What defines your life?

• The power of starting with the end in mind

“Well, it’s glorious but it’s also tough because all the pressure is on you. You’ve got all those people out there that call you a legend and an icon and all that stuff. You kinda gotta prove it.” So said Merle Haggard after recently playing two sold-out nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. At 77, Haggard — who helped create the twangy electrified Bakersfield [California] Sound in country music — tours the country about two weeks each month.

Haggard had lung surgery after a cancer diagnosis in November 2008, and he said an early, but incorrect, diagnosis had him thinking he had only a short time to live. "And then they told me, ‘No, we’re wrong. It’s only just a little benign condition that we can get rid of,’" Haggard said. "It was sort of a disappointment. I was ready to go." [1]

A terminal illness can cause a person to focus on what’s really important in life, enabling him or her to get “ready to go.” But actually, there’s a principle at work here, important for any age or circumstance of life: start with the end in mind. The Gospel presents this life principle in Luke chapter 12. Let’s, you and I, explore it together.

In Luke 12, a crushing crowd of thousands had gathered to hear Jesus teach. There were so many that some were practically bumping into one another. Suddenly a man came forward and demanded, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” It was not uncommon for Jews of the time to take their unsettled disputes to respected rabbis. But Jesus replied, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

This became a teachable moment and the Lord turned to the huge crowd and said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” We don’t use the word “covetousness” in our contemporary vocabulary. But we do say the related word “greed.” Covetousness is strong desire to have that which belongs to another. It is forbidden in number 10 of the Ten Commandments. The 10^th Commandment is culturally couched for the time of Moses and tells us: you shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor, including his house, his wife, his servants, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to him (Exodus 20:17).

In modern society it cuts two ways. Greed can be praised. On May 18, 1986, for example, Wall Street trader Ivan Boesky advised the graduating students of UC Berkeley’s School of Business Administration: “Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.” [2] Also in modern society, documentaries depict greed as driving people into carefully constructed, smooth sounding fraudulent schemes that leave behind broken dreams and empty bank accounts for victims, and prison and humiliation for the perpetrators.

At the moment it’s important to see that Jesus is getting at (1) moral principle and (2) one’s worldview that underpins moral principle. Greed and covetousness, he maintains, are grievous violations of the law of God – the moral law inherent in the universe. And, why?, Jesus asks. The reason is the worldview from which this moral principle is derived. Says Jesus: “Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” (Luke 12:17 MSG). Or, translated into English a little differently, “Your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.” (Luke 12:17 GNT). Jesus is contrasting his teaching to materialism, which is a fixation on material things. In our day, materialism is also the philosophy which says that matter is the fundamental substance in nature and that everything that happens (including mental activities) is the result of material interactions. “All that matters is what I have” is materialism at the practical level. “Matter and energy are all that exist” is materialism at the philosophical level.

To make his meaning clear, the Lord tells a simple parable:

The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” And he said, “I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21 ESV)

Jesus here makes two crucial observations centered on what the man said and what God said.

• The supreme allegiance of the covetous person is on self.

The man of the parable focuses on “me” and “my”: what shall I do? I have nowhere to store my crops. I will do this. I will tear down my barns. I will build larger ones. I will store all my grain and my goods. I will say to my soul (the self), “Relax, eat, drink, be merry.” It’s all about me and mine.

In her 1938 novella, Anthem, Ayn Rand, advocates this point of view as a philosophy of life for individuals and society. In Part Eleven her hero has broken free from a collectivist, totalitarian society and proclaims [3]:

My hands . . . My spirit . . . My sky . . . My forest . . . This earth of mine. . . . What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the answer.

I stand here on the summit of the mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction.

It is my eyes which see, and the sight of my eyes grants beauty to the earth. It is my ears which hear, and the hearing of my ears gives its song to the world. It is my mind which thinks, and the judgement of my mind is the only searchlight that can find the truth. It is my will which chooses, and the choice of my will is the only edict I must respect. . . .

Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and the loadstone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They point to me. . . .

     

I do not surrender my treasures, nor do I share them. The fortune of my spirit is not to be blown into coins of brass and flung to the winds as alms for the poor of the spirit. I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom.

I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I covet no man's soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet....

What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey?

But I am done with this creed of corruption.

I am done with the monster of "We," the word of serfdom, of plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame.

And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.

     

This god, this one word:

"I."

Ayn Rand has escaped the collectivist, totalitarian mindset of societies like the old Soviet Union. She has searched for ultimate truth and meaning and believes she has found it. It is “me,” the self. The selfish gene has triumphantly found its maker: itself. And now, what is there to do? To quote the parable, “Then I will say to myself, ‘Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!’ ” (Lk 12:19 Good News Translation)

In the parable, Jesus makes a second crucial point.

• The supreme focus of the covetous person is on this world.

The man rich in worldly wealth focuses on his land, his crops, his barns, his grain, his worldly goods and possessions. Ayn Rand’s hero focuses on my hands, my spirit, my sky, my forest, this earth of mine, my body and spirit, my eyes, my mind, my will, my treasures. In the parable, the forgotten Being speaks. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?’” (Lk 12:20 Good News Translation)

Jesus is presenting a life principle here that is applicable in many circumstances: start with the end in mind. I remember so well the 1984 book Managing and some of its pearls of wisdom. Its author, the retired president and much respected manager of a public company, said, “You read a book from beginning to end. You run a business the opposite way. You start with the end and then you do everything you must to reach it.” Jesus wants us to think ahead to our final day on earth (we know not when) and to ask ourselves: what do I consider most important in life? What is of everlasting significance?

At one time in his life, Edward S. Little II was captivated by Ayn Rand’s philosophy:

In the spring of 1962, an awkward and philosophically oriented 15-year-old raised in an utterly secular home, I read The Fountainhead and then Atlas Shrugged. Those books triggered a philosophical (and, unknowingly, spiritual) revolution…. For three years I followed Rand, read every word she published, studied Objectivism and its moral, political, and economic implications . . . Because my family lived in New York City, I was able to enroll in a 20-session “Basics of Objectivism” course at the Nathaniel Branden Institute…. When Branden finished his lecture, Rand herself would often answer questions. Among the memorabilia from that period of my life is a scrap of paper with Rand’s autograph, the letters sharp and angular. I also enrolled in “Objectivist Economics,” taught by a very young Alan Greenspan. [4]

In college, two figures broke Edward Little’s chains to Ayn Rand’s mixture of atheism, materialism, Reason, and the self as the supreme being. In his philosophy class, Little encountered the first figure:

In Rand’s teaching, Aristotle served as a kind of philosophical hero. Plato, with his tendency toward mysticism, represented philosophical depravity for Rand. So I entered college predisposed to reject Plato, and came armed with Objectivist and Aristotelian weapons for the battle. Then I actually read Plato in a philosophy class. I was shocked to find much to commend his vision of a Reality that is more than the reality we can see….

The Phaedo was particularly disturbing, as Plato’s Socrates prepares to die and in the process comforts his friends with an admittedly non-Christian notion of the afterlife. What troubled me most was that it made sense, that the one-dimensional universe of Objectivism did not do justice to the facts. Could Rand be wrong? My certainty began to crumble. [5]

Then, after his mind was opened to the possibility of a Reality beyond what we can see, Little encountered a second figure: Jesus. In his sophomore year, he enrolled in a two-semester “Bible as Literature” course. He was majoring in ancient history, and biblical history figured into the wider picture. The course was taught by a former pastor turned agnostic, who delighted to shake the faith of students using historical-critical methods. But Someone had something else in mind. Little tells us:

Reading the Bible for the first time, encountering the text and laying aside the professor’s debunking attitude, I met a God who laid claim to my life, a Savior who invited (or, more precisely, demanded) my allegiance. Over the course of two semesters, something happened. I can’t precisely date it. But friends tell me that they noticed a change. By the time I was halfway through the New Testament course, I was referring to Jesus in the present rather than the past tense…. Paul describes the experience of his Corinthian converts, and my own experience, with overwhelming and almost inarticulate joy: “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11, RSV). [6]

Jesus confronts us with a choice. Where is your allegiance and my allegiance? Is it to self as supreme? This is covetousness, a very grievous sin. Where is your focus and my focus? Is it to this world as supreme? This is a very grievous philosophical error. After the parable Jesus concluded, “But God said to him, ‘Fool!’ . . . This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God's sight” (Lk 12:21 GNT). Do you close your mind and perceive only part of reality or do you open your mind and acknowledge all of reality?

• For those who are rich toward God, their supreme allegiance is God through Jesus Christ and their supreme focus is God’s kingdom – which is, his rulership, authority, and fatherly care.

A question logically arises. Suppose I want to become rich in God’s sight? How would I do that? Jesus immediately points us in the right direction (Lk 12:22-34).

• “And he said to his disciples . . .” (v 22a). There is only one place to start: discipleship with Jesus. Turn away from self as the rudder steering your life and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. With him you will find forgiveness of sins and power for living. Join his people, the Church, as his disciple. You can as an individual and join a spiritual family.

• “Do not be anxious about your life” (v 22b). Most people aren’t stockpiled with money and don’t have their storehouses bursting from the abundance of material possessions like the rich man of the parable. Some have legitimate concern for enough food, adequate clothing, sufficient shelter, and even physical life, health, and safety. They can feel besieged by worry, nervousness, and anxiety. But, Jesus tells his disciples, if God takes care of little creatures like ravens and lilies, won’t he take much more care of you? So cultivate an attitude of confidence and trust in God in place of worry and anxiety.

• “Seek God’s kingdom” (v 31). The “kingdom” of God is God’s rule through his
Messiah, Jesus. It is his kingly power, authority, sovereignty, glory, and fatherly care. It is both a present reality to accept (Lk 17:20-21) and a future event to anticipant (Lk 19:11-27). Treat the living God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – as the one whom you supremely love. Accept his authority, take note of his presence, believe his teachings, and follow his ethics.

• “Fear not” (v 32). Amid alarming circumstances, continue to cultivate an attitude of quiet confidence and firmly relying trust in the living God.

• “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy” (v 33). Jesus didn’t say, “Sell all your possessions” but “sell your possessions and give to the needy” – that is to say, be generous.

• Have balance. Later, Jesus will give some instruction that is best included here. Because of the contrast in Luke chapter 12 between treasures on earth and treasures in heaven, it might lead to a wrong conclusion if taken in isolation. In Luke 16:8-11 (Good News Translation) the Lord Jesus corrects our misconceptions:

. . . the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light. . . . make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?

Use commonsense principles of handling money and creating worldly wealth. Be prudent and think long-term, If you’re not honest and dependable in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with treasures laid up in heaven?

What defines your life? Are you rich toward God?

[1] Kristin M. Hall, “Country singer Merle Haggard: still on the road,” Associated Press, September 11, 2014. http://bigstory.ap.org/article/country-singer-merle-haggard-still-road

[2] Lynn Stuart Parramore, “Seven Most Loathsome Commencement Speeches, Salon.com, May 31, 2013.

[3] Ayn Rand, Anthem, 1938 Part Eleven, http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ayn_Rand/Anthem/Part_Eleven_p1.html and

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ayn_Rand/Anthem/Part_Eleven_p2.html

[4] Edward S. Little II, “Any Rand Led me to Christ,” Christianity Today, June 2011, Vol. 55, No. 6, Pg 50. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/june/aynrandled.html

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.