Life in Christ is Good
March 2025 - Bruce Fairbairn, Elder
Over the years, Barb and I have amassed quite a collection of “Life is Good” merchandise. The T-shirts, hats, and paraphernalia often depict nature scenes and sporting events. Others show a guy and his dog off on some adventure. Now, the dog does look a little like our Hazel, and the guy is very skinny so it’s not too far-fetched for me to picture Hazel and me hanging out together!
I like the company’s name and agree with the sentiment that life is good. However, I’m not so sure about its underlying motto: “Do what you like and like what you do.” At first glance, this sounds rather innocuous, but if you parse the statement out, it calls to mind the more negative elements of the Me Generation and its extreme emphasis on self-indulgence, self-centeredness, narcissism, and hedonism. Undergirding that philosophy is the false premise that there is no objective truth. Instead, the worldview tries to tell us that all truth is relative, and it’s whatever you decide it is.
Recently, after taking Hazel for a walk, I started, for some reason, to examine my Life is Good hat. I noticed that the same motto was printed on the inside. It immediately brought to mind the powerful scripture that concludes the Book of Judges: “In those days Israel had no king and everyone did as he saw fit.” Lacking a rudder, Israel experienced horrendous problems as everyone had become his own authority and acted on his own opinions of right and wrong. I guess like an ancient Me Generation.
This decay in social practices and beliefs started soon after the Hebrew people entered the Promised Land. They were increasingly seduced and assimilated by the pagan cultures around them, falling away from God’s laws and the admonition that they were to be a people set apart. Toward the end of his life, Joshua urged the people to “serve the Lord with all faithfulness,” but left them this choice: “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Then, in one of my favorite passages, Joshua makes this life-defining, life-affirming declaration: “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
In sharing communion, we come together as the Crestview family, once again affirming–both corporately and individually–that we will follow Jesus. We gratefully accept the New Covenant forged in His body and blood. We know that Life in Christ is immeasurably good as we allow ourselves to be guided and sustained by the Spirit.
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