Don’t Waste Your Life

John Piper, the author of Desiring God, tells a life-changing story he heard from his evangelist father growing up, a story that haunted him the rest of his life. He writes,

The church had prayed for a particular man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone’s amazement he came and took my father’s hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face, “I’ve wasted my life. I’ve wasted it.” (John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life).

God created Adam with a heart that wants to accomplish a mission that matters. This episode takes a careful look at what this mission is and how it relates to our everyday motivation for living. We then consider some concrete questions you can use to better focus on the mission Christ has assigned you to accomplish in your everyday life. 

This is the second episode in our series, Understanding the Masculine Passions that Drive Us. Last week, we considered the enormous capacity of the masculine heart for loyalty, a deep desire to hear “well done” from our earthly father, heavenly father, or King Jesus. We reminded ourselves that There is no more decorated warrior, no more compelling commander, no more loving master, no more inspiring example, no more deserving king, no more worthy lord….to want to please, than King Jesus. Not only does the masculine heart yearn for a king to honor—but God has shaped the masculine heart to also yearn to impact the world around him, to change it, to shape it, to make a difference upon his surroundings that matters.

What Scripture Says About A Man’s Calling to IMPACT Those Around Him

1. Humans are to rule creation FOR God. God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and SUBDUE IT, and HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Gen 1:28). John Piper writes, Our creation in God’s image leads directly to our privilege and duty to subdue the earth and have dominion over it…This implies that part of what it means to be human is to exercise lordship over creation and give the world shape and order and design that reflects the truth and beauty of God. God makes man, so to speak, his ruling deputy, and endows him with God-like rights and capacities to subdue the world—to use it and shape it for good purposes, especially the purpose of magnifying the creator.
2. Adam, specifically, is placed in the garden to cultivate the garden, i.e. bring out its potential. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to CULITVATE IT and KEEP IT. (Gen 2:15). Adam’s calling is to shape God’s creation, including the relationships that emerge as the earth’s resources are discovered and utilized for the betterment of mankind, goods are exchanged, and the growing population needs just laws to regulated interpersonal behavior. The interaction of goods and services with people, growing families, and worship is called CULTURE—from the verb AVAD, “cultivate”—what Adam is called to do as he IMPACTS the Garden (and world). As the High King’s sub-rulers (viceregents), with the law of God written on their hearts, King Adam and Queen Eve are to rule creation causing earth to be a kingdom of righteousness.
3. After Adam and Eve rebel, their kingdom is surrendered to the triumvirate, Satan, sin, and death. The Second Adam brings the righteous rule of God down from the kingdom of heaven to spread over earth by going to the cross and redeeming Adam’s kingdom from Satan, sin, and death. Now Christian’s recover Adam’s calling to spread the kingdom of righteousness over the earth. Jesus taught, Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt 6:33), and Pray then like this…may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:9-10). Adam’s calling to shape the garden FOR the High King is renewed for the new humanity (Christian men—Eph 2:15, 2 Cor 5:17, Gal 6:11).

The Many Facets of this Masculine Calling to Shape our World FOR the High King

• It begins in Genesis 1 with the command to subdue the earth. This means to conquer, to bring into subjection, to order. Women are addressed in this verse as well as men. The feminine part of subduing may be “bringing order’ at which most women excel. Men have an innate desire to conquer whatever needs to be conquered, the task, the mountain, the opposing team. Boys dream of being the conquering hero. As Dave Murrow observes, Boys do not dream of sitting in a cubicle; they dream of slaying the dragon, rescuing the princess, and absconding with the treasure. My boyhood fantasy was to catch the winning pass in the Super Bowl. I can’t tell you how many times I stretched out my arms and fell across my bed, hauling in that game winner as the crowd went wild in the stands.
• In Genesis 2:15, the Hebrew word for working or cultivating the garden is AVAD. Since Adam’s call is to impact the garden, to change it, Adam is by nature, goal driven. He wants to accomplish. He wants to overcome obstacles. There is a reason why men default to wanting to solve their wives’ problems, instead of listening to their feelings. We are created to solve problems. We are designed by God to change the surroundings!
• This word, AVAD, also explains why men love challenges. Genesis 2:15 teaches us that Adam’s calling is to improve the garden, i.e. overcome the obstacles that prevent it from reaching its full potential. The masculine heart derives pleasure from overcoming challenges—whether it is simply racing from the store to the car or a five-year-old seeing if he can jump off a high table. Men’s hearts are wired to respond to challenge.
• Adam’s calling to AVAD—impact the garden to make it better explains, in my opinion, why men want so much to win. Winning is simply the challenge. It represents the fact that we have overcome the obstacle—our opponent. Do you know any man who even wants to play a game if there is no way to keep score? Keeping score, and winning, can be motivated by pride or insecurity. But more often, they are simply part of the masculine hard-wiring—deriving pleasure from taking on a challenge and overcoming it.
• Adam's call to cultivate (AVAD) the garden means causing its inhabitants to become fruitful. This includes all living things that dwell in the garden, not just the plants, trees, and animals, but Eve, and their children, as well. This masculine mandate is therefore the call to servanthood. We sweat, we work, we expend ourselves, so that others flourish. That is what Jesus did for his bride—he gave himself so that we might flourish, not only live eternally but by his resurrection power poured out by the Holy Spirit in us, partake of the abundant life that is the path of righteousness. At the heart of masculine leadership in the home and church is spending myself so that those under my care reach their full potential. And Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves” (Lk 22:25-26).
• God’s decision to make Adam’s primary assignment cultivating (AVAD) the garden reflects the extremely high value that God places on the development of creation’s potential and human culture, which grows from a garden into a city—the New Jerusalem. Our creation calling means that a man is to exercise dominion for Christ in every sphere of his life—his heart attitudes, marriage, neighborhood, workplace, and every area of society in which he participates. But this calling has often been lost by a branch of Christianity that devalues the physical world and elevates the spiritual world. “After all,” this view argues, “God says, ‘Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ (1 John 2:15). However, the world used in this verse is NOT synonymous with God’s creation. Rather, it refers to the attitude of rebellion against God that is present in our current world and culture—not the entire culture, which experiences a measure of common grace. Christians are not to separate from culture nor make the current culture our enemy—WE ARE TO TRANSFORM CULTURE AS SALT, LIGHT, and LEAVEN. The proof that John's command, “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” does not refer to God’s creation nor to current culture is the next verse, identifies ungodly attitudes within the culture, not the culture itself. For all that is in the world—1) the desires of the flesh and 2) the desires of the eyes and 3) pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. God’s creation and common grace are from the Father!
• God’s decision to make Adam’s primary assignment cultivating (AVAD) the garden reveals the high value God places on vocational work. Many Christian men subtly feel like their time devoted to their vocational work is “waisted.” The idea that “sacred” work—ministry done by missionaries and the clergy—was superior to “secular” work—work done by everyday lay Christians—was a heresy growing out of the way Roman Catholicism rooted sin in the physical world, leading to a sacred/secular divide. Luther wrote to oppose this heresy, the remnants of which still exist: A cobbler, a smith, a farmer each has the office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops, and everyone by means of his own work or office must benefit and serve every other, that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, even as all the members of the body serve one another (Martin Luther, “An Open Letter to the Christian Nobility”).
• This calling to shape the garden and its culture—AVAD—lies at the root of the masculine heart yearning for adventure, identified by John Eldredge in his popular work, Wild at Heart. Eldredge writes, “Adventure is written into the heart of a man. And it is not just about having ‘fun.’ Adventure requires something of us, puts us to the test.” While I believe that Eldredge rightly recognizes this characteristic of the masculine heart, I believe the application of this principle to a men’s ministry emphasis on outdoor adventure is short sighted. Yes, men love the out of doors and challenges. But the adventure is IMPACTING our world for Jesus. The most fruitful risk-taking (which is a part of adventure) is stepping out in faith to share Jesus, speaking truth to those in the culture knowing it may lead to rejection, and standing for righteousness in the face of opposition. In short, the adventure is not in repelling or skydiving but spreading Christ’s kingdom of righteousness over a fallen earth!

How The Fall Affects a Man’s Desire for Impact

God has hardwired the human heart so that pleasure flows into the masculine heart when we achieve our goal—whether it is fixing our broken garage door or mastering a new soft-ware program. The word that describes achieving our goal is the word, SUCCESS. Success can be intoxicating to the masculine soul, driving men to sacrifice their physical health, their marriage, their relationships with their kids, or their spiritual health on the altar of success. We must beware: God’s design of the masculine heart to find great pleasure from impacting our surroundings can easily enslave us to the idol, SUCCESS. Luke tells us that Jesus gave this parable:

The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God (Lk 12:16-21).

Here is a man who was very successful; he reached his goals and then some! But he was not “rich towards God.” What does Jesus mean “rich towards God?” The answer comes just a few verses later in the Luke 12 text. Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, SEEK HIS KINGDOM, and these things will be added to you. Seeking the kingdom of God is Adam’s calling to cultivate the garden, (AVAD) renewed. It is to seek to implement Christ’s righteous agenda in every sphere of a man’s life, his heart attitudes and role as husband, father, employee/employer, neighbor, church member, citizen, steward of resources, ambassador for the kingdom. The rich man of Luke 12 experienced SUCCESS but not SIGNIFICANCE. The only way our lives matter eternally is when we exercise dominion over our lives for Christ the High King. The honor that brings to him matters eternally. That is not just success but significance!

Impact for Christ in the Spheres of Our Lives

Here are some questions and suggestions to help us think through shaping our lives not just for success but significance, i.e. how we can focus on Christ’s agenda—the spread of righteousness, the restoration of his creation to what it was intended to be.

A. Love Relationship with Christ.

• Are you remembering to celebrate God’s unconditional love for and delight in you, as the Father’s adopted son, and Jesus’ bride?
• Think through how all love relationships grow.
• Ask God to give you eyes to see his greatness so you can delight in him.
• When you don’t want to obey him—ask him to make you willing to be made willing to obey and trust him.
• If your repeated surrender to lust makes you feel disgusting to God, ask him to take the truth that you are clothed in Christ’s robe of righteousness from your head to your heart.
• If you are discouraged because trying to live for Christ is so hard, ask Jesus to be your motivation, again.

B. Christ-like Character. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (Rom 8:28-29).

• Think through how you can better focus on becoming Christ-like in your attitudes.
• Since the above verse links trials to Christ-like character, you might try to link the frustrations God is taking you through to character he might be testing.
• You might take 30 minutes to read through the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) or Peter’s chain of virtues (2 Peter 1:3-8), defining each quality and its opposite.
• Ask God’s Spirit to both encourage you and convict you in your growth towards godlines.

C. Love Relationship with Your Wife.

• Ask, “what can I do to better honor Jesus by loving my bride as he loves his?
• Think through her spiritual battles. Do you need to pray for these more intently?
• Have you spoken words of praise into her heart, recently?

D. Love Relationship with Your Children.

• If your kids are still at home, you might ask, “Am I working the plan my wife and I have for the discipline of the kids, or does it need some fresh attention?”
• Do you need to remember again how your prayers actually give strength to them for their spiritual battles (Ex 17:8-13) and to know how much God loves them (Eph 3:17-19).
• Is there an encouraging word you might say or text to them?

E. Workplace.

• Have you gotten worn down in praying for opportunities to love well a few of your closest friends at work, whom God has put on your heart?
• Do you need to be more compassionate (or firm) towards those who work for you?
• Is there anything you can do at work to cause the work environment to be one that values every human as a precious image-bearer of God?

F. Neighbor/Nation.

• Is there a sphere of culture where you have influence in which you need to make your voice heard protecting the unborn?
• Is there a sphere of culture where you have a burden to winsomely make known the argument that radical transgender ideology is harming teen girls in the fields of medicine, public education, government policy, women sports?  

Nobody wants to waste his life—especially the followers of Christ. May we know the pleasure of significance because we know we are impacting every sphere of our lives for Christ!

For Further Prayerful Thought

1. How would you support the idea that men are made to impact the world around them through the Biblical texts of Gen 1:28, 2:15, Matt 6:9-10, 6:33?
2. In your everyday experience what are some examples of typical masculine behavior that support the idea that men are created to accept the challenge of overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal?
3. What would you say is the difference between success and significance?
4. Why do you think many men don’t understand that their calling to the workplace is just as holy as the call to ministry?
5. Why do you think so many Christian men fail to see that seeking to spread Christ’s kingdom of righteousness over earth is the renewal of Adam’s call to spread the kingdom of righteousness over the earth, as the potential of God’s creation is developed?