A Good Pursuit: The Meaning of Life
If you’re reading this article, you’re probably interested to have a better grasp on what life is all about. (Or at the very least, you’re curious to hear what my answer is regarding the meaning of life). Let me simply start by saying – you’re asking the right question. We often spend too much time asking questions like, “Who should I take on a date?” or “What movie should I watch?” or “Where should I invest my money?” But we often neglect to ask the deeper questions that will ultimately motivate our life priorities and pursuits.
But where should we look to find life meaning? In today’s world, there’s an unspoken assumption that if an idea is new, then it’s an improvement over ideas people have had in the past. But as it turns out, historical viewpoints shouldn’t be blown off as being outdated or irrelevant. Because if we’re going to find a meaning for life that’s actually timeless, then it has to be something that’s rooted in the past. I don’t want to be a laboratory rat, subjected to experimental social theories that were invented yesterday. I want to find meaning for my life that’s real, that’s time-tested, and that has led to people having exemplary lives throughout the history of the world.
Learning from the Past
Deep thinkers in the past have recognized that studying life and meaning is of the utmost significance. One figure in history who gave attention to these matters was the churchman William Ames (1576-1633). With great insight, Ames pointed out, “Every art has its rules to which the work of the person practicing it corresponds. Since living is the noblest work of all, there cannot be any more proper study than the art of living.”1
Ames recognized that learning how to live was among the most important human pursuits. And he divided this art (the art of living) into two main branches of study: 1) What we should believe about life (orthodoxy) and 2) How we should live out those beliefs (orthopraxy). And just as Ames went to the ancient, time-tested Bible to frame his convictions, I want to help show you how essential the Bible is for understanding the meaning of life.
The Meaning of Life: What We Believe
As it turns out, we can’t understand the meaning of our individual lives without understanding a few basic things about reality in general. The Bible points out (since we wouldn’t know otherwise) that there is an invisible, infinite, almighty Divine Being who is responsible for bringing the universe into existence. This Divine Being was also intimately involved in creating human beings. Humans are made with a special design (in God’s likeness). And we’re made with a special purpose (to display God’s goodness and glory every day of their lives, and to fill the world with it). So when it comes to the meaning of life – our purpose – we’ve been made to know God and to make God known.
But the first man and woman rejected the noble role God had given them. By rebelling against God, they doomed themselves and their descendants (aka, the whole human race) to corruption, death, and banishment from God. From the day of our birth, each human being is on a trajectory to miss our purpose. This is because our innermost being is now dead toward God. We, and our world, have been alienated from God because of human irreverence, selfishness, and corruption. (The Bible calls this sin).
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5). This part of the Bible tells us that God responded to our spiritual deadness and dirtiness with mercy. We weren’t able to get our act together or raise ourselves up into God’s favor – so God did what we couldn’t do. He did what was necessary clean us up and give us life as a gift. And this work of God was accomplished through Jesus’s death on the cross. When we receive Jesus, recognizing his authority and saving power, we’re realigned with God’s purpose and are given newness of life to carry it out. Understanding who we were, how we fell, and how God makes us anew is essential to understanding the meaning of life.
The Meaning of Life: What We Do About It
But usually when we ask about the meaning of life, we want to know practically how we should live. Jesus summarizes our duties under two simple (yet expansive) commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
It may surprise you that when the Bible speaks about how people should live, the first command given isn’t about being nice to people, or about being honest with people, or about people at all. The matter of first priority is our relationship with God.
In society today, people think that rejecting a fellow human being is a more serious crime than rejecting God. But this doesn’t accord with reality. This downplays the unique, central worth of God. And as we’ve just seen, this isn’t what Jesus taught. If we aren’t loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we’re violating the first and greatest moral command in existence. If we’re going respond rightly to how much God loves us, and how much God has done for us, we will be people who actively, visibly, and vocally love God.
The second command is like the first, because it deals with love. And it is related to the first, because if we truly love God, we’ll necessarily love the people he’s made in his image and likeness. Our love for other human beings, then, is actually an expression of our love for God. If we love Him, we’ll love them.
And as I mentioned earlier – this love is to be active, visible, and vocal. The love that God has shown us wasn’t just theoretical. It was tangible. Jesus didn’t just say He loved us. He proved it. He took on flesh and lived among us. He suffered for us. He restored and recommissioned us – a work that he continues to do. And our love for other people should likewise be heard, seen, and felt. We are called to respond to God’s love toward us by selflessly loving others. It’s a standard of love for others that is incredibly difficult, but unquestionably good.
How to Live with Purpose
This, practically, is how we live out the meaning of life. It’s possible that you’re hearing some of these things for the first time. There’s a good possibility that you’re accustomed to hearing vastly different ideas from television, from friends, from your parents, or from your own personal desires. But I hope you’re able to sense the realness and substantiveness of this point. You were made for God. It’s a simple point to understand, but a difficult one to accept.
Our great calling isn’t to express our individual desires or personality. Our great calling isn’t to indulge ourselves with food, drink, or entertainment. Our great calling isn’t to forsake all pleasure and to take a vow of poverty. Our great calling isn’t to pursue morality, for morality’s sake, or to pursue world peace, for peace’s sake. Our great calling is to know God and his profound love and loyalty, and to respond with love that honors Him. This is the meaning of life, and it’s worth it for you and I to take it seriously.
1. Ames, William. The Marrow of Theology. 1629. Baker Books, 1997.
