As we try to answer these questions about what is truly important and how we can be a significant person, our world at large offers counterfeit solutions which lead us through a maze of meaningless activities. A famous musician flying in a private jet is worshipped as an idol—and accorded the ultimate honor of being called a "star" —while a farmer who works the land and produces crops for people to eat is seen as hopelessly out of step and perhaps even ignorant.
The chief executive officer of an investment company on Wall Street whose salary and bonuses for the year total over 10 million dollars is believed to be far more important than a single parent living in a ghetto, raising two children on near-poverty wages.
The parents whose children become doctors and lawyers are regarded as more successful parents than those whose children work in a factory. The bigger the house a person lives in—the fancier their car—the more credentials and diplomas earned, and the more money in the bank, like the accumulation of emblems and stripes and badges on a military uniform, the more successful and more important they are seen to be.
As Christ-followers, we can see that apart from Christ, the road map leading to significance and success in life given to us by our world is fatally flawed because it starts with the premise that our contributions to life will ultimately be up to us.
Ever since time began, men and women have been persuaded that the significance they contribute to and achieve in life is up to them. Ever since time began, success has been defined based on how an individual makes something of their life, so that life is seen as a measure of material success—power, prestige, position and possessions. The counter-intuitive call of Jesus invites us to allow him to make of us something we could never accomplish on our own.
