I don't have to worry about aging (Part 2)

I do remember how confused and frustrated I was after I had just become a Christian when I first encountered this concept of "becoming ever better" but not being able to actually reach that goal in this life. It felt so anti-climactic in its unobtainability. I remember feeling that I had just made a decision to radically change my life, and while I knew there was a lot to learn and that I had to mature on many levels, it felt like an unfairly long haul to me. I'm certain I was not the only one in that part of my Christian faith journey who felt like that. After all, it's very much against what Western societies teach (to differing degrees): You can achieve anything if you only set your mind to it! It's the bread and butter of every motivational speaker. 

This "achieve-it" mentality typically refers to attaining relatively static goals: a particular possession, a degree, a behavioral or time-management change (diet, workouts, more time spent with family, etc.), or a change in relationship status (marriage, start of a romantic or best-friend relationship, divorce). What's different with the Christian kind of achievement is that it's a maturation process. And as you would expect from any process, especially one of maturation or learning, this is not one without setbacks. Constant ones, in fact. So constant that they are only matched—and happily surpassed—by the number of improvements.

Is this exhausting? It sure looks like it when it's spelled out like that. What makes this not only endurable but for the greatest part joyful is the reward of playing in tune with the conductor and, most importantly, the nature of the "conductor"—God. You see, this whole concept of maturation through a long process of failures and successes would not work with a conductor who is impatient and ready and willing to give up. Christians believe in a God who, as the architect of this framework of improvements and failures, must be forgiving. If it were a suddenly attainable goal, like a flash of enlightenment, to become like Jesus, forgiveness would not to have to play a role in the nature of the Christian God. Because Christianity has a realistic understanding of the stubborn, self-focused nature of human beings, we don't believe in sudden and lasting perfection, so God needs to be love. And this is exactly what it says in the Bible.

So, let's come back to why this long process is an advantage. To switch our metaphor, it's like this: Life is one long process of coming home. While Christians will not reach our home in this life, every day brings us closer. Not because every day is a day less until we die, but because it's another day toward maturity. And while our bodies might get weaker—if we make it into old age—our home with God becomes ever clearer, and with every additional day and hour we have a stronger sense of where we belong.