Materialism and Eternity

Every person you will ever meet is, or has been, at one point or another, desperate to find fulfillment.  Ultimately, we are faced with the stunning realization that we are, indeed, mortal, and will, indeed, die someday soon.  The idea that we might die without having truly realized our full potential, might pass away without reshaping the world into a better place, might come to the end of our breath alone and unloved, is a motivator that has pushed men throughout history to conquer continents, take to space and the depths of the ocean, and give away their fortunes.  Unfortunately, far too often the dusk fills our eyes before we can satisfy our need to feel important, loved, or at peace with our accomplishments.  Night settles like a final blanket around your head and the twinkle in your eye becomes a ragged firefly fascinated by the final unravel of your mortal coil.  In the end, nothing matters but what we do in anticipation of the next life.

I have met many people in my lifetime that have been seeking a purpose through the pursuit of finite things.  Warren Buffett recently made international headlines when he announced that he would be giving away the majority of his vast wealth to charities.  This is most certainly to be applauded, and the world would be a much better place if those blessed with such opulence would take Buffett’s path instead of attempting to build a family dynasty by bestowing it upon their children, who generally spend it foolishly and quickly.  However, despite the generosity and altruism of Buffett’s gift, to me it is little more than an old man’s attempt to be remembered well.  History may well record Warren Buffett as one of the century’s most generous men, alongside Bill Gates.  But what history records is of no eternal value.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the men who labored years to create the greatest empire the world has ever seen will not be judged in a fairer light because of their work.  The men who destroyed Rome for its self-indulgence and tyrannical hold on the world will not be pitied for the lives they took.  Much of what we do on this earth will stay here.

In this life, or at least the American life, our slogan is clearly, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.”  My mother had a magnet on our fridge for a long time that returned, “He who dies with the most toys, still dies.”  Whether we win or lose eternally has nothing to do with bling.  In the classic movie Schindler’s List, Schindler is a wealthy German businessman in the midst of WWII who begins to buy Jews out of the hands of the Nazis, and at the end of the movie, he is overcome with grief and shame as he looks at all his material possessions and realizes how many more Jewish lives he could’ve saved instead of buying his toys.  What Rolls Royce should be worth more than even one single life?  That is why,  in the Bible, God urged, “Don’t bother with material things, because they rust and rot, and thieves break in and steal them.  Rather, concentrate on the next life.  Because, where your desires are, that is where your heart lies as well.”  Rolls Royces need premium gas and routine maintenance, and eventually they rust and fall apart.  Today, even our very identities are at risk from thieves looking for Social Security and credit card numbers.

I should rephrase that: our identities as mortals are at risk.  Mortal thieves can only pilfer mortal information.  Instead, worry about who you are as an immortal.  Popular singer-songwriter Jack Johnson sings in “Gone”: “Look at all those fancy clothes, but these could keep us warm just like those, and what about your soul is it cold?  Is it straight from the mold and ready to be sold?  Cars and phones and diamond rings…bling bling…those are only removeable things, and what about your mind, does it shine?  Or are there things that concern you more than your time?”  Despite how easy it is to focus solely on this life, it is beyond imperative that we keep our gaze slightly ahead of the day we die.  The recent movie Syriana had a tragically beautiful ending; following the deaths of a CIA operative and a young Muslim, the Muslim’s compatriots watch a video of his burial wishes, where the dead man speaks: “Everyone should mention that I died pure of heart…and that the next world is the true life…the next world is the true life.”  Can we all say that we are living so that we will die pure of heart?

I know some of you might not completely understand what that entails.  When we die, we die, right?  Not entirely.  Our whole lives are, really, nothing more than preparation for death.  We are living our pre-burial ceremony today as we speak.  It sounds macabre, but it’s true.  As we go about our daily lives, we are determining how others will look back on us and how God will judge us.  Going back to the donations by Warren Buffett…I know it has to be a great feeling to give away virtually all of a fortune to good causes, but, in all honesty, I would rather be remembered as a good, trustworthy, God-following man than a man who got rich and gave it away.  Magnanimity truly only goes so far.  I want to die at peace with my family and friends, with no grudges against others and none against me, but most importantly, at peace with my eternal security.

How do you want to be remembered?  Because once you decide on that, you need to start making it happen.  Some of you may be saying, “Now wait a minute, if the afterlife is all that matters, why should we care if people say good things at the funeral?”  Good question, and God anticipated it several thousand years in advance, and this is what he said: “Make sure that you are blameless in the sight of those around you, not just in my eyes, but in the eyes of your fellow man, that they may bless you and praise the one you serve in heaven.”  It is vital that we keep eternity at our forefront, but at the same time, we must also lead here on earth and set the example so that others may indeed observe the differences between believers and unbelievers.  It breaks my heart when unbelievers come up to me and say that one of the biggest reasons they stay away from Christianity is the hypocrisy, and that many of their fellow unbelievers are far better people than some Christians they know.  And that, my friends, is the honest, horrible truth.  And we need to change it.

So…in conclusion, we as Christians need to strive to get rid of our materialistic mindset and, at the same time, be Jesus to this world.  Don’t, however, get your impression of who Jesus is from the televangelists and the Bible-swinging, tract-dispensing picketer who has alienated everyone in your city.  Go straight to the source.  And remember…

…the next world is the true life.

~ by d3ovolent3 on May 25, 2009.