“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
2 Corinthians 5:10
Last time… we examined the possibility of living for the highs and disregarding the lows. Another way to put it is to say that we are susceptible to building our lives around the “best” seasons or experiences instead of the everyday “ordinary.”
I argued that the highs or mountaintop experiences are for inspiration and formation, not a permanent place or even for ongoing teaching. On the other hand, I challenged us to embrace the everyday mundane.
This final article examines how we appropriate the extraordinary and embrace the everyday mundane.
There are three points to make, beginning with knowing the extraordinary reality of who you are in Christ. The second point relates to understanding godly meaning, purpose, and satisfaction. Finally, we’ll look at Christ to see how to live out our Christ-centered identity and embrace godly meaning.
The first point. If you are a Christian, you are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) because Christ became sin (2 Cor. 5:21) and cursed (Gal. 3:13-14) so that we would receive the blessing of redemption and adoption into His family (Gal. 4:4-5). Therefore, who we are is not based on what we “do” or “experience” but on what Christ has “done” and “accomplished” to make us one with Him. This extraordinary reality is incomprehensible and is taken by faith. No secular materialist will ever embrace or even consider this reality. It’s too remarkable, which gives shape and texture to anything we “experience” as extraordinary. Now, in my Christ-centered identity, I have a lens through which to filter all of life.
The second point. When it comes to understanding our meaning in the ordinariness of life, we’re often left slightly confused and discontent, depending on the day and season.
What do I mean?
Let’s define terms.
- By ordinariness of life, I mean the activities, thoughts, and conversations outside my hours given to sleep each day. These may include work, doing school, sitting in the silence of your thoughts, commuting, eating, exercising, changing diapers, listening to advice, offering advice, completing duties at work, cleaning dishes, cutting the grass, and so much more.
- By meaning, I mean significance in what we do…
Ok. I realize that’s basic, but it’s helpful as we seek to appropriate the extraordinary and embrace the everyday mundane.
Meaning. If I don’t believe or feel that the ordinary activities of life have significance, then I’m off to a shaky start. On the positive side, if I see that my ordinary life and activities are meaningful, I am more likely to engage effectively.
For instance, let’s see how we’re tempted to misappropriate meaning:
- Case study: Two guys were working at a factory, and one was told that he was to be paid $50,000 if he put in 40 hours per week for 52 weeks at the end of the year, while the other was told he would be paid $1,000,000 if he put in 40 hours per week for 52 weeks. Both had to put in the 2,080 hours for the year, but one was promised significantly more money.
- One might show up whistling every morning and overlooking issues and challenges, while the other might not.
- Why?
- What gives meaning in this illustration? The promise of a reward.
It’s the same work but a different reward.
How does this relate to embracing the everyday mundane?
This illustration helps us see that we are tempted to ascribe meaning to desired outcomes over “doing” the work in general. In other words, letting our reward dictate our meaning is easy.
Well, is that really all that bad? I mean…who doesn’t want more money?
The problem is two-fold when we give meaning to an earthly outcome:
It’s fragile, and it changes.
- Problem one: Fragile. Someone else will make more, have more, know more, experience more, and enjoy more than we ever will. There’s always a me-monster out there that will one-up us at any point.
- What happens if you lose your job? Can’t find work? Underemployed?
- Problem two: Change. Physical rewards are defined in various ways depending on the person and the season of the person’s life. In one instance, it might be money, relationships, having kids, getting married, getting promoted at work, and more. It might be rest, vacations, alone time, and more in another season.
- What happens if you get sick? Your loved one dies? You don’t get married? You can’t have children?
In conclusion, if our meaning is based on the fragile and changing rewards, we’re bound to ship mast in a turbulent sea without sail or rudder. We need something or Someone to enter our world and give us true and lasting meaning so that we can embrace the everyday mundane.
The third point. Christ lived, died, resurrected, ascended, is mediating on our behalf, and will one day return to establish His eternal kingdom on earth. Because he did not despise the ordinary but instead entered our ordinary as the God-man (Luke 2:7), grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52), and learned obedience from the things He suffered (Heb. 5:8). Therefore, not only is our identity in Christ, but our meaning is in Him as well. It goes like this:
- If Christ can empty Himself of prestige (Phil. 2)… then I can find meaning in my everyday humility.
- If Christ can empty Himself of power… then I can find meaning in submitting to my authority.
- If Christ can empty Himself of pleasure… then I can find meaning in my suffering (physical, emotional, etc.)
Christ entered our ordinary to redeem it so that we who live in the ordinary might also redeem it for His glory and our good. What’s amazing, though, is that how we live in the ordinary determines how we will be rewarded in the future (1 Cor. 3:14; 2 Cor. 5:10). We’re not told exactly what those rewards will be, but we’re told that they will be there as a result of our ordinary lives!
God help us to redeem the ordinary and live nobly in the valley! Amen!
— October 9, 2024