On the one hand, we have the threat of a virus that, according to original predictions, could wipe out millions of people. Nobody knows if this will be the case, but there is a possibility. On the other hand, we have the certainty that if we shut down the economy for an extended period of time, millions will lose their livelihoods and global economic depression will ensue. Tensions are rising between those who want to avoid the virus and those who want to open up the economy. We are told that life will never return to normal again after this. Heavy precautionary measures will need to continue to be taken to protect us from contagion, even to the point of never shaking hands again. I heard a doctor on a news program suggest not having family gatherings of over ten people during the holidays. Churches may be encouraged to continue to have as many virtual meetings as possible to avoid the possibility of a virus; maybe not even this Coronavirus, but all viruses that might potentially attack us in the future.
This entire situation has provoked some deep questions that, in all of our hustle-and-bustle of routine life, many haven’t contemplated. One of those questions is, What is life? So-called “pro-lifers” (probably better described as “anti-abortion”) have dealt with this question biologically, and, in my opinion, have done quite well. Life begins at conception. That is the right answer to the question when considering whether or not to murder a child in the womb.
But what if we ask that question in other contexts? Is life merely surviving; a sustained animated presence in the world kept running like a machine through diet, exercise, medicine, et al.? What does it mean to live? Is living being gripped by the fear of death so that you refuse to take any risks that have even the remotest possibility of putting your physical health in jeopardy, even if it means the loss of income or connection with other people? Is living being gripped by fear of financial loss or loss of connection that we recklessly put our lives in danger just to earn a buck or go to a party? Are you living if you have enough money and food to sustain you, but you are living in relative isolation? These are all questions that we are asking ourselves now, and, generally, our culture’s luminaries aren’t shedding very much light in this area.
We are an anxious society. This didn’t just happen recently. This has been the case. We have invested our lives in sustaining physical health and economic prosperity. These things are our security and salvation. This is what it means to live. When either or both of these are threatened, the fear of loss bubbles to the surface in hysteria. We are anxious because we don’t know what it really means to live.
Jesus explains to his disciples in Luke 12 that the world is an anxious place. The Gentiles, as well as the Jews, are seeking their security in the pursuit of things that are passing away. As important as food, drink, and clothing are (our Father promises to provide these needs for us and Jesus teaches us to pray for them), they are not our security. Possessing them will not give us the life we so desperately desire. Everything in this present world, including my body, is transient; a vapor that appears for a little while and passes away (Jms 4.14; Eccl passim). Everything is dying, and there is nothing that we can do to stop it. If we invest everything that we have in that which is dying, we will die with it. We will never truly live.
So, what does it mean to live? Jesus says that life doesn’t consist in the abundance of one’s possessions, that life is more than food and the body more than clothing (Lk 12.15, 23). So, what is it?
Life consists in living as the image of God, which involves food and drink, not only in our homes but in his presence in worship with the rest of his people. Life involves dominion-taking, work; it is being challenged and overcoming; it is taking risks and failing, learning, and succeeding. Life involves social interaction because we are created in the image of Triune God. Life involves having a hope that is courageous in the face of every sort of death and knowing that you are secure through death. Life is knowing that all of this means something.
Whenever we idolize anything in the creation, anything from food to physical health, and define that as “all there is to life,” we aren’t living. Life is more than food, clothing, health, wealth, work, play, etc. Anyone of these things exalted as the thing that defines that in which all of life consists to the neglect of everything else is the covetous idolization that Jesus warns us about.
All of these things are passing away. They are temporary. You are going to die no matter how much you socially isolate and take your vitamins. I’m not saying that you should be careless with the stewardship of the life God has given you, but you can’t exalt your physical existence as the most important thing because there is more to this life than this life. Your present relationship with friends and family will change. Your financial future is not as certain as you think it is. Life is not in any of these transient things.
Life is found in God himself, the one in whom we live and move and have our being. Fullness of life consists in trusting him with your present and future; enjoying what he has given you for the time but holding it loosely so if he takes it away it doesn’t destroy you. Life is investing everything you have in that which will not pass away.
This security of life conquering death gives you the freedom to live non-anxiously in the present. You are able to be generous with your possessions (Lk 12.33) and take risks with your physical life that others might deem foolish. You can do this because your life is ultimately found in a kingdom that the Father has given us that will never pass away (Lk 12.32). In doing so, you are a living testimony to the hope of the gospel.
