Keeping Up With the Joneses

I feel as if I’ve just gotten off the craziest ride of my life: A new job, graduation, my parents’ divorce, my wedding, moving twice, big decisions on law school and other things. It’s finally beginning to feel like I am easing into a rhythm. As Eric puts it, we are “coasting” now. 

Why did I initially feel guilt when I realized how much I enjoy this “coasting” season?

I can tell you why.

It stems from a pressure to never be stagnant, to never settle, and to always chase the extraordinary.

That said, I’ve recently been pondering on the idea of being ordinary. I know I’ve blogged about this before, however, I have been reading more on the topic and, as a result, my outlook on life is dramatically changing.

In Michael Horton’s book Ordinary, Horton writes about the greatest fear Christians have today: BEING ORDINARY.

We want the “next-big-thing” and we want it now! We are pressured by different churches and ministries to live a “radical” faith as if that means becoming a missionary, selling all of our possessions, and “really living for Jesus!” Are my husband and I really that lame if we live a simple life, drive paid-for cars, are practically debt-free, still live in the city I grew up in, and aren’t keeping up with trends or buying a home right away? Society tells us, “Yes! You are lame!”

But what if by chasing our “wildest dreams” we are actually avoiding the life and ministry God has ordained for us? He’s placed each of us in a sphere of people, on a tiny dot on the globe, in a breath of history. What if God works best through the seemingly meaningless, mundane parts of life?

Think about it, how did anyone in history ever make a difference without the small conversations, meaningless decisions, and everydayness of the life God gave them?

I believe God does work best through the ordinary. How? Look at the gospel. Did Jesus come into this world as an authoritative knight on a white horse? Did he die a noble death with a smile on his face before crowds of fans? Did he only approach the rich, wise, and extraordinary? Actually, NO, NO, and NO.

The gospel is completely counter intuitive. Jesus came into this world as a helpless baby; he died a painful death by those and for those who scorned him. He was not the least bit “cool”. (Was riding a donkey cool back then? Nope.) He was mocked, hated, and chastised just as he is to this day. Christ humbled himself in order to save us. 

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

This unexpected nature of the gospel is displayed throughout the entire Bible. Time and time again, God uses ordinary and insignificant means to meet his end. He comes to save sinners, he eats with the lowly, and he converses with the outcasts. God’s strength works best through weakness and his redemption plan unfolds in the everydayness and ordinariness of life.  

So how has this impacted my life? Let’s just say a HUGE load has been lifted off of my shoulders as I rest in God’s promises. I can rest knowing that my Father in Heaven is working through my small, ordinary life. “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” 1 Thes. 5:24

It is evident that once you get married it’s all about “keeping up with the Joneses”. Eric and I have already seen this in just the short months we’ve been married. There are invisible benchmarks and milestones that we are expected to meet in x amount of time. Here's an example of how most people aim to live their lives in order to achieve an unachievable extraordinariness.

1. Make lots of money
2. Travel
3. Get married
4. Continue to make lots of money
5. Buy house
6. Have babies
7. Continue to display socioeconomic superiority over peers and look down on those who do not follow steps 1-6.

Sound exhausting? Yeah, I agree. No thanks!! 

Imagine competitive Person A says to you: “Well I did            and my husband did             and we are just so wonderful!” Now think about how freeing it would be if you just didn’t care! 

“Good for you!” you say in response.

Just ponder on this for a while: Christ lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died. The moment we believed, his justification and righteousness were given to us.

It is finished! I am justified and free. I do not need to keep up with the Joneses because, quite frankly, I don’t feel like giving the Joneses permission to run my life by continuously raising a bar that I don’t have the time and energy to meet.

Christian, it is time to start living the life God has given you, as ordinary as it is. We are called to keep our eyes fixed on the prize, Jesus Christ. When we get caught up in “keeping up” or the “next-big-thing” we miss out on what God has for us in the lives he has placed us in.

In sum, this is a journey my husband and I are embarking on. We’ve been set free from the burdensome life of chasing after the wind. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, we are justified and free to be faithful to the ordinary life he’s called us to live. It will always be a challenge to avoid slipping back into how the world thinks, but I hope you let this truth remove your chains and give you rest.  

 

P.S. this is me on our Honeymoon in Tahoe. No, I do not miss my long hair :-)