All Our Needs and Desires

The scriptures referred to are Psalm 40:1-11 and 1 Corinthians 1:1-9.

For more than 20 years at 5 radio stations, I was the production director and copywriter. I wrote and recorded the ads and promos heard on the station. As such I found that there are many reasons to advertise: to simply let people know your business exists, to let them know what you have to offer, and to tell them how to visit or contact your business. But mainly you want to encourage the listener to buy your goods and services. If what you supply fills a basic need, that helps. Everyone needs food, clothes, transportation, and a good doctor. Then you just have to show that what you offer is more attractive than that of your competition. You might offer more convenience or friendlier service or other extras. In Key West just having free parking is a big plus.

But what if your product or service is not something anyone actually needs? Then instead you want to create a desire for what you offer. You can do this by making it seem cool or fun. For example, nobody really needs to drink soda or beer. In fact we all would be healthier if we didn't. Since ads can't talk about the actual effects of the drinks, they show people having fun and doing things with friends while holding a can or bottle of the beverage. Of course, you can have fun without drinking but they don't want you to think about that. They want you to associate their product with good things.

Sometimes advertisers go farther and try to make a desire feel like a need. They make it seem as if you must have the latest cool gadget or you will feel left out by all your friends who do have it. If you don't use this product you will be seen as less attractive, less sexy, less informed, less competent, less cool and less a part of the group you wish to belong to. The idea is to make something that you actually can do without feel like a necessity. They want you to feel that you lack something that will make you happy.

This works on kids. They see a new toy and whine that they need it. But it also works on adults. Look at how people will line up for the latest smartphone which has new features that they have never needed before or even knew existed. Part of it is that we desire novelty. So much so that one guy took rocks, put them in cardboard boxes with care and training booklets, called them Pet Rocks and became a millionaire. Right now someone is doing that with Labubu dolls, as they did with Cabbage Patch dolls and Beanie Babies. And we think that Orcas wearing dead fish on their heads are silly.

“I have something you need” is the subtext of every sales pitch, whether it is from a company, a politician or a cult leader. You need to ask yourself if what they are offering really is a need or just a desire. Not all desires are bad. But you should be suspicious of those who deliberately try to confuse the two. For instance, in today's world having a cellphone is practically a necessity. But do you really need one that will allow you to make studio quality videos or that folds or that has A.I.?

In the same way, politicians always say we need to increase our military budget though we spend more on our military than the next 9 countries combined do on theirs. They don't need to spend more; they just want to. CEOs will always say their company needs to make more money, no matter how many millions or billions in profits they already make. Folks running pyramid schemes always want more people to join and invest. Although, actually, a pyramid scheme does need that or the whole thing collapses.

Lots of cults are pyramid schemes. So cult leaders create and exploit an insatiable spiritual hunger in their followers. They convince them that they need more and deeper spiritual knowledge, which only the leader or his system can provide. They create tiers or levels that they encourage their followers to ascend if they really want to be enlightened. And leveling up costs the followers in money, time and labor.

Which makes for an interesting contrast with what Paul says in our passage from 1st Corinthians. He writes to the church that he gives thanks to God “because of the grace that has been given to you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is not saying “You need to purchase my special course on spiritual gifts for just $29.99.” No, he is saying in Christ you have all the gifts you need to live until he comes again. No add-ons or upgrades required.

And this is “because of the grace that has been given to you in Christ Jesus.” Roman gods did not really care for humans. They were like mafia dons who offered protection and favors in return for loyalty and sacrifices. But the God revealed in Jesus Christ is gracious. He is not transactional. He gives what we do not deserve and cannot earn: his grace. When he created us he gave us gifts of greater intelligence and language and dexterity and persistence. We have used them to harm and dominate and exploit our fellow human beings. And so he gives us his Son, who in turn gives his life to save us from a situation that is our own doing. And all he asks is that we respond to his love by loving him back and by loving all other people, because he loves them too.

Knowing that good news enriches our lives in every way. The world can be scary. Knowing that God loves you lets you trust him and not shrink from life and its challenges. It reframes the way you look at your life and at the people you encounter. They are all people created in the image of God. They are all people for whom Christ died, whether they know it or not. Letting them know about God's love through what you say and what you do gives your life purpose. Knowing that God intends to restore the world to the paradise he intended it to be gives our lives meaning. It also gives us something to do with the talents and gifts he has given us. John Cleese said he did not go into comedy with any greater sense of purpose but when he met soldiers who had fought for their homeland in Kosovo, he found out that every night, after the shooting and bombing stopped, they would hang up a sheet and project Monty Python shows and movies. These comedians gave them the much needed gift of laughter in hard times.

When Paul says that “you are not lacking in any gift” he is not talking to individuals. The word “you” is plural in the Greek. He is talking to the church as a whole. No one is good at everything. Nobody has every gift necessary for the body of Christ on earth to function. (1 Corinthians 12:29-30) Later in this letter, Paul says, “Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are different ministries but the same Lord. And there are different results, but the same God produces all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) In this letter and in Romans 12 and in Ephesians 4 Paul gives lists of some of the spiritual gifts. But nobody is left out and nobody should be envious of the gifts of others. Paul reminds us that “Now it is one and the same Spirit who is active in all these things, individually distributing them to each person as he wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11)

The ultimate purpose of God's grace and his giving us these gifts is to strengthen the body of Christ, and cause us to stand firm until the very end. By each of us employing our gifts to help and serve our community of faith we can stand up to and meet the challenges we face as Christians.

And we are assured we can do this because “God is faithful...” We can trust him. As it says in 2 Timothy, “This saying is trustworthy: If we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13) God cannot go against his very nature. So we can stand on his promises, especially that he will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5; Deuteronomy 31:6) That promise alone is a gift that gives us strength.

Another reason to trust God is that by him “you were called into the partnership of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Unlike a Bond villain, God does not abandon or betray those he called to be his partners. He upholds and equips us. He wants us to be good partners.

And how mind-blowing is it that we are called into partnership with Jesus! He does not need us but chooses to have us work with him. It's like that day when your parent trusts you to help work with them on building their pet project or making their special dish. Jesus calls and equips us to continue his mission to spread the kingdom of God. He doesn't tell us to force others to convert but to plant and nurture the seeds of the good news of God's love revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Paul says to the church in Corinth, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6) We have our work to do but it is God who brings the results.

When I was a copywriter, one thing I could not guarantee was results. We could present the offer in the most attractive way possible but we could not make people buy. The best way to run a successful business is to offer people what they want at a price they're willing to pay. But even reasonable offers can be turned down by some people.

Sadly, not everyone wants to be saved. I saw that as a nurse. Some patients did not want to be healed. Maybe they thought they were just fine, despite evidence to the contrary. Maybe they liked having people pity them and cut them slack for their pain. Or maybe they thought the price—changing their diet or lifestyle or having to undergo the pain and inconvenience of surgery and recovery—was too high. I saw people with new hips or new knees who did not want to do the physical therapy that would permit them to walk again.

God has done his part. He has taken on the infinitely greater pain of redeeming us from the consequences of our sins. Jesus has offered us new life at the cost of his own. All he asks is that we put our trust in him. And, like learning to walk again after having your broken legs fixed, as I can tell you from personal experience, there will be some pain. So, yes, we must take up our cross daily and follow him. But it is nothing like the pain of the actual cross he endured.

And the benefits of walking with him are immeasurable. We receive forgiveness of our sins, a new start, help in facing the challenges of life and a loving community to support us and help us withstand the storms we all must face. Plus we find peace in having a faithful God as our constant companion. We find purpose and meaning serving him through serving others. We find assurance that this life, no matter how hard or painful, is not the only life we live. We find hope in the risen Jesus who will come to set things right, fill the world with true justice and real mercy and amazing grace, make all things new and wipe away every tear as he abolishes pain and death and mourning. (Revelation 21:4)

The greatest satisfaction comes when you find something that not only meets a need but also fulfills a desire. We all need the love of someone trustworthy to help us survive. But we also desire that love and faithfulness so that we can thrive. In the loving and faithful God revealed in Jesus, we find both. And so we can join our psalm in saying, “May your steadfast love and your truth continually keep me safe.”