Peanuts on the airplane...

Life is about the destination, not the journey!

I know, that goes against the tide of contemporary teaching.  We are constantly told to stop and smell the roses, enjoy life, focus on today, etc.

All of that advice has some merit.  We should not just numbly stumble through life, oblivious to the blessings that come our way.  We should seek adventure and chances for personal growth.  We should touch as many lives as we can with the love and grace of God.

All of these things are true!

However, as I was driving to work today I heard a brief snippet from a speaker who mentioned that nobody enjoys a trip so much that they choose to stay on the plane rather than go to their destination.  Even when traveling "first class,"  the plane ride is a means of getting us somewhere.

So much of the teaching today has adopted the humanist approach to life.  According to their philosophies, we should not be concerned with our eternal future, but should be focused on the beauties of the day-to-day human experience.  We focus on the blessings that come our way during this life.  We zero in on what we can get out of life--business success, popularity, companionship, financial benefits.  One pastor with whom I associated used boast about "the favor of God."

I am not demeaning the blessings of God. He grants us what we need to have in order to live the lives He's called us to live.  I am grateful for the many blessings He's chosen to give to me.  I have a beautiful family, a comfortable home, a few close friends, a car, a job, etc.  Those things are in my life because of the unmerited favor of God and I am grateful.

But those things are the peanuts on the airplane!  They are given to us to make this journey easier and more comfortable.  They are given to us to help us accomplish the tasks before us.  Those blessings are not to be our goals! 

We often cling to those blessings as though they were the goal.  Like the Children of Israel hoarding the manna that God had provided, we expend so much energy and time seeking our definition of the blessings of God.  And, like the Israelites experienced, those hoarded gifts spoil and decay.  God's love and mercy are new every morning!  He provides us with what we need for life.  He expects us to work hard and trust Him for what we need.  But, much like the mentality of the four-year-old in my living room, we confuse what we want with what we need.  We are so eager to obtain the little pleasures of life that we lose sight of the destination He has set before us.

Our goal is to be with God.  Our goal is to seek Him.  Our goal is to spend eternity in a love relationship with the One who lovingly created us.  We are the Bride of Christ!  We are traveling toward the Marriage Feast!  Why do we get so wrapped up in the peanuts on the plane?

Sarcasm

sarcasm [sahr-kaz-uhm] noun

1.  harsh or bitter derision or irony.

2.  a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark: a review full of sarcasms.

Origin: 

1570–80;  < Late Latin sarcasmus  < Greek sarkasmós,  derivative of sarkázein,  to rend (flesh), sneer; see sarco-


Sarcasm.  A cutting remark.  A sneering attitude. 

Comes from a term that meant to rend, or tear apart violently, as with flesh.  Like a wolf tearing the meat out of a carcass.  Sarcasm.  An emotionally violent act.

And yet, we live in an extremely sarcastic society.  Sarcasm is the first tool to which many of us turn when attempting humor, or argument.  Sarcasm is what we use to demonstrate our disdain for an idea or a person.  It is also a demonstration of our sense of self-superiority.  It's a prideful gesture.

Sarcasm is often used in place of a sound argument.  It is typically a sign of weak reasoning, or a lack of solid facts from which to argue.  Sarcasm is the first resort of a weak mind.

Yet, we all use sarcasm.  It makes us feel powerful.  It makes us feel good.  It makes others feel stupid and inferior...unless they are sure of their facts.  Then it makes us look like fools.  Attempting to take cheap shots at the intellect of another when he holds a firm grip on truth and reality, and when his belief in that truth is unwavering, is a fool's errand.  It is the mark of a fool.

We profess love for one another, yet commit verbal violence.  It's a sad contradiction.  If sarcasm is derived from the term to rend as flesh, why do we do that to those we claim to love?  Is it to feel superior to them?  If so, then we do not truly love.  Is it to dominate a disagreement?  Then we do not love.  Our sarcasm renders our claims of love fraudulent.

Can we not speak the truth in love?  Can we not simply state facts?  Can we not show our love for one another even in our disagreements?

Your sarcasm does not cause intelligent men to think you intelligent.  Just the opposite, really.  For your sarcasm is a failure of reasoning.  It is mental weakness on display.

It is not included in Jesus' description of the fruit of the spirit.

Just something God's been working on in my spirit.  Thought I'd share.