Your Brother Daniel
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The
Cure for our Incurable Quest for Significance
In The Significant Life, attorney George M. Weaver argues that our
quest for self-importance governs our lives:
- Individual
humans are not concerned so much about the survival of the species as they
are about their personal survival or significance. In order to push
ourselves beyond our confining space-time limits, we as individuals try to
set ourselves apart from the rest of humanity. It is unsettling to admit
that one is average or ordinary – a routine person. (7)
Weaver documents this
quest in many ways:
- Salvador
Dali once said, “The thought of not being recognized [is] unbearable”…Lady
Gaga sings, “I live for the applause, applause, applause…the way that you
cheer and scream for me.” She adds in another song, “yes we live for the
Fame, Doin’ it for the Fame, Cuz we wanna live the life of the rich and
famous.” (7)
The quest for fame and
significance can be as demanding and life-controlling as our quest for food. It
can take many forms. For Lady Gaga, it takes the form mass adoration. However,
the quest for adoration never seems to produce contentment.
Comedian Al Jolson had
achieved fame, but it was never enough to insulate him from jealousy:
· According to his
biographer, “He once had a team of performing elephants fired because he
thought the audience liked them too much.” (59)
Nor does fame protect
us against bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, fear, and anger. Instead,
this quest takes us captive and will not let us go.
What then is the
answer? Can we derive our worth – our self-definitive – apart from performance
or any other characteristic of ourselves? Can we find freedom from
self-obsession?
Some find temporary
relief through relationships and sexual conquests. However, these relationships
rarely match expectations. Besides, we might place too much pressure on the
other to meet our needs for significance. They may not always see us as the
quintessential sex god/goddess or even lover.
Jesus promised:
· “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
He promised “rest” for
our weary souls. He gives this supernaturally, but He also gives it
cognitively. Having become convinced of His unchanging love for me, I can now
begin to shed concerns about who I am and what others think about me. The
important thing is that I am His – forever. Consequently, I am no longer
defined by my achievements or acclaim, but by the fact that I belong to Him.
His love has given me a
freedom that I never had. Because I know that He loves me despite my unlovable
traits, I can now be transparent about these things and take responsibility for
my failures.
Before, I couldn’t
fail. Failure had been too painful. It told me that I was inadequate, a
nothing, and a loser.
I still want to
achieve, but it’s for Him – the One who loves me and died for my sins.
This is the Mason-Dixon
Line – the great polarizing divide. It depends on our understanding of
humanity. How fluid and remedial is our nature? The progressive answers, “very
fluid and remedial.” The conservative answers very differently, and these
answers determine how readily we will pursue radical change.
The Bible testifies of
the pervasive sinfulness of humanity.
According to Jesus, we are normally addicted to darkness, the denial of
the truth (John 3:19-20). The veracity of His assessment is evident at every
turn. One Sabbath, Jesus healed a man with a “shriveled hand.” Instead of
praising God at this miraculous deed:
· The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were
furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
(Luke 6:11)
This same hatred of the
Light of God is ubiquitously evident. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead
after four days in the grave:
· Some of [those who saw the miracle] went to the
Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the
Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they
asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this,
everyone will believe in him. (John 11:46-48)
They were unwilling to
consider the implications of this great miracle. Instead, they plotted together
to kill Jesus and eliminate His unbearable Light.
Jesus even prophesied
that the enemies of the Light would not only eliminate Him but also those
associated with Him, all the while convincing themselves that they were
performing a virtuous act:
· They will put you out of the synagogue; in
fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering
a service to God. (John 16:2)
According to the Bible,
human perversity is so deep-seated that it requires radical surgery. We must be
changed from above. In light of this understanding, utopianism is sheer
fantasy, like building a mansion on a cesspool.
We are that cesspool.
This is a truth that I had denied, disguised, and suppressed for years. It was
just too unsettling! However, through the assurance of my Savior’s love and
forgiveness, He granted me the courage to face the disorienting Light, and the
closer I came to it, the more I was enabled to see the ugliness within.
Fire can either consume
us or free us from our bonds. Rather than psychologically crippling me, the
Light freed me. I no longer have to hide and put on a facade. I can
non-defensively bask in the truth, knowing that my worth is unassailably buried
in His love and care.
This does not represent
a rejection of social change, but instead a recognition
of our human limitations
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