West Palm Beach, Florida is a place of extremes. I was there for a wedding. Two blocks from City Place, an area dedicated to materialism on a massive scale, homeless people stood at the side of the road begging. On Saturday night, “MoonFest,” a Halloween party for thousands, convened on Clematis Street just outside the doors of my sons’ gallery and coffee shop. The main draw for the crowds was a river of alcohol and bevies of barely dressed women. You need little imagination to know what that combination produced. Twelve hours later I sat among thousands at a mega-church worshipping in the Spirit. The city is a stark display of the conceit of humanity.
The need to proclaim, “I exist. I matter!” is universal in humans. The same message is shouted in a thousand ways- a young woman with her beauty, an old man with his wealth, a city with her massive buildings, a nation trying to become an empire, even a church saying “We are the people of God.” The Bible recounts a story from the dawn of human history that is rewritten somewhere every day. "As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” (Genesis 11:2-6, NLT) Genesis goes on to recount the Lord’s displeasure with their conceit! He confused their language and drove them apart. Their folly was forever known as the Tower of Babel.
Are you full of longing to matter? That is normal. God made us with dignity and a desire to make a contribution to the world of which we are part. He gave us gifts of creativity and awareness of ourselves. He breathed the breath of life into us so that we are not just mammals seeking another meal and driven to reproduce! We know we live in a window of time that is short, in which we sense eternity. Only one choice allows us to live contentedly: serving God’s purpose! The godly can find great contentment in Him, regardless of their place in this world. We can give ourselves to Christ Jesus and in Him our lives are given meaning beyond any we might find in achievement of recognition by other people.
The conceit of humanity is a game for fools. Solomon played it like a pro. He gained admiration from far and wide, built amazing public works, enjoyed sensual pleasures on scale we cannot even imagine. In the wisdom of advanced years, he looked back. His words, which I hear not as a sigh of resignation, but as a cry of awful regret for a largely wasted life, should point us to a different road. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, NIV) "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14, NIV) Some read him only as a cynic. But, I read him as a man who came too late to understanding, who wants to spare us the sorrow that comes from the realization of our own conceit too late. He says, “Remember God… remember… "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NIV)
Conceit or contentment, which is it for you, disciple? Pray that the Spirit will help you see past the allure of Bentleys and human beauty. We are so easily drawn to our own attempt at building a tower of Babel! The lie that we can make ourselves matter is persistent and powerful. Here is wisdom that sets us right. "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory." (Colossians 3:1-4, NLT)
___________________
Only in God, is my soul at rest.
In Him comes my salvation.
He only is my Rock,
My strength and my salvation.
Only in God is found safety,
When my enemy pursues me.
Only in God is found glory,
When I am found meek and found lowly.
My stronghold, my Savior,
I shall not be afraid at all.
My stronghold, my Savior,
I shall not be moved.
Only in God, is my soul at rest.
In Him comes my salvation.
Only In God
Talbot, John Michael
© 1980 Birdwing Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing; Admin. by BMG Music Publishing) / BMG Songs, Inc. (Mech) (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing; Admin. by BMG Music Publishing) CCLI License No. 810055
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