For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36, ESV)
Have you ever known someone who was immensely gifted at golf but squandered that talent? More than likely, we all have known someone who fits that description.
Faces and names of young men with enormous God-given talent flood my mind. Two come to mind. With swings vastly different—one long and rhythmic, the other brisk and punchy—the game came effortlessly to both.
In the early seventies, armed with persimmon drivers and balata balls tucked in their pockets, a sub-70 round was a walk in the park for these two teenagers.
Many years later, I ask, “What if?” What if they had not experimented with drugs? What if that small $5 wager had not metastasized into a gambling addiction? What a waste!
In ’73, while these talented young golfers were making a name for themselves, Hollywood released the movie Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
In one scene, Papillon—McQueen’s character, a petty thief sentenced to life imprisonment under a false murder charge—has a dream.
In the dream, the judge pronounces him guilty. Papillon, knowing he is innocent, responds, “Guilty of what?” The judge then abruptly declares, “Guilty of a wasted life.”
As tragic as it is for men with superb talent to waste their golf skills, and as arresting as it was to watch Papillon waste away behind bars, it is infinitely more tragic to waste one’s entire life by missing the point of it all.
When Jesus asks, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul?” he is urging us to consider the purpose of our lives with prolonged intentionality—this is divine provocation at its best.
He is not, as some mistakenly think, devaluing remarkable achievements, wealth, or notoriety. He is making the point that doing remarkable things with one’s life without knowing, valuing, and loving Jesus results in a wasted life.
When Jesus says in the surrounding verses that one should “deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” he is not telling his followers to deny lofty goals or denounce life’s beautiful gifts.
Instead, he is emphasizing that a man can have all the world has to offer, achieve stratospheric success, and still waste his life. To deny oneself is to get ‘self’ off the throne and yield it to Christ’s lordship.
Consider two men, Larry and John, both with multiple graduate degrees, vast wealth, enormous influence, esteemed family pedigrees, and swings that would make Bobby Jones jealous. They die on the same day. What makes them different?
Larry lived his life for the glory and enjoyment of God. John lived for himself, caring nothing for God’s glory.
Larry, motivated by a desire to honor his Savior, was rightly oriented toward his Redeemer and thus rightly related to the world and its many diverse riches.
John pursued everything to enrich himself and build his personal reputation. With no regard for spiritual and eternal matters, he lived a self-centered life in a one-dimensional world of the here and now.
At death, there was not a penny’s difference in their portfolios. When Larry appears before the judgment throne, he will have stewarded his life to show enormous profits from the gifts God gave him.
John, on the other hand, will have rolled the dice by investing in a world that is passing away and, tragically, forfeited his soul in the process.
Don’t waste your life. Live for Jesus and strive to achieve powerful things for the fame of his name.
Prayer: Lord, grant us grace to achieve our utmost for your highest.