What is my meaning?
What am I here for? Why do I even exist? Do you ever encounter these types of questions? If so, you are not alone! For some, the quest to find meaning will lead to a life of meaningless striving for popularity, money, fame, sex…just name it. There are so many ways in which people attempt to quantify their existence. We can all fall into the trap of validating our existence through power, money and experiences. It would seem that we find our value and worth in what is next. “Everybody’s working for the weekend” was a popular song by the 80’s band Loverboy. The sad fact is that this is the truth for so many of us. “So what are you doing this weekend?”, “What did you do last weekend?”, “What do you do for a living?”, “Where have you travelled?”. These are all common introductory or conversational topics. We often compare our own experiences, successes and failures to those of others around us. Is this why we are here though? Ultimately, all of these things that we pin our hopes, dreams, fears and anxieties on are fleeting and of very little importance in the grand scheme of things. I have travelled more than some, but less than others. My financial portfolio is healthier than some, but no doubt far less robust than many others’. Does it matter? What if all falls flat due to illness or job loss or a worldwide pandemic? Does my value decrease along with my ability to earn or travel or experience the wide variety of pleasures of this world? I give you a resounding “no” to that!
God created mankind not to have material success necessarily, although that may happen. He did not create us to jam in as many enjoyable experiences as possible, although that too may be a part of our journey through life. We were created ultimately for communion with Him, and for relationship with one another.
The sad reality is however that we have largely slipped away from that type of purposeful existence, so often engaging in what we could refer to as tribalism. The tendency to pursue and nurture relationships with those who we relate primarily to. With those who are most like us. While this would appear to be a normal and good pursuit, it often leads to polarization in our culture and society. We tend to leave out those who are not like us, which is not what God had or has in mind for us. Sometimes within our faith communities, we view the less fortunate as a mission field only. Not to be our friends or associates, but rather as an outreach to help. While this is brought about by noble and good intentions, it is not the way that we should primarily be viewing people.
As we can see from Paul’s writing in Galatians 2, this notion and practice of so-called tribalism is not a new thing in our modern day. Peter had been fraternizing, and even eating, with the Gentile Christians. However, he chose to quickly back away when the religious Jewish Christians arrived, fearful of their disapproval of these Gentiles, who did not practice the ancient Jewish laws. Paul in this writing relates how strongly he personally opposed Peter’s apparently cowardly behaviour. God’s plan for us within the body of the church would be for us to live in unity, and by extension, in the exercising of that unity, to bring more into the embrace of that unity.
Today, let’s be mindful of the needs of those around us, whether those needs are openly evident, or simply with the understanding that we all have needs. Let us do what would most please the Lord, by serving those around us not simply according to our understanding of their immediate needs, but rather with the attitude that we will want to meet their needs simply because we love God and we love them.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul,
all your mind , and all your strength.
-Mark 12:30
