Wired to Find the Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of life?
It’s a question most of us have asked at one time or another. In fact, 81% of Americans believe there is a higher purpose and meaning to their lives, and 73% believe finding that higher purpose is important.[1] This isn’t 81% of Christian Americans or religious Americans, this is 81% of ALL Americans. An even higher number, 85%, believe “there is more to life than the physical world and society.”[2] 85%! Which means even those who don’t see a higher purpose still ponder the meaning of life. In a Pew Gallop poll, nearly 20% of atheists said they believe in a higher power and although they don’t typically pray or feel religion is important, 35% said they often think about the purpose and meaning of their life at least weekly and almost the same number feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being.[3] From a group of ATHEISTS! They don’t believe in God or an afterlife, but they do believe there is a higher purpose. There is something that compels us beyond just religious belief to seek the meaning of life.
As Christians, we believe that “something” is God.
God compels us to search for the meaning of life, to find some way to make our lives MATTER! We’re told our goal in life is to love God and love one another and to help others know God through our love, but how we do that is up to us. And as a kid, I thought I had it all figured out. I was sure it was to be a doctor. Even though at the tender age of 5 I had no idea who God was, I felt compelled to move in that direction. In fact, I was so sure, I never wavered all throughout school and declared pre-med when applying to college, even though I knew it would make it harder for me to get into some of the top universities. Because…you know…I had it all figured out. But college has a funny way of upending your carefully laid plans. It only took until the end of year one for me to realize being a doctor wasn’t going to be my path. Thirteen years of being sure, and it only took one to change my life completely. I floundered finding a new direction in life until I realized where God was leading me the whole time. And that’s how I ended up here. I knew God wanted me to find a way to help people, but it just did not happen in the way I had imagined.
Most of us flounder at some point in our lives to figure out what we are doing here on this great big planet.
Whether you believe in God or not, we ponder that overriding question. But we do believe we are meant for some purpose. When asked about it, even teenagers across the US overwhelmingly felt a deep sense of meaning to their lives. 87%! When asked what they thought that purpose was, again the answer was overwhelming – to help others. Nearly 50% thought they were meant to help others or to be a good person.[4] The next highest answer at 8% was to have a good job. Only 3% of teens thought their goal in life was to be successful or famous. A 17-year-old in Kentucky said, “I think that my purpose in life is to help people. I’ve gone through hard times myself, and I can’t even imagine the situations some kids are in — much worse even than the life that I’ve had growing up. I think that as long as I have the ability, and want to help people, that’s what I should do.” A 17-year-old from Utah said, “Everyone is here to fill in the holes in other people’s lives, whether little or big holes. Not everybody is the same, and we all need to share our talents and strengths to uplift other people.” And a 15-year-old girl from California impressed me so much when she said, “I am here to mourn with those that mourn, help those in need, comfort those who stand in need of comfort, and to stand as a witness to God at all times and in all things and in all places. I am here to stand for faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, and integrity.”[5] At 15, she had a much more mature, well-thought-out answer than most adults.
But it just goes to show we really are wired for a higher purpose.
If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phone, would you go to Matthew 5 beginning with verse 14. Matthew 5:14. We feel our lives are given meaning when we DO something meaningful and most of us believe that something is helping others. As Christians, we identify that through Jesus, but you don’t have to be religious to sense you have a higher purpose beyond just yourself. And that’s because God wired us that way. We are wired to find the meaning of life and that meaning lies in helping others. But you don’t have to take my word for it, or even God’s. From a purely scientific point of view, helping others gives meaning to our lives. Researchers have studied this and have found that helping others gives us a sense of free will, it helps us to feel like we are good people, and it strengthens our relationships to others both in a specific and a general sense.[6] But it also gives us a sense of purpose. Helping others makes us feel that life has meaning.[7] And if you’re a Christian that all makes sense. Most of what the prophets and the disciples record for us tells us to help others and to build one another up. There is testimony after testimony recorded in the Bible of different people who believe this to be true. New Testament. Old Testament. It doesn’t matter. The prophet Micah tells us that God asks of us “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).” Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Galatia, “…do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Galatians 5:13-14).’” Jesus tells us, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).” And God himself tells us in Leviticus, “The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.” Helping is a part of who we are and who were created to be. And here’s why.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16
We are meant to be a city on a hill.
We are meant to point the way to God. As Christians we understand God has already done so much for us that we are compelled to do good things for others. We know Christ sacrificed everything so we might have eternal life and so we dedicate ourselves to helping others receive God into their lives too. We join together in God’s quest to bring as many as possible to him. So for us, doing good, helping others is not only what we feel compelled to do to love our neighbor, but is our way of honoring what God has done for us. Anybody can do good, but knowing why we do good and where this drive comes from gives us a sense of peace and wholeness that comes from nowhere else.
We often don’t spend enough time trying to figure out how to live out this deeper meaning.
We may believe there is one, but we don’t spend time thinking about it or how we can accomplish it. When asked how much time they spend on this question, almost 30% of people say they barely think about it if at all. When you add in the people who weren’t sure how often they think about it, that number jumps to 44%.[8] For something that’s so important, it’s amazing how many people don’t even consider the question. And if you’re a Christian, this is especially true. I hope it’s something you ponder more than once or twice a year. Because if our goal really is to love God and love one another, if our goal is to be a city on a hill so others know the love of God, we should be thinking about how to do that. I want to challenge you to go deeper in your faith this year. Whether that’s through a Bible or book study, a small group, volunteer efforts, or spending time in prayer (or all of them!), I hope you will be intentional in your efforts. Cassie is already leading a book study during the Lenten season as one way to kick start this Year of Growing Deeper and we will be adding more and more opportunities in the coming months. I hope you will find at least one to connect with and challenge yourself to grow closer to God. God loves you. God wants you. And God constantly is reaching out to you so you will find the peace and love through him that he hopes for you. So let’s do this together. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] https://research.lifeway.com/2021/04/06/americans-views-of-lifes-meaning-and-purpose-are-changing/ – by “important to them” they say it is a high priority in their life.
[2] Ibid
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/06/10-facts-about-atheists/
[4] Data about teens comes from http://www.gallup.com/poll/11215/how-many-teens-see-purpose-life.aspx
[5] http://www.gallup.com/poll/11215/how-many-teens-see-purpose-life.aspx
[6] http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_helping_others_help_you_find_meaning_in_life
[7] Ibid.
[8] All data in this section comes from https://research.lifeway.com/2021/04/06/americans-views-of-lifes-meaning-and-purpose-are-changing/
Craig's Corner 