Extending Life

Extending life

John 3:16-17

            We do all sorts of things to prolong life.  We value life—at least our own—enough to want to make it last as long as possible.  Yes, I know, many of us cling to life-shortening habits like smoking, drinking too much alcohol, overeating, couch potato-ing, drugging ourselves.  Still, we want to live as long as our lifestyle permits.  This causes a medical dilemma, as our ability to keep someone breathing almost indefinitely blurs the line between life and death.

            Those who concern themselves with the quality as well as the quantity of life watch their diet, get enough sleep, exercise, limit alcohol intake, and try to keep unhealthy substances out of their bodies.  They want to live life fully as well as live life long.

            A recent study conducted at Vanderbilt University offers another method for prolonging life—church attendance.  Marino Bruce, one of the primary authors, is a social and behavioral scientist, a professor at Vanderbilt, and a Baptist minister—all of which contribute to his interest in church attendance and prolonging life.

            Bruce and his co-primary author, Keith Norris, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, led nine other co-authors in conducting and reporting the study.  Their data was gathered from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, publicly available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.  I mention this to demonstrate the validity of the data.  This was not some survey conducted through a questionnaire devised by amateurs and administered to some random list of people.  It was data collected from a broad spectrum of the American public by professional researchers.

Bruce, Norris and their fellow authors were interested in three parameters:  worship attendance, mortality and stress levels.  They found that middle-aged adults, 40-65, who attend a house of worship regularly, reduce their mortality by 55 percent.  We know that doesn’t mean they reduce their chances of dying by that percentage, but rather that they have a greater chance of living longer.

Those of us who believe life continues after death know that attendance at church is only part of the story.  Christians believe there is more to life than what we experience here on earth, just as there is more to religion than sitting in a worship setting for an hour or so once a week. 

One of the most intriguing stories in the New Testament involves a Pharisee named Nicodemus.  John’s gospel tells us he came to see Jesus at night.  Whether Nicodemus chose that time because he wanted to keep his visit a secret, or because he thought he might claim more of Jesus’ attention at night we don’t know.  What we know is that he wanted to more fully understand Jesus and his message.  He was already impressed with Jesus’ miracles and his teaching, but he wanted to know more.

Jesus shared with him one of the most famous messages in the Bible, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  This verse, and the next, which helps explain and clarify the concept, demonstrate the availability of God’s grace to anyone who sincerely believes in the lordship of Jesus Christ.

So—as much as church attendance might help prolong life here on earth, that is only the beginning of its value.  When that attendance leads to a meaningful relationship with God through Jesus Christ, life is prolonged even longer.

Infinitely longer.