True Fulfillment

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
---Luke 21:34-36

Youth is impetuous. Consequently, many young men and women have little or no conception of their own mortality. This is especially true for men and women that have never experienced warfare or had their livelihoods threatened. This is equally true for men and women that have fallen victim to the narcissistic trappings of modern culture.
 
In his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”, psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that every human being has a basic hierarchy of needs. At the basest level physiological needs like food, water, and shelter are imperatives. Beyond these basics, feelings of belonging and love are necessities. When those needs are fulfilled, social constructs like esteem, self-actualization, and transcendence begin to take priority.
 
Without a doubt, we live in a self-actualized society. With few exceptions, the basic physiological needs of nearly everyone within industrialized nations are taken care of. So too, are feelings of belonging and love. Except for sociopaths and malcontents, most people have a firm sense of place in their day-to-day lives.
 
In many ways, life today is far better materially than at any time since the fall of man. Worldwide, the average life span for men and women is longer than at any time since the flood of the Earth, and infant mortality rates are at an all-time low. Similarly, the worldwide Family Affluence Scale is higher today than ever before. This means that far more people are afforded luxuries today than at any other point in recorded human history.
 
For men and women outside Christ, self-actualization oftentimes presents a debilitating conundrum. Agnostics and secularists frequently struggle with feelings of meaning and satisfaction. Aimless individuals also struggle to find their callings, and this presents a litany of problems.
 
Over the past two centuries, whole industries have taken root that exploit naïve and directionless individuals. Today, the self-help sections of bookstores are inundated with secular and occultic works written by self-anointed gurus. These so-called experts typically promise fame, fortune, and happiness in a formulaic fashion. A litany of self-fulfillment seminars and workshops that promise to reveal the secrets to life also abound.
 
Oftentimes, the solutions offered by self-help experts do little more than drain the wallets of their intended audiences. Worse still, some of the major organizations within the industry are cults. Traveling road shows and spiritual enrichments centers indoctrinate aimless men and women into enrolling in pyramid schemes that promise fortune and self-fulfillment. The Church of Scientology and The Landmark Forum are both notable examples of such organizations.
 
For directionless souls, self-actualization can also be dangerous. Demons pray upon these individuals and oftentimes convince those searching for direction to engage in nihilistic pursuits. Once lured in, it is nearly impossible for them to escape.
 
Society mistakenly preaches that money, wealth, political power, material influence, and celebrity are the ultimate measures of success. Men and women that buy in to this consumptive rat race oftentimes forgo their moral turpitudes to best their rivals. Within this cult of consumption, there is no such thing as sufficiency and consideration of others often falls to the wayside.
 
Tastes of power and material success oftentimes result in cravings for more. The same holds true with fame and notoriety. In our narcissistic culture, self-aggrandizement has become big industry. Admiration and adulation are narcotics, and social media plays to their effects. For some, self-esteem is measured in likes, mentions, and re-tweets.
 
Our culture also glorifies the trappings of celebrity. Ask any Christ-centered actor or musician their feelings on the subject, and they’ll tell you that the lifestyle it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That said, for many celebrities seeing their name featured in the media and in tabloids is more substantial than the merit of their works. Sadly, the same holds true for many politicians and elected officials. The adrenaline rushes they receive when they are showered with unnecessary attention affects their thinking and their judgement.
 
It may surprise you to learn that some of the wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential people on earth go to great lengths to remain anonymous outside their inner circles. They include gangsters, drug dealers, and international financiers, and the like. In their stead, these economic power players foster cults of personality around celebrities and athletes. They intentionally ply these performers with temptations, and oftentimes rope them into doing their bidding when they acquiesce.
 
The media and the press promote these athletes and celebrities as the epitomes of success, and this is by design. Their perceived lifestyles foster a culture of envy and want. This furthers the strategic interests of the gangsters, drug dealers, and financers that fund their lifestyles and ultimately creates a perpetual cycle of envy, want, and consumption.
 
Christ warns that “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19) He added: “Those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
 
Pursuits of transcendence strictly to obtain wealth, status, fame, or fortune stand in stark contrast to Christ’s warning. The same holds true for chasing carnal desires. Both pursuits deviate from the path to happy destiny. Both pursuits lead to the gates to hell.
 
To that end, a vocalist by the name of Kari Jobe recorded a song titled The Cause of Christ a couple of years back. The song opens with the lyrics:
 
The only thing I want in life
Is to be known for loving Christ
To build His Church, to love His bride
And to make His name known far and wide
 
This stanza epitomizes true self-fulfillment and articulates the very definition of success.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to the Son of Man as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to Christ as instruments for righteousness.”
---Romans 6:12-13

 
CHRIST TRANSLATES FROM BEAST TO YEAST. CHRIST OUR LORD RETURNITH.

Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting