Is There More To Life?

“There’s gotta to me more to life, than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.” So goes the beginning of the chorus of a hit song by Stacie Orrico. Similarly, the country group Sugarland scored a chart topper with their song “There’s gotta be something more.” The chorus to that song goes like this:

There’ gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I’m gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I’ve been looking for
There’s gotta be something more”

How often do you find yourself thinking the thoughts reflected in those lyrics? If the answer is often then you are not alone. Seems like both songs have captured the longing of a generation, if not a nation. According to the World Values Survey, conducted by sociologists in 65 nations since 1981, “We see a religious attitude when we ask how often people spend time thinking about the meaning and purpose of life.” Ditto for George Barna, a well known sociologist specializing in researching the state of spirituality in America who noted in a recent study that “millions of young adults are more interested in truth, authenticity, experience, relationships and spirituality than they are in laws, traditions, events, disciplines, institutions and religion.”

This blog gets its title from the emotions expressed in the songs by Orrico and Sugarland and also reflects the reality of a large and growing number of people who are seeking the meaning of life and truth to fulfill that longing in one’s soul to connect to the spiritual. According to Barna, “Spirituality is in vogue in our society. It is popular to claim to be part of a faith community.” But what do people mean when they claim to be “spiritual"? Is it a New Age type of spirituality where God is the same in all forms of religious expression and there are no absolute truths, or is it a spirituality manifested in a Scientology class? Perhaps it’s a kind of “I’d like to teach the world to sing” while connecting to a “higher power” I feel good and I’m a good person kind of spirituality. Then again, Wicca, a form of withcraft, is rapidly growing and so is atheism for that matter, and what about the Christians?

Last year’s Grammy awards were perhaps indicative of a breakdown between self-perception and reality for some who profess Christ. The members of the group that won for best song of the year thanked God for their victory then immediately followed with profanities that had to be bleeped from the broadcast. It seems as if God is in, but living for God is not. Many Christians are living a dual life–one filled with good feelings about God and faith collaborated by some simple religious practices, and another in which they believe they are in control of their own destiny and operate apart from Him. That’s what Barna’s research reveals.

So what to make of this? In his new book “unChrsitian” author David Kinnamin documents the growing cynicism towards Christianity, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment, particularly among young people. The numbers are revealing; just 16.5% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a “good” impression of Christians. Why such a low percentage? This quote from Brennan Manning sums it up: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Kinnamin’s research supports Manning’s claim as it reveals Christians are viewed as being judgmental, hypocritical, old-fashioned and too involved in politics. There is a general perception that something is broken in the present day expression of Christianity. According to Kinnaman, “I was surprised at how many perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches. The title to the Black Eyed Peas hit song “Where Is The Love?” captures what the people surveyed by Kinnamin say is missing in their interactions with Christians.

Christians can focus on defending themselves and trying to prove God’s existence. Or they can show people grace and truth, loving sinners while admonishing the lost to turn from their sin. Jesus was the best example of this. The Bible gives us many examples of how Jesus won over many an unbeliever by the way he loved them. If you are looking for examples, stay tuned.

The mission of SpiritSeek is to communicate a biblical worldview to the unbelieving, the unchurched and to unsure Christians, challenging them to consider examining the reasons why following Jesus and adopting a biblical truth is the most meaningful choice among competing worldviews. Heavy stuff, I know, but by filtering commentary on events of our times through the lens of a biblical worldview and doing so with a pinch of humor and some sprinkling of levity, it is my hope that SpiritSeek will inspire people to reflect upon the core of their beliefs in ways they may have never done before.

Yes, Stacie, there’s got to be more to life and if this blog is successful in helping just one person come to the realization that the “more to life” can be found in Jesus Christ, then I will have considered this work a success. So if your curiosity is even remotely piqued, come on back and check out the many true life stories of Christ alive in the lives of people all around you and discover why Sugarland had it right too. Because there is more to life, so much more.