Many of you have probably seen the movie "Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson. In short, it's a timely and poignant look at what's really important in life, and going after those things prior to one's final day here on this planet. I don't know about you, but I've got a "bucket list" of top priorities to do before I die. They include:
1. Making a hole-in-one in golf
2. Traveling Europe with my wife
3. Experiencing an African Safari
4. Watching a Duke basketball game in Cameron
5. Run a Marathon
6. Giving away my two little girls at their Wedding
One of them is coming true this weekend.
On Valentines Day, an old friend called me out of the blue and informed me that he has free tickets to a Duke basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium for this Saturday. He asked if I'd like to fly out and join him. At first, I dropped the phone, then stammered a response of...
"Holy Cow, are you kidding, it's something I've dreamed of doing before I die. Watching a game at Duke is on my bucket list!"
And while I'm elated to have the opportunity to cross this off my list, it occurred to me just how selfish my list is. Most of the things I want to do before I die consist of things that benefit me, not so much others. In short, I've bought the lie the world is selling that "It's ALL about ME." Not one of my bucket list opportunities has much of anything to do with serving others or advancing the Kingdom. Oh, they aren't bad things, but from an eternal perspective, they are all exceptionally temporal.
And so, in the word's of Derek Webb
"I confess to my pursuit of the American Dream
of living like I deserve Anything
of my house, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we are safe and white."
I'm working on a new "Bucket List", one that, from a Biblical worldview, falls in line with God's eternal perspective on my life and the life of others. Instead of collecting a list of things that would prove my worth and significance, I hope to create a list of things that will carry on far beyond my days here on earth. A list that will resonate in eternity, a list that ties into God's Metanarrative. A list consisting of giving vs. taking, of serving vs. being served, of loving vs. being loved, of denying self and taking up the cross daily.
As you journey through The Truth Project, we pray that your life will be transformed, that instead of seeking your own plans and dreams, that we would all have the courage to give our lives away to others in service and in love, just as Christ did.
I need to go create a new Bucket List!
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