the empty bucket list...

The classic mental games we play.

If you won a million dollars what would you do? But then again, most of us don't win a million dollars, or know people who have. On the other hand, a closer reality many of us brush up against is, "if you knew you were going to die in a year what would you do?" Watching Nicholson and Freeman living out their "bucket lists" is introspective entertainment, but truly reflecting on how we live our lives in the face of our mortality can be a bit scary. But that's not what I'm writing about... No really, this week in my small group from church we developed a very different question than focusing on death. What about your stuff???

Okay, what would you do if you knew you were going to lose everything you have in three months? In three months your bank accounts would be emptied, your house would be taken, your possessions confiscated, your career derailed, your professional reputation tarnished. There was nothing you could do to prevent it. If you doubled your money, buried gold in a cave, put it in a trust fund, or asked a friend to hold onto it, no matter what you did, the outcome would be the same. In three months you would have nothing to your name... what would you do?

This question came out of discussion Jesus' troubling parable in Luke 16. Troubling because it seems to give a big thumbs up to the dishonest, shrewd, rascal who cheats his employer. There are definitely some cultural things going on which don't blend well with the American mind...but the manager who was going to lose it all was forced to think, what do I do with what I have before I lose it. The "empty bucket list."

What would you do with that you have before it is all gone?

Here are some options I see:

• You could give it all to charity and noble causes knowing you won't have it anyway
• You could just keep on like nothing is different because it is how you want to live (or you're in denial)
• You could drop into a hole, overwhelmed by the impending loss
• You could bless the people you know with what you have while you have it

I'm sure there are options I'm not seeing, but these seem to cover the main options. If you spend it on yourself or just wallow by yourself, in the end all you will have is yourself. You and your memories of how great things once were. It sounds like a lonely and desperate place to be in a time of need. You spend it on yourself; great trips, memories, fun toys knowing it may be your last opportunity... it's an option....

If you give to the faceless masses, you are not much better off. Although the eternal reward factor is part of the equation and a source of hope in adversity... seems like a better option...

However, if you take what you have and generously pour it into other people's lives. If you build relationships and memories with those you are close to. If you share with friends, not to make friends, but just to love them. Not to bribe them into loving you, but out of your genuine love for them...then in the end you really have something - even if everything is lost.

So, just like our mortality and the mortality of those around us can cause us to think about how we are using our lives. The temporal nature of all that we have can cause us to think about how we use what God entrusts to us. 

• Are we being good managers (stewards)?
• Are we building relationships or impenetrable fortresses?
• Are we investing in true friendships or flimsy facades?
• Are we creating intimacy or careers?

Having stuff. Having wealth. These are fine tools when we use them to create what really lasts.