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 "Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do... all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9:7-10)
INTRODUCTION
A middle-aged King Solomon, for all his God given wisdom, embraced a cynical world view spurred on by a jaded life, no longer driven by a cause, adventure or purpose. This is the dominant message of the Book of Ecclesiastes. His life had lost all the wonder of discovery and the idealistically driven causes of youth. However, Solomon's jaded aging was not a result of a mid-life crisis or being on the down side of the hill, it was purely because of his state of mind.
YOUTH, A STATE OF MIND
In the late 19th century, Birmingham poet Samuel Ullman's "Youth" proclaimed, "Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust. Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living...."
A TRANSCENDENT CAUSE
Being born again has helped me to retain my 'youthful' idealism, and even though I am now approaching Solomon's age when he wrote Ecclesiastes, I have a confidence in God that He has more for me to accomplish in the future than what I have seen through my ministry to this point. And that's the difference; Solomon never had a revelation of Christ, or a relationship with Him, to fuel a purpose greater than himself. Having a sense of a transcendent cause shows us that we are part of an eternal plan that was going on long before we got here and will continue long after we leave. We are just one runner in a relay race with the responsibility to pass on a baton to the next generation.
The secularists' putrid path
Solomon lacked this sense of transcendence and many leaders in the Body of Christ today have lost sight of the fact that God and His plan are multi-generational. He is the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob....' The cause of Christ has been fought for the last two thousand years, but our egocentric generation tends to think it revolves around us, taking Solomon's advice of doing nothing but 'eating and drinking' and just living for the day.
In America, the church has been influenced by this attitude and hoodwinked into largely staying out of the public arena and the associated controversy. Doug Giles, Senior Pastor of Clash Christian Church, Miami, Florida, comments, "If Christian ministers would crucify their fear of man, get solidly briefed regarding the chief political issues, not sweat necessary division, not get caught up in last days madness, maintain their hope for tomorrow, understand their liberties under God and our Constitution, not become so heavenly minded they're no earthly good, focus on the majors and blow off bowing to cash instead of convictions, then maybe... just maybe... we would see their influence cause our nation to take a righteous turn away from the secularists' putrid path."
THE CORNERSTONE ISSUE
That is the reason I have invested most of my time and energy in defending the first of all institutions - traditional marriage (see 'Coming Soon' below). It is such a cornerstone issue! For the first time in the history of all nations, all cultures all religions and all civilizations, marriage is now being redefined as something else besides being between one man and one woman. We cannot afford to sit by and not do anything on our watch! If we do nothing, there will be no worthwhile 'baton' to pass on.
IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL
As the abortion debate still goes on after 30 years, so we must be prepared to be in the marriage war for the long haul. It is a worthy cause, a cause to live by and to die for. Not all that King Solomon said was cynical, "A man can do nothing better than to find satisfaction in his work [cause]." Above all, we can take comfort knowing all is not 'vanity,' knowing we can be "...confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:6
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