Download Prayer Study Guide

I put this prayer study guide together a few years ago. You can use it by itself or else use in combination with my Christian Prayer For Dummies book.

Download “Live Joy” Bible Study Series

My homegroup is finishing up an eight-session study on my joy book (The Myth of Happiness). I thought I’d share the discussion guide and questions in case anyone finds it useful.

Note that the study is on the topic of joy and not just a study guide of my book. So the book is completely optional. Thus, you don’t need to use my book to find the study useful.

Chinese Knockoffs and the Poor Taste of “God Wins”

And so it begins. Mark Galli’s God Wins is first I have seen in what surely will be a flood of responses or counter-arguments to Rob Bell’s Love Wins. On the one hand, I think it is great to have healthy, lively theological debate about important issues. In fact, at my church, we recently started periodic “point/counterpoint” messages in which David (the pastor) and I take opposite theological sides on a given topic. All that’s great stuff.

The issue I take with Galli’s God Wins has nothing to do with what he may or may not say in the book. Instead, there’s three aspects of this particular book that leave me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Living Joy Sermon Notes

Here’s the slides and notes from my recent sermon on joy that I gave at Cana Community Church.

I Want Something Else

Experimenting with iMovie…

Windows of Opportunity

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It just depended on who you were talking to … Charles Francis Adams was a prominent political figure during the mid-nineteenth century. Politics was in his bloodline—he was, after all, the grandson of President John Adams. But it was also his passion. Armed with a Puritan’s work ethic and sense of duty, Charles believed his time and energy should be devoted to public service and government. His resume speaks to his devotion—Massachusetts state representative, state senator, vice presidential nominee, congressman, and U.S. ambassador to Britain during the Lincoln Administration. Charles was the father of four sons, but given his preoccupation with work, he was not around his family that much.

However, because the members of the Adams family were regular journalers, we know that on at least one occasion he managed to take his eight-year-old son, Brook, fishing. Brook was deeply affected by the experience and wrote in his diary about his father-&-son outing when he returned home that evening, “Went fishing with my father; the most glorious day of my life!”

When I first read Brook’s account, I thought that Charles, as busy as he was, was able to relax and enjoy the brief time away with his son and give him his full attention. Perhaps Charles even got a bit misty-eyed thinking about how quickly Brook was growing up. But when I dove further into the story, I discovered that I was plain wrong. Charles may have been pleasant enough with his son, but his mind was somewhere else. He logged an entry in his diary for that day saying, “Went fishing with my son today; a day wasted.”  Clearly, Charles would have rather been at the office getting work done than fishing with his son.

Continued on New Man web site >>

The Finish Line Obsession

Back in 2008, my family and I rode across the country on our bikes on The Expeditionary Man Bike Tour. Symbolically beginning the journey, we dipped our rear tires into the Pacific Ocean and then straddled our bikes and pedaled eastward. Riding 10-12 hours each day over the next three weeks, we had a single, all-consuming cycling goal: to dunk our front tires in the Atlantic Ocean to complete the crossing.

Purpose-Driven Creatures

  When I look back today on that bicycle trek, I don’t much think of that finish line anymore. Yes, I appreciate actually making it all the way across, but what I truly relish are the experiences, many of which were difficult, that we had on route. I recall that dreadful first day in the California desert thinking I’d never survive the 115 degree temperatures; the climb up Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in North America; and the ride across the Oklahoma plains in a 30-mph headwind. At the time, I didn’t savor these events much, given my preoccupation with the finish line. But, these hard times are exactly the memories which linger in my mind as the years go by. For it was in these tough moments that we were all stretched, pulled, and tugged – ultimately growing individually and collectively as we persevered through them.

I think a Christian walk is much the same way. We are purpose-driven creatures living in a goal-focused society. We are consumed, even obsessed by finish lines. Yet, as I study the Scriptures, I am learning to realize that God does not give much importance to end goals like we do. Yes, God is concerned about our aspirations, but I suspect He is far more interested in the growth that occurs in our lives in pursuit of these ends compared to the actual goals themselves.

Pitfalls of Finish Lines

In reading Paul’s epistles, it is clear that the overarching ambition of a disciple should be to become more like Christ today than we were yesterday. However, in real life, we allow ourselves to become preoccupied with far more practical, down-to-earth finish lines. These can be grouped into two categories.

• Unfulfilled desire is one kind of finish line. Examples of this include a better job, a larger home, an early retirement, or savings for college. While striving for these goals is not bad, the pitfall with this type of finish line is that it often becomes a distraction to our walk with Christ. We become preoccupied with that “future something” rather than being content with the present. But in so doing, we end up doing exactly what I did on my bike trip: ignoring the opportunities God was providing along the way in my quest for an end thousands of miles away.

• Resolution of uncertainty is a second type of finish line. When we face a major decision, significant life change, or insecurity, our natural tendency is to simply want the ambiguity to be over and done with, so we can get on with our lives. The pitfall in this case is that resolution becomes the security for us rather than trusting in God in the midst of the process.

In our walk with Christ, we need to stop thinking of the time before the finish as an ordeal to withstand while we await the outcome. Instead, the pursuit needs to be seen for what it actually is: God’s gift to us as believers. For it is in precisely these times that we choose whether we are to become more like Christ or more like the world; whether we will find more of our security in the Lord or in our own crafted solutions; or whether we will choose contentment today or hold out for a prize at a later time.

Learning To Embrace The Race

When you face uncertainty and trials in daily walk, consider four practical steps that you can take “embrace the race.”

First, recognize the growth opportunity. Whether we are faced with a big decision or are focused towards a long-term goal, we first need to discern the Lord’s hand in the situation and realize it as an opportunity to grow in Christ.

Second, trust Him. It sounds simple, but trust is surely the biggest obstacle to getting rid of this finish line obsession. If I earnestly believe God is leading me along towards the finish line, insecurity and uncertainty will be removed. Oswald Chambers offered a great outlook on trust when asked about how he was dealing with an unsure situation in his life:

I do not know [what the outcome will be]. However, He knows and I know He knows, and I know that I’ll never think of anything He will forget, so I just go steadily on as I have always done, and He will engineer the circumstances.

As Chambers says, we have a God that engineers circumstances. But until I fully believe that promise and live it out in faith, I will never be able to take my eyes off of the finish line. Without this level of trust, I will inevitably feel compelled to manufacture the result rather than relying on God to do so.

Third, get perspective. Uncertainty and goal quests have a tendency to become all encompassing, causing me to lose perspective. Yet, in the midst of the race, we need to step back and look at the situation in light of eternity. When I get to heaven, I don’t suspect that I will dwell too much on my earthly finish lines. Instead, I think we will be relishing the journey we made towards those ends, for that was when we grew the most in our relationship with Christ.

Fourth, commit to the only finish line of importance. Each of us need to get focused on our true aim in life as a disciple – throwing out, one cell at a time, our sin nature for a Godly nature; this commitment should also transform my prayer life. So, when I pray, I need to pray not just for the outcome, but for the race as well. Praying for contentment and trust on route regardless of the outcome is a true litmus test of where a disciple’s heart is. If all I really long for is the finish line, then perhaps I am really using God purely as a means to that end. But if I properly balance the end goal with my pursuit of it, then I can fully experience the growth God intends for me in the midst of this race.

An Unmistakable Gospel Trail: Introduction to the U2 Unplugged series

U2 occupies a unique position – not only in the music world, but popular culture in general. Time‘s “Man of the Year”. Designer iPods. Super Bowl halftime shows. The (RED) initiative. And meetings with heads of state and the church about the AIDS crisis in Africa. The influence of the Irish band, particularly its front man Bono, seems to be everywhere. When asked to describe U2, Bono recently reflected, “The band always feels like it’s coming, never that it’s arrived.” Not only does Bono’s description reflect the ever-freshness of their music and their ability to reinvent themselves, but also the spiritual journey of the band members themselves: Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullin.

Since the band released their initial album Boy in 1980, each of the foursome have experienced the best and worst the world has to offer. To borrow from one of their most popular tunes, each has both “climbed the highest mountains” and “held hands with the devil”. Yet, regardless of the highs and lows of their personal walks of faith, the Christian truth expressed in a large body of their work is unmistakable. Whispers of Christ’s teaching show up in some spots, and direct quotes from scripture are found in others. And, when you look at their discography as a whole, you can see a clear “Gospel trail” – signs that much of their music is written from a perspective that assumes, even requires, biblical Christianity. I discovered that “Gospel trail” for myself growing up in the 1980s when I listened to my first U2 album, War. In fact, I was recently reminded of the spiritual influence that their songs had on me during that time period.

During the process of writing the U2 Unplugged series, I serendipitously stumbled upon an old, worn-out Bible that I’ve kept stored away since my high school days. A photocopy of the lyrics to “Drowning Man” was taped inside the front cover of the Bible. Perhaps foreshadowing this series, several lyrics were circled with notes scribbled in the margin. Even back then, I was eager to unplug the Christian truth found inside their songs.

The Faith Watcher

  U2 is described in the media as hip, savvy, timeless, globally conscientious, and spiritual. But it is that “spiritual” element that has always been so hard for me to fully understand over the years. Are they or aren’t they? That’s the question that I tossed around since the mid-1980s concerning the faith of U2. When I first heard their War release back in high school, I rapidly jumped on their wagon.

I was excited about this new band from Ireland singing bold expressions of faith in the mainstream rock music world. Yet, the band’s historic reluctance to fully discuss their faith, their shunning of the “Christian band” label, lack of association with any church body, and sometimes outlandish behavior left me both cockeyed and bewildered as the years passed. I remember first growing skeptical with the release of Joshua Tree in 1987. Instead of straightforward expressions of faith that I was used to hearing in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) world, I was shocked to hear what seemed to be a murkier message in the album. Bono’s confession that “he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for” caused me to superficially conclude that U2 was no longer satisfied with Christianity and was looking elsewhere for answers.

Then, as the 1990s rolled in, the band seemed to be moving even further and further away from where they began. Gone were explicit statements of faith in their lyrics, replaced by songs that seemed to be obscured with irony. Some of the on-stage antics of Bono in their Zoo TV tour seemed a far cry from what I considered acceptable “Christian behavior”. In fact, MacPhisto, Bono’s on-stage persona who was supposed to be the devil himself, made it seem to me like Bono had gone over to the “dark side.” From my perspective, the “band of consciousness” moniker was being replaced by a reputation of being sensational and outlandish. At some point in the 1990s, I suppose I wrote them off for good, concluding that U2 abandoned whatever Christian roots they had in favor of rock stardom.

Yet, throughout this time, David, a close friend of mine, always saw things differently than I did. A long-time believer and diehard U2 fan, he urged people like me to look beyond the obvious showmanship and see what was really happening. David pointed to the deep spiritual questions that were raised by the Zoo TV and PopMart tours, even if the presentation didn’t seem “Christian”, at least to evangelicals. He held up Bono’s MacPhisto as an updated version of something C.S. Lewis himself did in The Screwtape Letters. He argued that I was too easily distracted with the superficial stuff, such as obsessing over the title of the song “The Playboy Mansion” while completely ignoring the profound biblical message contained in its lyrics.

I’ve come to embrace David’s perspective, especially since the releases of All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The band seems to not only be returning to its musical roots in these albums, but Bono, at least, appears to be more open about his faith than ever before. In addition, I am not sure whether spiritual maturity or artistic direction is driving the changes, but U2 seems less concerned with irony and shock these days and more bent on delivering clearer messages in their music. Plus, because of his passion over the AIDS crisis in Africa, Bono is reaching out to evangelicals more than ever before, and building bridges in the process.

The difference in perspective that I’ve had goes beyond just what U2 has done, however. I’ve changed as well. As I mature in my spiritual walk, I am discovering that I need to dive deeper and not be so quick to react to appearances. I need to look at the heart and motivations of person rather than being distracted by his or her outward behavior. What’s more, I need to awaken to the truth that God can use a believer who is much different than I am, in ways that I may not always understand.

Therefore, looking back, I realize that my dismissive attitude towards U2 in the 1990s was, in part, because of my personal lack of grace. If I am quick to hold up that “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” expression for myself, why am I so stingy in letting others used it? Instead, I’ve discovered that I can disagree with Bono on some issues, but still see him as a sinner saved by grace in Jesus Christ. I can lament that the fact that the band members have not more vocal in their personal witness, yet have my Christian walk be transformed by their music anyway.

Finally, because U2 is constantly in the spotlight, I can be tempted to hold them up to a standard like I do such people as Billy Graham or such CCM fixtures as Casting Crowns or Steven Curtis Chapman. Whether those expectations are fair or unfair is secondary to the realization that every believer – Bono, you, or I — is on a spiritual journey. We all do stupid things. We all do things earlier in life that we cringe at later. In short, we are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God. By God’s grace, however, we are all slowly maturing in our walk with Christ. Therefore, my desire is to show the same grace towards U2 and my neighbor and Jesus Christ shows me.

About This Series 

The U2 Unplugged series of blog posts were chapters originally intended to be published as a book back in 2005. However, due to legal complications with reprinting the lyrics (thanks Universal!), the publisher I was working with at the time decided not to go forward with the project. The chapters sat on my computer for two years while I was trying to figure out what to do with them. In the end, I thought that the best solution was simply to make it readily available on my blog.

As you read through the U2 Unplugged series, I encourage you to dive into the meaning behind each song’s lyrics, discover their biblical foundation, and get practical about how you can apply these truths to your life. To help you out, I’ve included two things at the end of each chapter: an Action Steps box providing specific challenges to get you started living out the truth seen in the song, and a Diving Deeper box giving you Bible verses, books, and films that you can turn to for further exploration of the song’s theme.

Finally, keep in mind as you read U2 Unplugged that music is an art, not a science. U2 lyrics, in particular, are famed for their ability to be interpreted in many ways. While I attempt to tap into the meaning Bono and the others had in mind when they wrote the song, I am certain that I will take their lyrics into directions much different than U2 ever intended. So as you read through this book, keep in mind that I am offering an interpretation of the lyrics but not the official interpretation. However, that’s one of the best qualities of music. We can experience the music for ourselves on our own terms and allow God to use it to transform our lives, even in ways that U2 never dreamed of.

A Gritty Faith: Unplugging U2′s “40″

I am convinced there is a “Now gene” swimming inside every human body. A two-year child reaching out for a toy at the counter never sees next week as an option. A couple madly in love yearns to be together tonight, not tomorrow. Much of our postmodern economy, in fact, is built on the importance of Now: credit cards, downloadable music, video-on-demand, lottery tickets, to name but a few examples. Pundits call us the “instant society” for obvious reasons. If we have a “Now gene” that influences us towards instant gratification, I can easily guess its source of origin – our humanness.

On the one hand, you can make a case that this desire for the immediate isn’t altogether bad; perhaps it is the natural response that any person, bound by time and space, will inevitably have. On the other hand, Satan recognizes “Get It Now” as one of his most effective weapons, because it allows us to receive what we most desire without requiring any inward change on our part to get it.

The net effect of an undisciplined “Now gene” is that we become spoiled, unappreciative, and self-absorbed creatures. But, as you explore the scriptures, you will see that God has a much different sort of genetics in mind: he wants to infuse our spiritual blood streams with a “Waiting gene.” When we need his help, God promises to be there for us. But, before he takes action, God often wants us to hold out, just a while longer, and then he will engineer circumstances in our lives and rescue us according to his timetable.

On the War album, U2 features two songs, both heavily influenced by the Book of Psalms, that show two different types of rescues that God makes in our lives. In “Drowning Man”, they sing of God’s instantaneous rescues, particularly when eternity is at stake.The final song on the album, “40” [lyrics] [iTunes], explores a much different sort of saving act: a deliverance from earthly pain and hardship that takes a far longer time to realize. Echoing the words of David in Psalm 40, “40” initially sounds like a simple song of worship. But, as you look closer, a remarkable real-world texture begins to surface. The juxtaposition of gratitude, hope, and desperation in the song reflects the ups and downs every believer has living in this world.

God’s Certain Rescue 

Life’s problems have an uncanny way of weighing us down. A serious health ailment. Financial crisis. A shattered relationship. A personal betrayal. When circumstances like these arise, we can become so overwhelmed with life that we feel ourselves sinking deeper and deeper into a bottomless hole. That’s exactly what Bono sings about in the song “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” from the All You Can’t Leave Behind release. We can dig ourselves into a pit so deep there is no way we can possibly free ourselves emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. If “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” explores the problem of the mud pit, the song “40” shows the way out. We can’t pull ourselves out of life’s holes, but God will eagerly do so for us if we only call on him for help. As “40” begins, the song speaks of that promise by quoting the first two verses of Psalm 40. In the words of David, Bono sings:

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

When you find yourself in a pit and cry out to the Lord, he will “incline” – or turn to you – and hear your cry. Throughout the Bible, you read God’s response. To paraphrase 2 Chronicles 7:14: If you will humble yourself, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from your sin; then will I hear your cry, will forgive, and will rescue you. Even more revealing is the father’s response in the parable of the Prodigal Son, told by Jesus in Luke 15. When the father sees his down-and-out son returning to him, he is so stricken with affection for his disobedient son that he sprints out to rescue him. When you experience God’s deliverance firsthand, you begin to develop the kind of steadfast faith in God that is evident throughout “40”. No longer can his help be dismissed as mere coincidence. Seeing how God engineers circumstances, you realize the active role that he plays in your life on a day-in, day-out basis. In the song’s second verse, Bono continues reciting from Psalm 40:2:

He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm

God’s rescue is merely the starting point for us. He sets our “feet upon a rock” so we can grow closer in relationship to him. The “rock” Bono is singing about is God himself. A rock is a common symbol used throughout scripture to refer to the steadfastness and dependability of God. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,” says David in Psalm 18:2. He adds later in verse 31, “Who is the Rock except our God?” Jesus Christ is also described by the apostle Paul as being “the Rock” in 1 Corinthians 10. Once our lives are based on him, then we can be certain that when we experience problems, we will not be alone; Jesus Christ is right beside us and is our source of strength. The apostle Paul sums it up, saying “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18).

When we experience the delivering power of God working in our lives, our natural response is, using Bono’s words, to “sing a new song”. We can’t be the same people as we were when we wallowed all alone in the “miry clay.” This new song is full of hope, trust, and confidence that God loves us, is watching over us, and engineers circumstances in our lives. As we “sing a new song” in a life of faith, we will naturally help draw others to him. “Many will see and fear,” sings Bono. The fear he is singing of isn’t a panic-stricken emotion. Instead, he is talking about a deep respect and awe for how great the Deliverer really is.

Rollercoasters

This new song, however, must be sung with patient lips. “I waited patiently before the Lord,” sings Bono at the very start of “40”. It’s clear that God does not immediately wave his magic wand and deliver him from the pit. Instead, the song conveys the sense that his rescue was a long time in coming. Patience, therefore, is a key character trait that a believer needs to build up in our lives when we look to God for help. The song “40” reinforces that belief: you see an unmistakable message that God is faithful in answering us, but in his time, not ours. Patience, however, plays out as a rollercoaster ride. In full sincerity, we commit to being content in the midst of difficult times. And when the storms begin to hit us, we can echo the apostle James and “count it all joy”, knowing that God is working in our lives. Yet, as the days, months, and maybe even years drag on, we’ll inevitably begin to cry out just as Bono does in the song’s refrain, “How long to sing this song?” This honest question of “How long?” rings loudly through many of the Psalms. Sounding much like the refrain of “40”, Psalm 6 says:

I am absolutely terrified, and you, Lord—how long will this go on? Come back, Lord, rescue me! Deliver me because of your faithfulness!

David goes even further in Psalms 13:

How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? How long will you pay no attention to me? How long must I worry, and suffer in broad daylight? How long will my enemy gloat over me? Look at me! Answer me, O Lord my God! Revive me, or else I will die!

Even Psalm 40 starts with a content hope (“I waited patiently for the Lord”), but concludes in verse 17 on a far more impatient tone: “O my God, do not delay.” The strain expressed in “40” between patience, hope, and desperation mirrors the reality of what it is really like living as a believer in a fallen world. A gritty faith contrasts with a Teflon-coated, smiley-faced faith that is often lauded in churches but rarely lived out consistently in our lives. Like David illustrates throughout the Psalms, we live in a state of constant tension between our spiritual hope in God’s deliverance and our human desire for it to happen now.

Fortysomething

“How long?” is an open ended question in “40”, just as it is in real life. The lack of concrete answers can make us wonder whether God is simply being cruel to us since he could make anything happen with the snap of a finger. George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon begs to differ, “Never think that God’s delays are God’s denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out.” Perhaps the song title itself even gives a clue as to “how long” God will allow pain and suffering to continue in our lives. Thumbing through the Bible, you’ll see that the number “40” has a special importance throughout the Old and New Testament. When Noah was in the ark, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before returning to Egypt to free the Israelite slaves. The newly freed Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the desert before entering the Promised Land. And, just before Jesus started his earthly ministry, he spent 40 days fasting in the desert, being tempted by Satan for much of that time.

For each of these long periods of waiting, God had a specific purpose to accomplish. As these people went through trials, they had to fully rely on God and trust in his deliverance. In the same way, God uses the “fortysomething” periods of our lives to prepare, transform, and bring us closer in relationship with him. Author Oswald Chambers observes that God deals with us just like he did with his Son Jesus Christ: “God engineers our circumstances as He did those of His Son; all we have to do is to follow where He places us. The majority of us are busy trying to place ourselves. God alters things while we wait for Him.”

On this earth, our spiritual blood streams will always have a mixture of “Now genes” and “Waiting genes”. When we are young in our faith, impatience for immediate results will rule our lives. But, as we grow closer in our relationship to God and allow Christ to be the “Rock” of our lives, he begins a spiritual transfusion: replacing the “Now genes” one at a time with “Waiting genes”. As we permit this to happen, we become molded into, to borrow a C.S. Lewis term, “little Christs.”

Action Steps

In “40”, U2 explores the rollercoaster nature of the Christian faith. As you ride that coaster, take the following action steps: On a piece of paper, draw a maze that has a path from a beginning opening to an ending. Then, trace a route from start to finish. As humans with a limited perspective, we can only see life in the here and now, while God sees now in light of eternity. It’s as if we are going through a life-size maze in search of the exit door. Yet, as we walk through this giant puzzle, we can only see what’s immediately before and behind us. We can’t even grasp how far our current position is from the exit nor make sense of how where we are relates to the overall maze.

In contrast, God has a bird’s eye view of the entire puzzle: he clearly sees the best path to take between the beginning and end points. As we walk through the maze, his path can seem dead wrong – an unnecessary series of twists, turns, and detours. But, from God’s standpoint, he knows the path you are on is necessary to accomplish what he has purposed – reaching the prize. Watch the film Signs and observe how God engineers circumstances in the life of Graham Hess to lift him from the “miry clay” to save his son and restore his faith. Remember that in real life, God does the same thing.

Diving Deeper

Psalm 40, 6, and 13. James 5:10-11

Glimpses of a Far Off Country: Unplugging U2′s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”

“I Found It”. This slogan was used by an evangelistic organization back in the mid-1970s as a creative way to spread the gospel through mass marketing techniques. As a child growing up during that era, I remember yellow “I Found It” bumper stickers, t-shirts, billboards, and advertisements appearing everywhere around our home town. But as I look back at that campaign, I wonder how effective the slogan really was. There’s some truth in the message, but “I Found It” seems too simplistic and perhaps even misleading to describe the Christian faith. After all, believers aren’t immune to problems: we still struggle with addictions, experience tragedy, and make lousy decisions. We get a taste of Jesus Christ and his fantastic plans for us in the future, but never experience them fully as long as we are living in this sinful world.

In one of their best known songs from their entire discography, U2 sings about an incomplete journey of faith in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” [Lyrics] [iTunes]. On the surface, the title may sound like a confession of unbelief. But, in reality, the song is an honest look at the struggle that all believers face as we seek a fulfilled life.

Flickers

A longing. It’s the pang in your stomach when you’re in love. You can sense it as you gaze over the glorious snow-capped peaks of the Colorado Rockies. You can feel it in your soul during a great worship or prayer time. C.S. Lewis observed that this intense desire, which he refers to as “joy”, is for something that nothing on earth ever truly quenches. You can catch a glimpse of it, but this longing is fleeting. In his poem Dymer, Lewis reflects on joy’s unattainable nature: “Joy flickers on the razor-edge of the present and is gone.” Lewis believed that was exactly how God intended it, that joy is meant to be a clue or a pointer to the fact we are made for another place, for his “far off country.” In “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, U2 explores our search for joy, as we seek fulfillment for that deep longing inside each of us. As the song begins, Bono sings of his efforts at finding God:

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you

As believers, we can fall into the trap of thinking that our efforts alone will allow us to discover the prize we desire. If we’re just good enough or involved in enough ministries at our church, then we will be blessed by God and find total contentment. Yet, human effort alone is a dead-end street. Even if we could somehow live a life of faith that ranks along side the best of all time, we will still fall short. Biblical greats like Noah, Abraham, and Moses each had great faith and did mighty deeds for God, but none of these men “found what they were looking for.” Hebrews 11:14 gives the sobering truth, “All of these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcome them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” U2 reflects this passage in the chorus of the song:

But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

Yet, in spite of the fact that this truth is plainly evident by opening the pages of the Bible, you rarely hear this message being preached on Sunday mornings. We much prefer to hear about the “abundant Christian life” that comes to us when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. We don’t want to admit that despite a steadfast faith and our best efforts at obedience, none of us have fully found what we’re looking for. We’re driven to seek, but we never fully find it on earth. Christ’s purpose in our lives is never to offer total fulfillment today. Instead, Jesus heals us from the past, provides joy and contentment in the present, and offers certain hope that our deepest longings will be fulfilled in the future.

Detours

When we fail to recognize that the longing is pointing us towards God and his future kingdom, we take detours looking for joy in things much closer to home. In the song, U2 highlights three common substitutes that we turn to instead of God.

First, we seek fulfillment in physical and emotional relationships. Alluding to Proverbs 5:3, Bono sings in the second verse:

I have kissed honey lips
Felt the healing in her fingertips
It burned like fire
This burning desire

We can look for meaning through a blissful romance or for satisfaction through something cheaper and easier. We can be driven by “this burning desire” and think we’ve found “Heaven on Earth.”

Second, we get trapped in spiritual experiences. Bono sings that he “spoke with the tongue of angels”, perhaps alluding to the time Bono, Edge, and Larry were part of the charismatic group Shalom in the early 1980s. Within the church, sometimes we can get so caught up with experiencing God through emotion-driven spiritual expressions of faith, such as “speaking in tongues”. However, when “experience” becomes our preoccupation and source of fulfillment, then it detours us from God himself.

Third, we look for fulfillment in the world apart from God. “I have held the hand of the devil,” sings Bono. We can hold the devil’s hand and sell out our faith when we look to the world as our source for joy. Not only do big ticket items like career success, money, or fame derail us, but also the everyday things like shopping, hobbies, or our obsession with our favorite sports team. Each of these areas offers partial fulfillment, so much so that you can get lost for decades searching for completeness in them. Lewis recognized that when we experience joy in real life, the danger is putting your focus on the wrong things. He writes in The Weight of Glory:

The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust in them; [joy] was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things…are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of the worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have not visited.

In the end, when you take a detour apart from God, you’ll always end up sounding like Mick Jagger, saying “I can’t get no satisfaction”, since nothing but God will truly quench our thirst for joy.

Pressing On

In the final verse of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, U2 identifies a surprise twist for Christians with “I Found It” stickers on their bumpers: The more you grow in your faith, the more you realize your inevitable incompleteness in this life. Bono sings of his steadfast belief in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross. However, in spite of that faith, he finds himself “still running”. The lyrics go like this:

I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
But yes I’m still running
You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross
And my shame
And my shame
You know I believe it
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for

Some Christians listen to this part of the song and conclude that Bono is turning on his faith — complaining that he’s still not satisfied even after coming face to face with the reality of Jesus Christ. Yet, far from saying anything radical, Bono is simply expressing the same thoughts that the apostle Paul wrote Philippians 3:12-14:

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Like Bono, the apostle Paul made it clear that he still hadn’t found what he was looking for. Instead, his focus was to strain forward to what is ahead and press on towards the goal of joy in Jesus Christ.

Action Steps

U2’s classic “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is an honest, heartfelt account of a believer who realizes that he won’t find true joy on this earth. As you consider your faith, check out the following action steps: Get out a piece of paper and jot down five areas of your life in which you seek fulfillment. After you make your list, go down each item and consider how each of these areas fall short of the fulfillment that we are looking for. Then, give each of these areas over to Jesus Christ. Carve out a portion of your day today for a special prayer session, being honest to God about your faith journey and your search for joy. Take Hebrews 11 and spend several days studying the “Hall of Faith” chapter. Each day, focus on a person mentioned in the passage, looking at his or her life, expression of faith, and the degree to which they realized their life’s goals.

Diving Deeper

Phil 3:7-16, Hebrews 11.