Healing for purposeless lives

Copyright (c) 1997 Rod Benson. All rights reserved.

“We live amidst the ruins of the great, five-hundred-year epoch of Humanism. Around us is that ‘colossal wreck.’ Our culture is a flat expanse of rubble . . . Is it surprising that we are run down? We are desperate, yet we don’t care much any more. We are timid, yet we cannot be shocked. We are inert underneath our busyness. We are destitute in our plenty. We are homeless in our homes” (John Carroll, Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture (London: Fontana, 1993) p. 1).

So says Australian academic John Carroll in the prologue of his book, Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture – and I believe his diagnosis is largely correct. Western culture – the basic ideas and patterns of behaviour on which mainstream Australian society is built – is bankrupt. Material affluence doesn’t lead to well-being. Intellectual and technological sophistication don’t make us better people – they don’t change us on the inside.

It’s not that we’re asking the wrong questions. I believe we’re asking the right questions, but the answers just aren’t there, because our society’s compass no longer consistently points north, truth is perceived to be relative, and the goal posts keep shifting. We’re like a yacht with a broken mast and rudder, wandering directionless according to the shifting ocean currents. But at the same time we’re hungry for reality in our lives, hungry for purpose in our lives, if only someone would show us where to find it! Each of us has a purpose in life, but to find it we must reach outside ourselves and discover God. He’s the one who has the truth; he’s the one who establishes reality; he’s the ultimate source of life in all its fullness! You may call yourself a Christian, but if you’re living in defeat and you’re really looking for a life purpose, and you haven’t experienced the life-transforming reality of God, then now is a good time to start! Living without God’s plan for your life is like sewing with a needle but no thread, or writing the story of your life with a pen that has no ink. Great ideas, but no power to achieve them.

Psalm 62:5 says, “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.” He meets us where we are, he transforms us, and he gives us a purpose to live for. Our ultimate purpose is to glorify God, to magnify his name, to celebrate his love. That’s the vertical dimension. But there’s also a horizontal dimension: we represent God in the world through our service, as we minister to others, as we demonstrate God’s love to people who are hurting or in need. Every morning, as the sun slowly rises across the plains of central Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running. When you find God, it’s not enough simply to wake up. God challenges us to run, to become more like Jesus, to serve God with our whole life.

Jesus once described those who find God as ’salt’ and ‘light.’ If we live in a culture that is bankrupt and directionless, the answer lies in the lifestyle that Jesus modelled and encouraged: the ‘Christian counter-culture,’ as John Stott puts it. And in Matthew chapters five to seven Jesus outlines the kind of life that characterises this counter-culture. In chapter 5, verses 13-16, using metaphor, he tells us that those who find God are salt and light: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Why salt and light? Both are plentiful, useful, everyday things that are available in every culture, in every part of the world. Both salt and light bring pleasure and utility to our lives. And their usefulness is not in storage but in application. Salt has two main uses: it’s used as a preservative to halt the process of decay (that’s why meat and fish are sometimes salted); and it’s used to enhance the taste of food. You know what it’s like to have a lovely, mouthwatering meal placed in front of you, and to take a few bites and discover there’s no salt in it! You reach for the salt-shaker!

Those who find God are like that: they oppose corruption and decay in the world around them, penetrating and influencing the society for good, and acting like a moral antiseptic to reduce evil and frustrate the work of the enemy. And they add flavour to the lives of those around them, like salt does when you add it to food.

Now sodium chloride can’t lose its inherent saltiness, but first century AD salt was often mixed with impurities, and the salt could be leached out. Such ’salt’ then was “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” (verse 13b). The usefulness or force of salt lies in its saltiness, and if it doesn’t fulfil its purpose, it’s of no use to anyone. You and I, as people who have found God, are salt in the world; let’s make sure we know our purpose and bring the right kind of influence to our community. Jesus also said we are the light of the world. Later he said the same about himself (John 8:12, 9:5). This world is in darkness – spiritual and moral darkness – and those who find God reflect the pure, powerful light of Jesus and shine it into the lives of those around them. It’s okay (it’s even natural) to be different from our friends and family who have not yet found God. But we have no mandate to be characterised as wierd eccentrics, or to do and say things that bring discredit to the name of Jesus and make it harder to share the Good News. No ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude has ever led someone to God’s kingdom, but it has kept millions out. And we must remember that it’s borrowed light – it’s the light that should shine, not our reputation or ego as the giver. And so our actions bring glory to God (verse 16).

Both salt and light are plentiful and useful, and their presence or absence are immediately noticed. Taste a meal that has no salt, or enter a room that has no light, and you immediately notice it. Our absence and our inactivity in the world are also noticed.

In the days before electricity was harnessed, oil lamps were often used to illuminate a room. But to have them work to their best capacity, their wicks had to be carefully trimmed to spread the flame evenly, and the glass globes had to be cleaned regularly so they were clear and shiny. You and I, as those who have found God, and who are following Jesus, are like those oil lamps: we are called to emit a steady, clear light – the light of Jesus Christ – to a dark and purposeless world.

I began this talk with John Carroll’s words, “We are desperate, yet we don’t care much any more. We are timid, yet we cannot be shocked. We are inert underneath our busyness. We are destitute in our plenty. We are homeless in our homes.” If those words strike a chord in your heart, in your experience of life, and you’re powering through your life’s journey without a life purpose, then open yourself to God and honestly ask him to reveal his purpose for your life.

To find your purpose in life you need to find God, but that’s not the end! The fact that you’re part of God’s family doesn’t mean you’ve arrived and there’s nothing more to do. God wants you to exert a significant influence in your community, in the lives of those he has placed close to you. We all have an exciting, action-packed journey ahead of us: we’re the salt and light God has chosen to place in the city of Ipswich, or wherever he has placed you. God has a purpose for each of us, and as we surrender our lives to him, and listen for his voice guiding us, we’ll enter situations where our saltiness and our light-giving are desperately needed – and where we will make a difference in people’s lives.

Remember, both our presence and our absence are noticed. So find your purpose in life, make sure you’re ready and fit to obey God when he taps you on the shoulder and says, “This is it: this is where I want you to make a difference” – and make your life count for God.

Message no. 109 preached by Senior Pastor Rod Benson at Flinders Baptist Community Church, Ipswich, Australia, on Sunday 13 April 1997. Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

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