C I R C L E O F H O P E

I WANT TO LIVE THE GOOD LIFE: I Can’t Do That as a Christian, Can I?

Non-Christians looking at Christians can have some interesting ideas about what it means to be a believer. One fairly common idea is that when you come to God, you have to give up doing a whole lot of stuff and life gets dull, boring and very “not fun”. The Bible claims something different. Unbelievers are “dead” (Ephesians 2:1), and believers are enjoying life “to the full” (John 10:10). Those are fairly opposite points of view. Which is correct?

I think both are right because each operates on a different understanding of what living life to the full is really all about. To the unbeliever, really living has to do with having many different experiences in life, having adventures, traveling, enjoying good entertainment, fellowshipping with family and friends, and, at times, helping someone less fortunate. The Bible acknowledges all this as good:

Ecclesiastes 5
18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him - for this is his lot.
19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work - this is a gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 8
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.

But whereas the Bible says it is great to enjoy the good things in life, it would disagree that this is living life to the full. Because in the end, we lose it all, including our life. And so the Bible says:

Luke 9
25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

So there are many questions to ask ourselves as we consider the two definitions of living life to the full. Are 70 years of earthly life enough, or would it be better to have that and eternity in Paradise? And, as for quality of life here, are we satisfied with just a natural life if we can live a supernatural life? Are we content with our earthly friends and relatives, or would it be the supreme experience to also know God as friend and as father? Do trips to exotic places compare as adventures to joining God on His adventures in the earth? And for the large numbers of people who do not have much in the way of earthly resources to spend on enjoying what the world has to offer, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be blessed “with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), and to have the following be true of us (1 John 3:1): “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

Jesus did say a few other things that make Him sound like nothing more than a harsh taskmaster who is seriously to be avoided. Things like:

Matthew 10:39
[Jesus speaking]: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Luke 14:33
[Jesus speaking]: In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Matthew 18:18
[Jesus speaking]: If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

No wonder people outside the faith (and even some within) think that Christianity is one, long, miserable experience of being someone else’s lackey and never having a life of their own (i.e., losing their life in order to please God). It’s all in the Bible in black and white. Or is it?

Unfortunately for us in the 20th century, we can’t read the Scriptures in the original language. We could read the New Testament in the original if we all knew ancient Greek, but most of us don’t. As English speakers reading the Scriptures, we are seriously disadvantaged when reading what the New Testament has to say about life because we have only one word for it -life. But ancient Greek had three main ones, plus a few others, all meaning very different things. The English word “life” covers two of the main Greek words. But the third has no counterpart in our language. And that’s why we end up with such an odd understanding of these Scriptures.

The three main words used in ancient Greek to mean “life” are (transliterated into the English alphabet):

· bios

· psuche

· zoe

Here are their meanings:

· bios: biological life. If you’re not in the grave, you have bios, which will last about 70-80 years.

· psuche: personal life, your soul. It’s the life within your body - that part of you that thinks, feels, makes decisions, laughs, cries, enjoys or doesn’t enjoy.

· zoe: eternal life, life from God, spiritual life, supernatural life.

When Jesus said . . .

Matthew 10:39
[Jesus speaking]: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Luke 14:33
[Jesus speaking]: In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

. . . He wasn’t saying: “Come to Me so I can make your life dull, boring, impoverished and miserable.” He was saying: “Come to Me because what I have to give you - eternal life -is so wonderful, so beyond what you have now, so unbelievably great that, if you truly understood what it is, you would give anything to have it - all your stuff, and even your personal life. You would be willing to lay down your psuche to have zoe - life with Me. If you cling to your psuche, you will lose it. Death will come, and you will lose everything you cling to. And then what will you have gained (Mark 9:36-37)? But if you choose to go for something better - for zoe, for life with Me - you won’t be so concerned with clinging to all that currently makes up your life. You’ll be willing to lose it all. And at that point, you’ll find it all and then some - what life to the full really is:

John 10:10b
[Jesus speaking]: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Matthew 13:
[Jesus speaking]: 44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

John 3:16
[Jesus speaking]: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.