We're about to enter a teaching series on Ecclesiastes, which is very much a grumble on the meaninglessness of and the desire for a significant life (sounds like the pouty-faced, self-help part of the Bible). And I can't help but wonder how we get ourselves into such a state wherein we relinquish our joys in reserve for our less-than-hunky-dory human lifestyles.

I'm reading Dan Kimball's The Emergent Church, and he makes a striking appeal in contrasting the gospel messages of the modern and emergent church movements...

Of course, the thought of the gracious free gift of being with God in person in heaven is more thrilling than we possibly can imagine. But it seems that the modern church has focused only on the problem of fixing sin (which absolutely needs fixing) through the death and resurrection of Christ. Yet heaven is not necessarily the goal post-seekers are thinking of, and their idea of sin is not the same as we would think of it. Instead, emerging generations are connecting the idea of living in tune with Jesus, placing yourself under God's reign and being a participant in the kingdom now. . .

I wonder if the way the modern church has presented the gospel by focusing on life after death has subtly helped produce a consumer mindset. Dallas Willard suggests we have basically taught in the modern church that people get a bar code, like on a supermarket product, which guarantees our salvation. With that mindset, Willard explains, "the payoff having faith and being 'scanned' comes at death and after. Life now being lived has no necessary connection with being a Christian as long as the bar code does its job."

Willard suggests that our preaching and teaching simply become focused on "sin-management" rather than on kingdom living and becoming a disciple of Jesus now, learning to live as he lived. We thus fall into a cycle of producing consumer Christians who wait to go to heaven and in the meantime turn to God simply to learn how to manage sin in this life.

The "teacher" (believed to be King Solomon) in Ecclesiastes had everything--EVERYTHING. Wealth, fame, riches, land, women, royalty...you name it, this guy had it...except one thing: personal significance. We, in America, have everything (well...just about)--we are the richest country in the world...we have food in our fridges, air conditioning inside the comfort of our mansion-competitive homes, flashy cars that work...but many of us lack personal significance.

We've become so complacent with our bar codes that we work and we play until the day we die. We "go to church" and consume its services instead of taking part in its corporate production, expecting so much yet contributing so little (and I'm NOT just talking about finances). If Christians have been saved by Christ, then we have attained the JOY of Christ...joy that should be contagious fuel for pursuing lives and lifestyles that matter and have significance...even if we work humdrum jobs, if we don't get eight hours of sleep per night, if we get sick (and tired) of the same ole routine day in and day out. We have a joy that is uncircumstantial and unconditional.