Kick the Bucket List

"If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”" 1 Corinthians 15:32

Have you ever been trying to go the speed limit, but get passed by somebody who is too impatient to obey the traffic laws? If you have experienced this, maybe you have also noticed that often times these people are waiting for you when you get to the traffic signal. All of their impatience didn't really gain them much advantage other than to be the first to have to stop at the signal. Sometimes, when I get passed, I like to say, "See you at the stop light." How many people live their lives in the same manner in which these impatient drivers operate their vehicles? You will hear people say things like, "Live life to the fullest," or they will create a, so called, "Bucket List," comprised of all the the things they want to accomplish before they die. In fact, another name for Bucket List is just that; Things to do before you die. Some of the more popular Bucket List items are: take a road trip across America, hike the Appalachian Trail, walk the Great Wall of China, attend Mardi Gras, skydive, go on an African Safari, see the Northern Lights and visit the Holy Land. The list is endless and is altered to suit the tastes of each individual. In general, there is nothing wrong with wanting to explore the wonders of this world created by God. In fact, I know people who have experienced some of the things I just mentioned. However, there is more to life than being in a hurry to explore the wonders of this world created by God before you die. There have even been occasions where someone has died tragically pursuing these types of experiences, usually at a young age, and people will try to make sense of it by saying, "At least they died doing what they enjoyed." It is difficult for me to believe these people were enjoying themselves at the moment they died. But, regardless, when a person lives their life from one experience to the next, their motivation can be summed by the saying, "You only live once."  From a physical standpoint, that saying is correct. At the time I am writing this, the average lifespan of a human being is 79  years. Depending on how well a person takes care of themselves and avoids tragedy, that is not a long time to complete that "List." However, from a spiritual standpoint, you live for an eternity. Therefore, from that perspective, the average person has 79 years, not to "live life to its fullest" and complete that "bucket list," but to decide where do they want to spend eternity.

Near the end of his first letter to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul is in the midst of discussing the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is, basically, saying that if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, then why am I risking my life for "human hopes"? He says it would be better just to "eat and drink" instead because life is short. In other words, rather than risking my life for the causes of man, I might as well just live my life to the fullest and spend my time trying to check off the boxes on my bucket list because there is nothing waiting for me on the other side of death. But, Paul had his eyes set on the spiritual and not the physical. In fact, he once stated. "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body (Philippians 1:23-24)."  Paul was convinced that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, therefore, he desired to "depart and be with Christ," in heaven. But, he also had a desire to continue being a vessel for the work of the Lord here on earth. While I am sure the pleasures of this world were a temptation to Paul, just like they are to all of us, Paul knew that something better was promised to him. He wrote, "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him ... (1 Corinthians 2:9)" Anything on a, so-called, Bucket List, has been seen, heard of or conceived by man. One can't imagine what God has in store for His children. Furthermore, God has said, "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind (Isaiah 65:17)." Think back for a moment at the items on that list of things to do before you die. Things like seeing the Northern Lights, walking along the Great Wall of China, visiting the Holy Land, etc. These are all apart of what will come to be known as the "former things."  What we spend our lives trying to experience will not even be remembered or come to mind when God reveals His new heavens and new earth. That is why Paul focused on the things of the Lord and not the things of this world. Jesus said, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul (Mark 8:36)?" Dare I ask, "What good is it for someone to experience the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" If we only have 79 years to live on this earth, on average, why spend them trying to achieve the next experience in a world that will soon pass away, when God has promised those who place faith in Christ indescribably better things in heaven? Because Jesus has risen, Christians will go to be with Him one day. My prayer is that more people will come to faith in Christ, put off the pursuit of worldly experiences and be like minded with Paul when he said, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)."

Depart from Me

"Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity (Luke 13:23-27).’"

There was a time when someone close to me said, "I go to church because I feel that when I do my week will go better." I understand how attending a church service on a consistent, if not weekly, basis can make somebody feel better. The benefits of being around like-minded individuals and hearing a message about Jesus and the Bible are too many to count. However, a statement like this can also make it seem like God is obligated to deliver a "good" week to you because you have fulfilled your part of the "bargain" by attending a church service. While the individual may not have intended that by their statement, it does give insight into the reasons why some people go to church. Those reasons may not be what one would suspect. In the book of Acts we see that members of the early Church, "devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42)." Many Christians assume that everybody who is in church is there for similar reasons like those of the early church; to fellowship with other Christians and be equipped for the work of ministry by hearing a Bible-based message. However, some people may be there simply to try and ensure that they have a "good" week. What defines a "good" week? Usually, it is the individual who defines a good week and not the Lord. This would usually revolve around obtaining blessings of the flesh of some kind; health, wellness, financial gain, etc. It is like putting God under our law. Instead of God defining what the rules are for us to follow, we tell Him what rules to follow; I go to church, You pay out! Rarely, would someone admit that is what they are doing, but in essence it is pretty plain to see. Some people will go to church to find a spouse. There are families that will look for a church that has a good program for their children. Others attend churches because they like the sense of "community" they find there. Finding business contacts is a another reason for going to church. While all of these, and more, may be byproducts for going to church, they shouldn't be the main reason for attending. However, many churches market to these people in hopes of capitalizing on their desires to increase membership. As one church puts it, "Whether your skills, gifts and talents are in the field of the arts, business, media, education, family, government, science, agriculture or church ministry, you fit into the mission." There is nothing wrong with having outreach programs like these. However, can we honestly say that all those people who are drawn to these things know the Lord and are there as a byproduct of having come to faith in Jesus Christ?

In Luke 13, Jesus was asked, "are there few who are saved?" In the midst of giving His answer, He said something quite telling. Jesus said that many people will try to enter Heaven, but will not be able to. When these people question Him about their inability to enter Heaven, in their defense, they say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets." However, despite this Jesus says He doesn't know them and then says, "Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." He says these people are workers of iniquity. This means that there behavior was sinful and immoral. But, what is more interesting is that these people ate and drank with Jesus and were present when He taught in their streets. This doesn't appear to be any different than what we might see in our churches today. If you see people who are coming to church regularly, listening to the messages, who seem to fellowship with each other and even get involved in ministry, it doesn't mean they are Christian and are there for the reasons you may believe. Now, I am not saying all of this so we can start pointing a suspicious eye at each other, but so we will be aware that not all motivations for attending church are the same. Think about it. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he warned him, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10)." Paul warned the church in Philippi about enemies of the cross of Christ whose, "destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame (Philippians 3:19)." James was chastising the motives of those who ask God for things by saying, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:3)." In just these three examples you see the authors of scripture talking about people in the church who, in short, are seeking to gratify their own desires through the means and opportunities provided by it. There is a high probability that these people are not saved, but just in the church to advance their own agendas. Will we know who these people are? Probably not. Is it our job to find them and out them? Not necessarily. After all, it is Jesus who said, when referring to separating the wheat from the weeds, "Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn (Matthew 13:30)." This is why there will be people that the Lord doesn't know and whom will be told to depart from Him despite having been in His presence and heard Him preach. They used what He provided for personal gain. And that is why He calls them workers of iniquity who have no place in His Kingdom.