“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give life a meaning.”
So said the existential philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. Existentialism is the philosophy that there is no God and that life is intrinsically meaningless. Free from God and the absolute meaning, value, and purpose He imposes on us, each person becomes his own creator. Existentialism says that we are totally free—free to create our own meaning, determine our own values, and pursue our own purpose. Some, however, have acknowledged the dark side to this freedom. Freedom from God means slavery to everything else. The existentialist believes that the moment he stops moving, the moment he stops creating—he stops existing. This is why Sartre says that men are condemned to be free. It is completely up to him to make life happen, and that freedom turns out to be the worst kind of tyranny.
Here we find another paradox of the Christian life. As my dad often puts it, “The more I own, the more I worry. The less I own, the less I worry.” Often, we humans believe that if we could just control all the variables in life and get our desired outcome, then we would be carefree and fulfilled. However, being in control of every variable is not an option. For that reason, the more we try to own everything in our lives, the more those things in life own us. When we fool ourselves into believing that we can control all the variables in life, our attention is arrested by and divided among those variables. This enormous responsibility we place on ourselves plunges us into anxiety.
To demonstrate just how little control we have over our own lives, Jesus says in Matthew 6:27, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?” The question is a rhetorical one. Jesus then drives His point home with a second question in verse 28, “And why take ye thought for raiment?” In other words, if you can’t even add a smidge to your height, why do you think you can control anything else about your life? Jesus continues in verses 28-30, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Jesus pointed out that even Solomon didn’t have it as good as these lilies of the field. While Solomon had to toil for His sumptuous lifestyle, the lilies do not have to worry about their most basic needs because God takes care of them.
Now, Jesus is not saying that we should not work to provide for ourselves. Rather, He is saying that we shouldn’t overwork our minds trying to control every variable to get a desired outcome. If God would take care of the lilies, which do not toil or take thought for their lives, He will certainly take care of us—human beings created in His image. We do not have to feign ownership because God has complete ownership. We do not have to fake control because God is in control. We do not have to take thought because God will take care.
So, how can we be like the care-free lilies of the field? How can we win over worry in our lives?
First, we need to remember that there is more to life than the variables. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25, “Therefore take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” Here, Jesus reminds us that our basic life needs—those variables we so often seek to manipulate—are not really what makes our lives meaningful after all. We cannot create ourselves, our meaning, value, and purpose no matter how much we manipulate the variables. Our divided attention among these variables will do us no good in the end. We will remain anxious and owned. Before we can win over worry, we must give up the futile fight for control.
Next, in order to win over worry, we must worship God. The word therefore clues us into the fact that Jesus is still talking about the same general theme: focus. The verse before this, Matthew 6:24, reminded us that what we focus on is what we will serve. Well, Matthew 6:25-33 teaches us that what we focus on is what we will worship. Jesus says in verse 31-32, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Believers in Christ should realize that their heavenly Father is aware of their needs. Unlike the Gentiles (or unbelievers), believers do not need to spend their energy trying to manipulate the variables. Where should their energy and attention be directed if not toward their basic life needs? Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” The word seek, again, speaks of focus—focus on God’s kingdom and His righteousness. This focus on God as the rightful owner of my life and captain of my destiny is a form of worship. Worship is attributing worth to God for Who He is and what He has done. What better form of worship is there than surrendering my life, my perceived ownership to God (Romans 12:1)? We can release our vice-grip on life, we can win over worry with worship of God. The next time worry tries to take over your mind, push it back with worship of God. Begin to extol God for His attributes and for what He has done for you in the past. Tell Him that you are giving Him ownership of your life because He alone is worthy of it. Beat back worry with worship.
A focused Christian does not fall into the trap of “Christian existentialism.” A focused Christian does not seek to create meaning and purpose in his life by trying to control the variables. A focused Christian realizes that his meaning and purpose has already been created for him. It is a simple purpose and all he has to do is recognize and pursue it. That purpose is not to be well-respected, or to have a lofty career, or to garner a great paycheck, or to accumulate a lovely estate. That purpose is simply to glorify God by doing His will.
When we accept and pursue this purpose, the anxiety melts away. The pressure is off because we don’t have to make life happen. We don’t have to make our lives meaningful or purposeful. God already made them so. All we need to do is seek God and work on building His kingdom through Bible reading, prayer, witnessing, and exhorting fellow believers. When we are focused on this—when we are worshipping—we don’t have time to worry about all the other variables. And we don’t have to because Jesus promised that He would add all these things unto us. Jesus has the capacity to be aware of and take care of all of life’s variables at once. We cannot because we were not created for such a purpose. What peace there is in relinquishing a responsibility that was never mine and pursuing my true purpose instead.
So, what variable are you trying to control today? Do you think you need food, clothing, something to do or somewhere to live? Do you want love, respect, or purpose? You will find all these things and so much more when you stop seeking them and start seeking God instead.
The Christian life is filled with paradoxes. One of the most profound is that those who seek to save their lives will lose them; and those who lose their lives, or relinquish ownership of their lives, will preserve them (see Luke 17:33). Life isn’t what you make it, as the existentialists would say. Life is what you allow God to make it. It is God’s job to calculate and control all the variables; it is our job to seek Him first. The power of focus is that Jesus will add to us if we will worship Him.