The Good Life (Part I) A Message about Hope

The Good Life (Part I)

A Message about Hope

“The good life” has been a goal in philosophy and religion since the beginning. Humans are made with the ability to desire and these desires often envision a noble, uplifting and magnificent life. I chose those words because they are just a few of the words that describe magnanimous. Magnanimous is the word historically used to describe the longing and hope we have for a “good life”. Here are a few more.

Exalted                 Regal                     Inspiring               Moving                 Majestic               Knightly

Lordly                    Lofty                      Chivalrous           Sublime                                Worthy                 Valiant

Excellence is often used as a motivation for people who desire to elevate themselves out of the place they are in and onto a higher plane. We can find hundreds of books and trainings on “excellence.” In the church we often talk about a Spirit of Excellence. This Spirit is not the Holy Spirit but rather a spirit that is to be desired, a type of character or disposition.  We use professional athletes, world renowned artist and top of their field professionals as examples of how this spirit of excellence works in their lives and will work for you. At the same time our media is filled with stories about these same people dealing with failing families, addictions, bankruptcy, insecurity, fear and every other human aliment. Sadly, what we hoped would advance us, fails. A spirit of excellence cannot take us to the next level. What can?

There is no hope for the good life apart from God. I believe that statement is grounded in as much science as faith. We must know that God is good to all and He is the cause it rains on the just and the unjust alike. No need to strive our way to the top when Divine favor is at work. God is the sole being for goodness in all of creation. God’s goodness to all is a part of what makes Him distinct from all other kinds of good. All the human effort fails to take us to a place of hope because we come to know inside ourselves that we are not good. Even though we may be the best at one or two things, inside of us rages a war of wretched things. Here is a list of near antonyms for magnanimous. How often do these describe our thought life, our response to others, our reflection on our actions?

Sordid                   Vile                        Contemptible                    Despicable                          Hateful

Offensive            Repulsive            Ugly                                       Dirty                                      Lousy   

Sorry                     Mean                    Narrow                                 Small-minded                    Degrading

Jesus was called good. Here is His reply.

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

 Mar 10:18 NASB

Jesus was not practicing false modesty, for that would be a sin. Jesus was living on the earth, laboring for us toward our redemption and the hope of eternal security in Christ Jesus. In this passage Jesus deflects  “goodness” away from Himself and onto the Father. Every human being can do both good and evil. We can all fail and succeed. We can all have great moments and seasons in the pit of despair. But the power to live a good life, to have a magnanimous life is not in us.

As counterproductive as it may seem, the first step in having the good life is to realize that you cannot produce it, you need help. This lack is God’s grace to you to start a quest of adventure and find all that you need in Him. If you find what you want in yourself, turning to the Lord with all your heart will not fully happen. Jesus showed us the way when they called God good and we would be wise to follow His example. So what is His example? Let me breakout some of the points.

·         Jesus was not seeking to be good based on merit or performance; He was not working His way into goodness.

·         Jesus was not seeking to live on the lever of the perception of others. Jesus’s value and identity was not based on what others thought of Him.

·          Jesus was not seeking a title or position as verification of His identity. Jesus was sent by the Father and His identity and glory came in relationship with the Father.

·         Jesus was living a life worthy and not seeking to do deeds of worth, nobility and magnificence. The way He lived was integrated in all He did. His inner man and outward deed harmonized.

Often we seek to have a good life by what we do or some achievement of goals. We the goals are reached we find that we are the same unhappy people. Through the testimony of history and the witness of scripture we should understand that a good life is more than achievement, success, wealth and family. To walk out the good life we must find the path the Father has for us. We are called. In living out our calling we live achieve the good life God has for us.

Success, accomplishment and achievement are noteworthy and natural. When we make fulfillment in the natural the top rung of our ladder we discover we have chosen to live with a constant burden of hopelessness all our lives. This lack of hope is the fruit of not living out what we were made to do. We may try to suppress this calling by good works, drugs, benevolent acts, distracting ourselves with activity; but in the quite times of our heart, we find hopelessness. This hopelessness comes from the internal awareness we have that we are not good, we are not living on the grand level we were called to.

In contrast to the natural efforts of success is the spiritual reality. The simplest life, when in harmony with the calling of Father God is hope filled. This simple life is great, noble, heroic, and worthy. This life is magnanimous. The good life and the pathway of the Lord are the same.  It is not easy, it is good.

Now might be the right time to stop and prayerfully reflect. On what have you been building your life? What are you hoping for? Is it success or obedience to God? Is it wealth or the true riches of the Kingdom of God? Have you spent years seeking to make yourself good and failing to embrace the reality that you are not good. There is no need to strive to be good on your own, it is impossible. There is no need to demand of yourself a spirit of excellence when another Spirit will lead you into a life far beyond all you can ask or imagine.