THE COST OF A MEANINGLESS LIFE

Most seem to acknowledge the fact that if there is no Law-Giver, there cannot be any objective moral law in a lawless and un-designed world, apart from those moral principles that we create for ourselves.

Likewise, in a meaningless world, there can be no objective or higher meaning apart from what we arbitrarily create for ourselves. However, non-theists also tend to claim that this isn’t a problem.

However, does our self-created meaning give us what we psychologically and emotionally need to live a full life? Does it provide for us an adequate purpose for living. Evidently not:

• A UK wide survey reveals the extent to which the younger generation feel disillusioned, with the majority (89 percent) of 16-29 year olds, claiming their life lacks purpose or meaning. (sun.co.uk; August 1, 2019)

It is not surprising that they cannot find meaning if they don’t believe that meaning even exists. Secularism has closed the door on them by ignoring or denying God. Promising them freedom, it has deprived them of a meaningful freedom in which their choices truly matter. Instead, secularism has condemned them to live in a flat, two-dimensional world where freedom is only a matter of choosing from meaningless choices about how they can fulfill themselves.

Besides, it seems that the youth are unable to perceive how they have been deprived of meaning. Even though they deny its existence, they still think that intrinsic meaning is available through giving to others:

• 83 percent feel they would achieve greater purpose if they could contribute more to their local community.

While the idea of giving is wholesome - and I heartily commend it - they are merely giving in order to get. How so? Without giving out of gratefulness to the God who loves us and gave His life for us, giving has been denigrated into a form of self-help. However, self-help is not virtue. Although people give out of gratefulness to parents and friends, it doesn’t seem to be enough:

• According to the study, the average Brit spends over half an hour (34 minutes) a day dreaming of a better, more fulfilled life.

While they can dream about it, they have no idea where to find it. They are understandably hungry but have rejected the wholesome food, which can lift them out of their self-obsessions. They are trapped by the self-centered pursuit offered by secularism and cannot find the way out.

I am not saying that secularists do not generously offer their services. However, as moral relativists, they lack any objective rationale to act virtuously apart from what comforts them. What then happens when they no longer derive comfort from volunteerism, which can become very tedious?

Even worse, when giving is not accompanied by objective wisdom, it can create problems. Our minds can become alienated from our hearts. Let me try to explain. When altruism is driven by the need to fulfill ourselves, careful consideration becomes a casualty. As a result, the giver might become a “bleeding heart” because it makes them feel good about themselves. Consequently, they might want to exonerate violent abusers, create sanctuary cities for criminals, and entirely reject any concept of tough love. Meanwhile, the necessity to protect the innocent, abstract principles of justice, and concerns for a safe society tend to take a back seat, because they might not provide the sought-after ego-boast. Besides, when far-sighted wisdom is ignored, some will erroneously construe such concerns as a racist protection for the privileged.

It breaks my heart to see their psychological captivity. Why? Because there is an answer for their meaningless lives in a God who loves them so much that He died for them even while they hated Him (Romans 5:8-10)! I think that I can understand the passion of Jesus as He cried for His people:

• “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”(Matthew 23:37)

Even now they are unwilling. They claim that even if there is a truth, there is no way of knowing it. In contrast, Jesus claimed that if they really wanted to know, they would know:

• “If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.”(John 7:17-18)

Jesus promised that we can know whether or not there is meaning and a Truth worthy of our devotion. We simply need to want it.

We were made for a love relationship with our Creator. When we reject it, we also reject any hope that our lives will be imbued with meaning and purpose we so desperately crave.