When You Have It All, But Have Nothing

This summer, I finished a book with a gentleman who would be the first to tell you his story didn't turn out as he'd hoped. As a young man, he became a dynamic worship leader, commanding the stage before thousands of people. But somewhere along the line, he made a series of poor turns.

One turn that cost him his sexual purity. Another that cost him his marriage. And yet another that landed him in federal prison. Sitting with this man who is now in his nineties, I couldn't help but be torn by the highs and lows of his story.

The way in which Jesus saved him when he was just a teen, the high points of a career that landed him in a Porsche and a private plane, the devastation that a pattern of sinful behavior brought, and the redemptive work of God that has since transformed him.

Sin is alluring, and it's easy to fantasize about what God never intended for us to have...and then when our senses have been worn down by the grind of life, to act on our passions.

What If You Could Have It All?

This about it, have you ever thought about what it would be like to live with unlimited wealth, power, and sexual partners and still hold the highest reputation among your peers? 

These are the four pillars of the American Dream. They represent the life everyone wants, but few can ever have. It’s the embodiment of James Bond meets Alice Walton meets Bradley Cooper meets Mother Teresa. The person who holds all four of these pleasures in check never walks into a room as the second most powerful person.

They always command people’s attention whenever they speak. They enjoy going to bed every night with their sexual fantasies fulfilled, and they garner the respect of even their wisest colleagues.

It’s a life of total control, passion, ability, and influence.

Few live like this because, in real life, one or more of these four legs are always missing from the table. Despite the endless commercials that promise we can have it all, deep down, each of us realizes how improbable a life like this is. There are natural desires, lusts for power, and areas of passion we harbor that will forever go unrealized. It’s the separation between internal fantasy and realistic expectations.

But picture what your world might look like if all your lusts became reality. What if your desires for fame, fortune, and power came true? How would you live? What would you do? Where would you live? And whom would you live life with? Bizarre as this sounds, it’s an experience the preacher of Ecclesiastes had the opportunity to live.

The Preacher Who Had It All

While ancient tradition referred to this individual as King Solomon, some modern commentators offer a different perspective. Regardless, the author is either King Solomon or someone with an uncanny number of parallel experiences. The preacher’s life was a tale of two realities.

If ever there was one who could grab hold of all the fruits of pleasure life had to offer and squeeze every last drop of juicy excitement, it was him. He was the poster child for what the American Dream would become. Ecclesiastes tells us he had everything at his disposal. Gardens, ponds, livestock, servants, riches, and sexual partners were just a few of the many luxuries the preacher experienced.

In Ecclesiastes 2:9-10, the preacher makes this casual, humble brag:

⁹ So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me. ¹⁰ All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.

He was what we might call a modern-day playboy. But despite his tremendous wealth and success, the preacher makes this astonishing remark in verse 11: “When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

In a bizarre contradiction of epic proportions, the very man who arguably gave the most incredible speech on the meaningless of life was the same man who had it all.

A Book We Need

The book of Ecclesiastes, which will be our focus for this month, is raw and captivating.

To the casual observer, it seems like little more than a deranged rant. A madman spouting off about life amid a drunken stupor. Still, his words are deeply convicting. They remind us that one of the curses of living in a prosperous society is spending decades focused on things that don’t matter.

Only when a crisis rocks our world does our safe little bubble pop. All we once thought was sturdy starts to wobble, and these crisis moments become life-defining turning points that spur us to fresh action. Sometimes, like the preacher of Ecclesiastes, they arrive late in life after we have already made a series of unfortunate turns.

My hope is that this series challenges you to reevaluate what's most important. To remember that even if you have everything, without Christ, you have nothing.