There have been a lot of things lately that have me scratching my head - the kind of thing that makes a person wonder what this world is coming to. Here are a few examples:
- My mother, and a number of other people besides, have commented of late just how much more hostile everybody seems to be getting, from customer service representatives on the phone to drivers on the road and everywhere in between. It seems that hardly anywhere is friendly territory anymore.
- While there have always been conflicts in the world, I cannot recall a time when so many countries in so many places have been throwing their governments into upheaval all at the same time. While this has the potential for some of the greatest good the world has seen since 1945, it also has the potential for some of the greatest evil the world has seen since that same year.
- I recently heard of an August 2008 PEW Study [1] that showed 83% of all Christians (including 55% of all “Evangelical” Christians) believe that something other than accepting Christ's death on the cross leads to eternal life, if they believe in eternal life at all.
- Just last week I overheard an attender of my church mention to a fellow member that he was going to leave town and marry someone who “isn't very religious” because God wasn't giving him what he wanted and he was going to take matters into his own hands.
A retired pastor was lamenting how young people were too addicted to their gadgets to ever give God a second thought. This same pastor regularly checks his Apple iPhone between services.
- There seems to be a lot more emphasis lately among many churches and parachurch organizations to create a positive emotional experience. I don't know if this is in fact the case, as I'm only commenting on my personal observation.
All of these various things have one common theme: people, whether in the church or not, are generally more interested in their own personal comfort than in anything else. This really shouldn't be any surprise. Jesus himself said, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NIV). Nor is this anything new. The great King and composer David asks, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed” (Psalm 2:1-2 KJV).
I call this distinction, “temporal thinking” versus “eternal thinking”. The Apostle Paul makes a similar distinction in Colossians 3 when he talks about “set[ting] your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (verse 2 NIV). He then presents a very long list of the behaviors that are common to all people, which are evidence of temporal thinking. This is not to say that those who practice eternal thinking will never have times of anger, or be able to ignore all peer pressure and commercial advertising. What Paul is saying is that as we make it a habit to look beyond ourselves, to put God's goals first, we begin to realize just how trustworthy God is, even when our circumstances make us uncomfortable for a very long time.
Davisville (http://davisville.org) is currently looking at the life of Joseph as an example of the ideal in integrity and humility, as well as an example of how God often allows undeserved tragedy or pain into our lives (in Joseph's case, it lasted for 13 years) to prepare us for greater things we could never imagine or predict. How was Joseph able to persevere for so long, under such dire circumstances? He had no scripture to recall, no radio station to listen to, no reminders whatsoever that God loved him. However, he had grown up with a unique understanding of what it meant to think eternally. Even more than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob before him, Joseph spent each and every day looking forward to a time of promise that he must have known would not have been fulfilled until many lifetimes after his own.
This doesn't mean that eternal thinking is common or easy. In fact, it is very, very rare. And yet, if we want God's best for our life and forever, we absolutely must make this our sole focus and mission. Jesus told us to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). This is eternal thinking. In Romans 7, Paul laments about just how difficult it is to keep our minds, and thus our actions, in the right place. Then he tells us that “those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (Romans 8:5 NIV).
So if eternal thinking is how we experience the same unity with God that Jesus himself had (see Christ's prayer in John 17), and very few people, even among those whom God has chosen, get it right, what are we to do? Here are a few practical ideas:
1. Get to know who God really is, rather than who I think He is. How? Take time to observe all creation (Romans 1:20). Read and memorize God's Word (Psalm 119:11). Look for Him before making any decision (2 Samuel 5:23). Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
2. When I get worried about “things” - getting things, fixing things, getting rid of things – I need to remember that things won't join me in eternity (Matthew 6:19-21).
3. Whatever I consider the “worst thing to happen” to be – death, poverty, disease, loneliness – I need to remember that God is bigger than all these things. This is perhaps the most difficult task in learning to think eternally. We get so distracted by the cares of this world, our God gets pretty small, and our own perceived deity begins to grow.
Just as Joseph held on to the promise that God gave to Abraham, we have a promise from Jesus that we can hold on to. We can think on the past, of what God has already done in our lives and in the lives of countless others. We can think on the future, of what God has promised, of what we can be sure will come to pass. And we can pray through the present, as our God is eternal, continually at work in the world, and eager to make Himself known to all who eagerly seek Him (Proverbs 8:17, Hebrews 11:6).
[1] “Many Americans Say Other Faiths Can Lead to Eternal Life,” Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, December 18, 2008, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1062/many-americans-say-other-faiths-can-le….