When Solomon declares "all is vanity" in Ecclesiastes, he is speaking with as much authority as any human being could. He is not speaking as a bitter, envious "wannabe", who watched others live "the good life" while he struggled and toiled to put food on the table. He succeeded at everything he tried. He knew what it was to attain, achieve, acquire. And, at the end of it all, he declared it "vanity and striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:14)
As I mentioned yesterday, Solomon speaks to my middle-aged musings. By the time you reach age 50, you have watched people succeed and fail in business, in marriage, in recovery from alcohol and drugs, in weight loss, spending habits, in learning to balance life, in "getting their heads on straight." Often, the same people will succeed, then fail again in a few years at marriage, drug rehab, weight loss....
And it's not just personal cycles that you observe endlessly repeating themselves. You see cycles in economics, the weather, politics and religion. What goes around comes around.
There is a certain tedium and futility that comes with these observations. Why put out the effort to help someone lose weight, save a marriage, get off of drugs or alcohol, only to watch them turn around in a few years and repeat the cycle. Is it worth trying to "do good" when it seems to be so easily and thoughtlessly reversed?
I am grateful to Lee Camp, who introduced me to a word during our "Renew" conference at College Church earlier this month: the word is "proleptic".
Webster's New World Dictionary defines the word as "treating a future event as if it had already happened."
Lee Camp explained the importance of living a "proleptic" life as a Christian. Why work to heal people's bodies when we're all going to die someday anyway? Because there will come a day when death is conquered and people live forever in healthy resurrected bodies. So, work today to create a "preview of coming attractions". Live in the reality of the resurrection of our mortal bodies today.
Why work to help people recover from drugs and alcohol or other addictive, destructive behaviors, when so many people return to old habits, only to struggle through rehab again in a few years? Because someday sin will be eradicated and Christ will rule the earth with perfect justice and balance. People will no longer turn to addictive behaviors to escape the pain of living in a world gone wrong. The world will be made new. Work today to show people what that will be like. Live "propleptically".
Why fight world hunger or help create clean drinking water sources for people when those problems will continue somewhere else in the world? Because someday the earth will be watered by the River of Life, flowing pure and clean from God's throne. Live today in the reality of wholesome food and clean water for everyone. Give people a taste of God's future for this world. Live "proleptically".
Why work for peace when war will likely break out again very soon? Because the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, will someday reign over the whole earth, bringing peace to everyone. Live in the reality of the coming peace today. Show others what it will be like. Make them hunger and thirst for righteousness. Live "proleptically."
Thank you Lee Camp for sharing your thoughts and thank you Jason Locke and the entire team who organized the "Renew" conference in 2013. We are blessed!
--Posted by Mama O.
This is a really good insite. I often find myself despairing about the world and how hopeless it all is, but with an attitude that sees things as they will be in Christ's hands, maybe I can overcome the feelings and see the truth.
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