EVER watch “Lifestyles of the Rich
and Famous”? That 80’s and 90’s show that Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte
hosted detailing how the better half (read: richest) sector of society lives?
The show that made us drool with envy. The show that made us wonder what it
takes to get that kind of money to live that kind of lifestyle.
Fast forward to the 21st
Century, with its nauseating lineup of reality television shows, most of which
showcase and promote wanton immorality, greed, gluttony, and a visceral,
exhaustive hunt for stardom. The shows that try to convince us that the
characters are all living the “good life” until one or more of them claws
through a vicious divorce after the partner has committed adultery, another one
ends up in jail for drug charges or some other rap, or one has been found
living a secret life that stuns the family and causes the show to implode.
And what about social media? While
it can be helpful and positive, so often it exacerbates society’s current
obsession with living in the spotlight and capturing a moment of fame.
Questionable, privacy and reputation-rupturing pictures are taken and posted;
inflammatory, and often-libelous words are splatted on the screen for the world
to read; or a one-sided or fake news report goes viral. As my husband is fond
of saying, “It’s like writing on a bathroom wall.” For so many of us in today’s
world, racking up “friends” you’ve never really met, having someone respond to
your blog, or living vicariously through a reality television star is how we’d
define success and “living the good life.”
Now, while I’ve never been a reality
television groupie, I do admit to eyeballing “the Joneses,” wherever they may
be, taking notes on their riches and possessions, and trying to keep up with
them. And I’ve found it exhausting, agitating and pointless. Why can’t I just
be satisfied—content—with what I have? Why can’t I be grateful? (A friend of
mine says she never goes to the local Home Shows because she just gets
frustrated looking at everything she doesn’t and can’t have!) Since I live in
Western Society, my frame of reference tells me that all people have the tendency
to lust and covet. People in less developed countries think that it’s
Westerners who are the sole sufferers of it. I won’t argue who’s right, but I
will argue that all men are prone to sin, and since God put “Do not covet (lust
after)” on his top ten list, along with do not commit adultery (which ends up
first being coveting and then going beyond it with someone else’s spouse), I’m
going to guess that we are all guilty of it at one time or another in our
lives. Lusting or coveting after something or someone. (And Jesus smacks us
between the eyes when He says that just lusting after another person is
committing adultery!)
So this year, I’m asking myself, “What’s
the formula, the receipt for living the good life?” And lo and behold, I found
the answer within days after asking the question, in the Bible epistle I was reading,
the first one St. Paul addresses to the Thessalonians. Right there in the
middle of chapter 4, verses 9-12. The section is title: “A Brotherly and
Orderly Life” in my Bible. And it gives us an overall picture of what the good
life, the happy, content life looks like. Essentially Paul says:
1) Increase more
and more in your love for one another,
2) Aspire to
lead a quiet life,
3) Mind your own
business,
4) Work with
your own hands,
5) Walk properly
toward those outside of the faith.
And why, does Paul imply that we
need to live like this?
So that we may lack nothing.
Wow! Pretty basic and simple, right?
At first read it would seem so. But is it really that easy to love one
another, let alone increase more and more in it? To do that, we need to love
one another like we love ourselves, and consider others more highly than we
consider ourselves. Not an easy achievement.
And how many people today aspire to
lead a quiet life? They want action, to lead, be considered leaders, draw
attention to themselves, live in the limelight. This passage suggests that,
contrary to the world’s recipes for success, we aspire to a life of humility,
reserve, and unpretentiousness.
And then there’s the next one: Mind
your own business. Now that’s a good one! When’s the last time you heard gossip
because you couldn’t peal your ears away from it, or actually shared in the
passing of it? When’s the last time you gave your opinion of something even
though it wasn’t required, suggested, or requested? When’s the last time you
posted a cynical retort to an online article or Facebook post. I think this one
is HUGE. Our world would be profoundly impacted for the positive if most of us
did more own-business-minding. (Indeed, sometimes we need to stick our noses in
someone else’s business in order to make sure justice is done for them, but
that’s not what I’m concentrating on here.)
6) Work with
your own hands means labor so you can eat. Don’t be lazy and slothful, don’t
take what isn’t yours, and don’t make it a habit to mooch off others.
7) Walk properly
toward those outside the faith. The
Message states it this way: “We want you living in a way that will command
the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.”
I think it has to do with our
witness. It’s not just our reputation at stake but the Lord’s. What we do and
say will reflect directly upon Him, and others are surely watching. Many are
trying to catch us “in the act” of being unloving and un-Christian. They’ll be
thrilled to gleeful status when they see it happen! Paul warns us to guard
against that happening by guarding our behavior, attitudes, and words. It’s action oriented. People pay more
attention to how you live than to what you say, although, as I’ve covered
before, we always need to be able to give a reason for our hope. And sprinkling
our conversation with God’s truth, often in a way people don’t recognize, is
highly recommended!
Go through the list this week and
jot down some notes in your journal about how you’ve been doing in regard to
it. In what areas are you excelling? In what areas do you think your life needs
to change? What points do you need to address? Pray over them. Ask the Lord to
point out the weak areas and help you in those weaknesses, which He will be
faithful to do.
And next week I’ll do a little
expounding on living the good life!
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your
soul prospers (3 John 2).
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