The Gift or The Giver?

“What if earth be but a shadow of the heavens”

:: John Milton ::

Throughout the course of human history, man lived believing in a sacred spiritual realm. Humanity has always trusted in a god, a deity or at the very least something “higher”. The Vikings did not believe their fate was in their own hands, but thought that Odin and his host of Valkyries deemed who would live and who would die in battle. Ancient Greeks looked to Zeus’ authority on Mt. Olympus, praying to Demeter for blessings over their crops, and the Ancient Egyptians trusted a pantheon of gods who affected their daily lives. Trusting in something sacred and almighty has been at the center point of civilization for centuries, and daily life was intimately tied to something beyond this physical world. In fact, no society has every truly attempted to live without the belief in a sacred higher power – until now in the western world.

Unfortunately, casting off belief in god is coupled with dangerous repercussions that we are only now beginning to see because the loss of God results in the loss of all absolutes. Morality, purpose and truth cannot be known in a postmodern world because that world has snuffed out the sacred light that once illuminated our minds and anchored our actions, and thus we are left to wander the metaphysical and spiritual world blindly.

However, what I am realizing is that while society may have cast off it’s belief in “higher powers”, people have not ceased worshipping; they have only changed what we worship. The writer of Ecclesiastes says “man has eternity on his heart,” and this imprint of eternity means that we are created to live for something bigger then this life, and that impulse will always cause us to worship something. If not God than something else – so while western society has indeed taken it’s eyes off the heavens, they have not ceased worshiping, but simply lowered their gaze and now worship the physical things directly in front of their eyes. But as John Milton aptly questions, “what if earth be but a shadow of the heavens?” What if we are foolishly worshiping the shadows when they exist solely to direct our gaze to the sun?

If what I’m saying sounds cryptic I apologize, but thinking of this in metaphors helps me understand the folly of our mistake. It is obviously foolish to look at a shadow and think “wow…that is marvelous” and fail to ever look up and see the grandeur and glory of the sun. To be content with shadows when you could know the glory of the sun is foolish and sad. Similarly, it is foolish to idolize the good gifts God has given us, but fail to ever look up to see the grandeur and glory of The Giver. Relationships, jobs, and delicious food are all good things, but they are only a shadow of the goodness of God. They are wonderful gifts, but they cannot compare to the wonder of knowing God who doing the giving. We must not elevate gifts above the giver because they are simply tokens of love from a gracious Father, but they are not the loves themselves.

Now, it is important to realize three things in this discussion. First, it is vital to realize that not all belief in higher power is good or right. While it may bring morality and absolute truth, it does not bring salvation or proper purpose unless it is belief and faith in Jesus Christ. Living with belief in Buddha, Zeus or Odin is not the same as living under the Lordship of Jesus – He alone can save.

The second important thing to realize is that this isn’t easy. It’s hard to keep God first all the time, and it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of elevating gifts above The Giver. I love sports, so it’s hard not to idolize winning over God’s glory when I play. I love my friends, and it’s hard not to look to them for satisfaction rather than looking to God. I love watching movies, but I really don’t know yet how to watch movies for the glory of God. So it’s hard. But God knows it’s hard and He is a patient God. Being a Christian means learning for the rest of your life, so our job is to pray and ask God to teach us to have the strength to fix our eyes on Him so that we do not elevate gifts over The Giver. 

The third thing to realize is that the goal is not to love sports, friends, or movies less, it’s simply to love God more. Imagine if a father gave his son a new baseball glove. Dad would want his son to love that glove, but he’d want His son to realize the glove isn’t more important than Dad. The glove exists to bring the son joy especially as he enjoys it with Dad as they play catch and learn to throw. A similar thing is going on with God. He wants us to fully enjoy the gifts He gives us, He just wants us to enjoy them with Him, and never elevate them above Him.

As a human, I will worship something. If not God, then probably money, status, success or some other earthly material. But why in the world would I settle for money or success when I can have the joy and wonder of knowing God? He is more satisfying. Plus when you start knowing the one who gives the gifts, the gifts themselves begin to bring about more joy as well. Pretty sweet deal huh?