What I was aiming at … 'Prayer'

In the last two sermons that I’ve preached I’ve included what seems to me to be a rather profound thought. (I can say that because it didn’t originate with me.) ‘The reason for our existence is to make Jesus look good as we enjoy His goodness.’ Upon reflection, I realized that this way of looking at ourselves is not novel. It’s simply the first answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever’; that is, ‘The reason for our existence is to make Jesus look good as we enjoy His goodness.’ It’s just an old biblical truth put into new words. I call this profound because, if taken seriously, it changes everything. It has been true of every age, though it may be a bit more obvious in our day: we are, by nature, self-centered. We live for ourselves. And even when someone becomes a Christian, that central desire isn’t necessarily changed. Sadly, too many churches feed this desire by allowing the focus to continue to be on us. And the problems follow. But imagine if lots of Christians took this different perspective more seriously. The reason for my marriage is to make Jesus look good as my spouse and I enjoy His goodness. The reason for my job is to make Jesus look good as I enjoy His goodness. The reason for my hobbies, my friendships, my free time, my studies, my children, my house, my body, my retirement … And consider how evil the alternative is. ‘The reason for all these things is to make me feel good.’ Marriages become battlegrounds as each spouse expects the marriage to serve his or her own desires. People become discontent with jobs, friends and more because they aren’t feeding this desire. Then they think that there must be something out there that will work, that will satisfy this selfish reason for existence, however twisted it may be. But there really isn’t. And what can you do when you uncover that fact?

It is so very easy for Christians like us to slip into the attitude of doing something for our own sake. And that is the essence of sin. Satan’s temptation in the Garden was rooted in an appeal to self-centeredness. I realize that it isn’t obvious how my taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon will make Jesus look good – even though it does, or at least can, do that. It will take some effort at understanding even the little things of this life from a Christian worldview. But if we are going to do a better job at making Jesus look good, that’s was we need to do.