The examined life
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
—Socrates
The catalyst for this blogpost was Mary’s and my decision to examine afresh our health-related habits in 2023. As a result, we launched a health reset program with the goal of improving our eating and exercise habits. After all, it’s difficult to fulfill Jesus’ call on our lives if our health fails because we don’t take care of our bodies!
Regarding the examined life generally, it seems many leaders today have determined that the people they are called to serve haven’t sufficiently examined their lives and need some extra help! These include prime ministers and presidents, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, academics and the heads of large corporations. While I much prefer to determine my own healthful living strategies, I wonder when our leaders will be mandating more health-related behaviors in light of their conduct during the coronavirus pandemic!
It seems that many leaders today have a very high regard for their own grasp of truth and, in particular, righteous conduct. As a result, they often exercise their power by dictating appropriate beliefs and conduct to those they lead. In so doing, they assume a role traditionally left to the family and faith-based organizations. In essence, they see these latter as old-fashioned, even morally deficient. As a consequence, they often take steps to lessen the power of traditional institutions in the name of “progress” such as modifying educational curricula and regulating personal conduct beyond existing legislation.
Given that our leaders are demonstrably less than perfect, it is important that we not blindly accept their pronouncements. Thus, there is a need for all individuals (particularly those in positions of authority) to hold themselves personally accountable by objectively and dispassionately examining their own life.
But how can anyone accomplish this lofty goal with so much subjective opinion swirling around? The answer is both simple to articulate and difficult to apply. We need to approach every thought, word and action by considering them through the perspective of someone who is (1) perfect in knowledge and moral stature and (2) committed to helping us live our best lives. Based upon these two criteria, there is only one person who has ever qualified. According to the Christian worldview, that person is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.
Jesus invites everyone in every era to engage in self-examination.
Revisiting Socrates’ opening assertion, Jesus would not agree that the unexamined life is not worth living for the simple reason that He places extraordinary value on every single person. That said, Jesus invites everyone in every era to engage in self-examination. According to the Bible, the most important objective, empirically verifiable truth is that evil is not a “we/they” issue but a “me/me” issue. Put differently, evil runs through every human heart including my own! As a result, we cannot be in relationship with the holy and perfect Creator, who in light of His moral perfection will not countenance evil.
Because of this reality, the starting point to dispassionately and objectively examining our lives is (1) acknowledging the truth about our fallen moral state and (2) wholeheartedly accepting Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and reconciliation that He set in motion through His sacrificial death on the cross.
And once we are in right relationship with our Creator, we must continually re-examine our lives in the light of Scripture. Have you examined your life lately (see here, here and here)?
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
