Common Grounds - We're all the same.

"In the end we’re all the same." – Ben Kweller, Rock Musician


We are all the same.
On a physical level, we’re all the same. God made us of flesh and in the end we die. Our hearts stop beating and our lungs fail to rise and fall. Game over. There is no advantage in wealth, privilege, fame, popularity, notoriety, wisdom or education. Modern medicine might delay the inevitable but nothing can change our fate.


All the hours spent at work and school can’t save us. All the stuff we labored to accumulate amounts to nothing. As they say, "you can’t take it with you." Yet, we race around working overtime so we can have more stuff: a new car, a boat, the latest gadgets, a sparkling new kitchen. Will our new toys bring us satisfaction or leave us unfulfilled and wanting more? Are we so intent on our next purchase that we forget to enjoy what we already have?


‘"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.’ Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 captures Solomon’s struggle to find the meaning of life. If death is the end, where can we turn for true meaning and purpose in our lives?


We are not all the same.
Through faith in Christ Jesus we know that the end to our temporary assignment on earth is really the beginning of our permanent mission in eternal life. By the grace of God and the power of Jesus’ sacrifice we are redeemed. Only those among us who believe will be saved. In addition, our daily lives on earth become richer through our faith and our growing relationship with the Lord. Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10 KJV)


A friend asked me this week why I bother going to church. I did my best to share the joy and warmth I felt in worship and fellowship. He agreed that he was a big fan of warmth and joy; he finds all the warmth and joy he desires in sleeping late on Sunday morning. My friend is not interested in church, yet it seems he thirsts for something more.


Jesus has commissioned us to share his joy, his word and his way. As Jesus instructed the Samaritan woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14) Our faith in Christ ensures that our death is not the end. How do I share this good news with my friend?


When the Athenians asked Paul, "You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean,"(Acts 17:20), they opened the door to dialogue. They invited further discussion and explanation. Likewise, my friend asked another question. It was an invitation of sorts: "What if you are wrong?"


Do you know someone so afraid of being wrong or fearful of looking stupid that they refuse to believe? "What if you are wrong?" You can tell he is seeking. There is hunger for understanding and thirst for wisdom in such a question. I offered the simplest of replies; "what if I am right?"