If you listen to the radio at all you’ve probably heard “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran. It hit 16 on the Billboard charts several months ago. The lyrics of the song haunts me a bit. I think the combination of the lyrics, and the fact that it got so high on the billboard charts so quickly, haunt me even more. It speaks to our culture’s view of longing and how to find something that satisfies. I want to go into this more, but the reality of our lives is that we were created to be addicted. The issue is what we’re addicted to. There’s a churchy way to say this that people have used historically. You are a worshiper. The question isn’t IF you will worship, the question is WHAT you will worship. In truth, we all worship something. Think about what you spend most of your time, money, energy, and thoughts on. That is the thing you worship.
I think the reason Sheeran’s song is so haunting is that it speaks into the reality in our souls that we were created to worship, to be addicted, to be continually hungry for something. Now in that, there’s only one thing that can actually satisfy and give you more life at the same time. Most things pull you from reality, drain you, and then leave you wanting more. God is the opposite of this. He satisfies you and your hunger grows more as it’s satisfied.
We have this hunger by the very nature of how we were created. In Genesis 1:26 God states “Let us make man in our image.” It’s interesting to hear people guess at why this occurred. If God is sufficient within Himself as the Trinity, then why were we created? It certainly wasn’t out of a place of need. You see, the reason is exactly the opposite of need. It was out of a place of fullness. The nature of something that’s full, is that it overflows. That’s the Trinitarian nature of that statement. “Look at how awesome we are, let’s make something like us. Something that reflects us. Let’s make….man.”
We’ll talk more next week about the way our creation feeds our addictions and how to move beyond that when talking to people. For now, I’d like to know what you think. What’s your take? Why did God put us here? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Does this make more sense to the question of why you were created?