The Good Life

My Dad gave me a copy of "The Good Life" by Charles Colson, and I've finally had time to start reading it. So far, it's a great book! Colson uses a variety of compelling stories to demonstrate that the good life is not found in money, success, and power, but rather in living a life of significance. I haven't gotten to the end yet, but I'm sensing that ultimately he'll point to living a life of significance for Christ as the ultimate answer to living the good life. He hits a little close to home when he talks of our pursuit of happiness through materialism and consumerism, the desire not just to have, but to have more, and more, and more.

There may be saints immune to these siren songs, but I am not one of them,
and I doubt you are either.... We all recognize the battle within
us: One part of our nature says life has a higher purpose, and the other
part wants to indulge all our desires. We want instant
gratification. These temptations pull hard on us in this consumerist era
in which the good life is constantly portrayed in terms of possessions and
goods.
The problem is, if we give in to our basic desires, we sink deeper and
deeper into self-indulgence -- and feel worse and worse about ourselves.
It's like drinking salt water; the more you drink, the thirstier you get.
You will keep drinking, believing that more liquid will satisfy your thirst, and
instead, of course, it will eventually kill you. The more we have, the
worse we feel.

What a succint portrayal of the human condition! At least, a portrayal of MY human condition at certain times and stages of my life. Most of you know that pastors aren't the highest paid people in the community! And yet, with 4 kids and the rising cost of living, I often find myself worrying about finances, and wishing I had more money. I get caught in the trap of thinking, "if only I had more money, everything would be ok." I really don't feel I want in excess, I just want enough so that I can break even at the end of the month instead of playing catch up all the time. The writer of Proverbs says it well:

Proverbs 30:8-9 "Keep falsehood and lies far from
me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
[9] Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and
say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so
dishonor the name of my God."

It is not only something I wrestle with as I consider my personal finances, but also as I see the overall state of the church, both Bethany UMC and the Church in general. It seems like money is constantly an issue, and I continue to fall into the "if only..." way of thinking.
Chuck Colson responds to this struggle with these thoughts that I'll reflect on and leave with you now:

"The task in life is to subdue our lower nature and govern ourselves by what I
would argue we intuitively know to be our higher nature. Then we need
to redefine for ourselves and our culture what happiness really is."

See you all at Annual Conference!