Gaining the Whole World
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
-Mark 8:34-38 (ESV)
I recently watched a documentary of someone who helped to forge the landscape of the lifestyle marketing trend. It’s so commonplace now—we see it all around us. From Instagram and Facebook to big box stores and even the green grocer—it seems everyone’s selling their lifestyle. I’m tempted to fall into this too. But from the start—my intentions have not been to convince you to buy something you don’t need. On the contrary—it is my hope that what I do here brings some value to your life and points you to Christ, but unlike the grand marketeers of our day—I don’t want my life to turn into some kind of giant marketing scheme. Life is far too precious for that.
The main character of this documentary learned the art of branding her life, and has become extremely successful doing so. And as mentioned—it’s everywhere. You can hardly turn on a YouTube video without someone trying to get you to buy something, using their lifestyle as the launching pad.
As I work to create beautiful content online, I find I must regularly be on guard. My life is not for sale. My desire is to inspire homemakers, wives, and mothers—but there’s a fine thin line between creating for inspiration and going too far. The line between creating beautiful content and making our lives one giant commercial is getting thinner and thinner as the days go on. My heart’s cry is that I don’t fall prey to the commercialization of homemaking that is now so commonplace.
In addition to all of this, the documentary showed the palpable regret that inevitably comes from choosing a career over tending to one’s family. Seeing that grief play out on screen made me think of Mark 8:36,
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Christ—who always got to the heart of the matter straight away, asked His disciples this paradoxical question in the context of what it looks like to lose or save your life. In other words, if we are too preoccupied with “saving” our lives in this life, we will lose it in the next.
Saving your life here and now might look like putting yourself first. It might look like not choosing your family, but rather, your career. It might look like allowing the temptations of the world to overtake you so that your love of Christ grows cold. It might look like becoming obsessed with your Amazon shopping cart, your possessions, your image, your analytics—YOU. Here and now, you might gain the whole world—but lose your soul in the process. And then what?
What do you really have, if in the end—you lose your soul?
The answer is: Nothing.
You can’t take anything here with you.
Watching my father die in December brought this reminder straight to the door of my heart. My own father—once a man of great wealth and many possessions, didn’t have a single ONE of those possessions in the hospital bed with him when he was dying. He couldn’t even take his body with him.
Regardless if we acknowledge it or not, we belong to the God of Heaven. He made us, and we are His. And to be used for His glory in this life will bring with it supreme happiness and soul-satisfaction. Gaining the world will not.
We must stand firm and be on guard that we don’t get lost and prefer our own glory or miniature created kingdoms over Christ’s. It’s a self-promoting world out there, and the current is strong, friends. Gaining the world won’t profit us as Christ-followers in the end.
We must be willing to lay down our lives here and now for His glory and for our joy.
And when we do—I promise, there will be zero regret.
