Unexamined Life
Growing up in Dayton we had a family friend who was over seven feet tall, who played basketball for Wright State University. Needless to say, Bruno (that was really his name), had a bit of a different perspective on life. He would joke with my mom that she needed to clean the top of the window sills and the top of the refrigerator because she could not see what he could see. One way for us to do some “soul spring cleaning” is to do some soul searching. King David said it beautifully when he prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24 ESV)
David asked God to help him do some honest self-evaluation – to see his sin from God’s eyes. When we sincerely do a soul audit, we might find that we have justified, rampant, unbridled sin in our lives. We may have chosen to conform to the pattern of this world and play by its rules. I believe this was one of the major themes in the letters to the churches in Revelation 4-5. They had forgotten who they truly were and began playing by the world’s rules. The end result is tragic conformity to an entirely different set of rules than by God’s best for us.
In the musical "Wicked," Fiyero reflects on his carefree, unthinking approach to life as he sings, "Life is fraughtless when you're thoughtless." This idea that life is worry-free when you rest your mind is how many people live today. It is very different from God’s Word that tells us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Mark 12:30 ESV) The mind part here is particularly important, as it requires us to be self-aware; the only way to do that is to see our circumstances through God’s perspective. We need Him to help us “search our hearts.” We need Him to do a spiritual EKG to determine what might be holding us back from fully surrendering our lives.
The example that comes to mind is Jonah, a man who knew the right thing to do, yet he consistently did the opposite. As we read the four chapters of his story recorded in the Bible, we see so many relatable, self-focused responses to God’s clear directive. The end result was still obedience. But, like Samson and many others in scripture, Jonah’s path to obedience was a long journey filled with self-inflicted harm.
God wants us to understand that the examined life is the first step to the surrendered life. If we are going to do some spiritual spring cleaning, we need to be honest about the places in our lives that we may not see at first, but which need some extra care.
Expectantly,
Shawn
