ecclesiastes 3:1 3 talks about was just not there. Jesus then informs the ruler that yes, he was lacking something, and the only way that he could find peace with God and treasure in heaven was to give up the one thing he was trusting in. He had made his possessions his god, and he could not give them up, so he went away sorrowful. We are much more sophisticated today, but those who are in search of the "Good Life" through things that they possess are no different than the rich young ruler of Jesus' time.

2. The Challenge for Christians in an Affluent World

The biggest challenge for us today, is that the rich young rulers of this world are not coming to us asking, " What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Instead they are looking at episodes like Jim and Tammy Bakker's scandal and saying, "See Christians are no different than anybody else! When given money, power and success, Christians are corrupted like everyone else." Unfortunately, in many cases they are right.

It is our challenge to interact with our world in a way that lets others see the kind of good life that God offers us as His people. We are to be salt living in the world, and defining the good life in a way different from that of the world.

God's forgiveness and promise of eternal security are a powerful attraction of His "Good Life". Yes, we all do make mistakes, but God's forgiveness and faithful promises bring a refreshing perspective to our relationships. Our attitude toward people is transformed from the home to office. God brings inner peace into our inner being, our homes and our workplaces - that stability has something powerful to say to a world in search of a rainbow.

A world in search of the good life often makes a person very selfish. God's message is that fulfillment only comes when we give of ourselves and our things as Jesus did. Somehow the strangest things happen when we follow the advice Jesus gave the rich young ruler, "Go, give all you have to the poor and come and follow me." In a world where everyone seems to be selfishly trying to grab all he can for himself, the Christian is called to do just the opposite. When we live as God commands, strangely enough, God just keeps on blessing and we have even more to give away.

The "Good Life" for us as Christians is defined in relationship to our inner spiritual self, and not the things that the world sees. Remember God has given us the "Good Life", we do not have to go looking for it in things. Do not let the world convince you that you need certain things to be happy; instead show them that true happiness comes from a totally different source.

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