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| In Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl makes a powerful case for our fundamental search for significance. He noticed while he was in a concentration camp during World War II that the prisoners most likely to have the inner strength to survive the ordeal were those who had a task to fulfill, even if it was something simple and mundane and pointless. As the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “He who has a why can endure almost any how.” Frankl’s conclusion is that this quest for meaning is one of life’s primary motivational forces. However, most of us do not spend time reading Nietzsche and Frankl or thinking deeply about life’s meaning. We identify more closely with Charlie Brown and his sister Sally from Charles Shultz’s comic strip Peanuts. In the first of two companion strips Sally approaches Charlie and announces, “I have to write a report on why we’re here.” Charlie doesn’t even look up but answers, “Who knows?” Sally is satisfied, “Good, that was easier than I thought.” In the next strip she tell him, “The teacher said my report on ‘why we’re here’ wasn’t long enough.” So she writes, “ How should I know, and who cares?” “That is a lot longer she says.” Charlie agrees, “And it has more depth.” Yet on a personal level we wordlessly ask ourselves, “Am I important?” and “How do I measure my life?” Everyone, from the smallest child to the oldest adult, wants to be extraordinary, special, unique, and significant, or at least to be considered special by someone. This inner drive for significance appears to be built into every person. It is quite telling that in our most affluent and accomplished and sophisticated society we are plagued by low self-esteem and we flock to mental health professionals for help. Yet, we also seem to have more than our share of egotists as well. Egotists see everything through themselves; it is a pathological self-obsession, which probably stems from anxiety about whether, in fact, they are significant. Both thinking too lowly and too highly of ourselves stems from an excessive focus on self! Low self-esteem and egotism are only healed by the experience of being truly loved and valued. Our self-esteem does not improve because we become more lovable. Love based on performance just turns the pressure up to perform, to be good enough, or at the very least to fake it. It is not that being all we are meant to be is not important, it is just that we’ll never feel accepted and loved if we have to be constantly earning it. This is precisely where faith in the One who created us comes in. God loves us because He created us and gave us intrinsic value. Unfortunately, too often Jesus is primarily seen as one who enables me to “make the cut” when I die. And Christianity is perceived as a religion that helps us know what to protest, how to vote, and who to like. It is vitally important to know that all will be well when we die, and moral values should inform our decisions and policies, but life is about more than having an insurance program that enables us to call balls and strikes on others. No social program or set of rules can transform me into the kind of person I long to be. As Dallas Willard confesses in The Divine Conspiracy, “I’d rather have a car that works than an insurance policy on one that doesn’t. Can I not have both?” YES! Jesus came in dignity and truth to restore us to a right relationship with God, who created us to hunger for significance and love. As it turns out, that hunger is only satisfied when we are rightly connected with God! He came both to save us from eternal separation from God and also to give us an abundant life, which is life immersed in the love and goodness of God. A right relationship with God not only satisfies us but it also transforms us into the people we were intended to be all along. |
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by Dr. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor |
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