Miami University students are looking for the right things in the wrong places.
When you boil it all down, every human being desires two basic things: relationships and impact. People want to be loved and they want to leave a legacy.
Students at Miami are not exempt from this phenomenon and their actions prove my point.
For many, Greek life promises to satisfy both desires. Fraternities and sororities provide social networks of life-long friends and association to organizations that outlive its members. Greeks gain not only a plethora of "brothers" and "sisters," they become a part of something bigger than themselves.
The party scene is tailored strictly toward the desire for relationship. In my understanding, drunkenness serves two purposes. It breaks down social awkwardness and increases the chances of physical intimacy with the opposite sex. In either case, the motive is the same. People long to become closer with other people. They thirst to be accepted and loved.
The core desire for impact, on the other hand, manifests itself in career building. On top of striving for high GPAs, Miamians busy their lives with as many extracurricular activities as possible to strengthen their resumes. In exchange for four or more years of their life, students hope to receive high paying jobs. While the need to earn a living a support a family certainly plays a significant role here, I argue there is another driving factor as well.
Money, fame and success are all highly valued in our society, and the more you have, the greater your legacy. People chase these things because they want their life to count.
In the end, however, everything this world offers fails. I realize that is an incredibly pessimistic, Debbie Downer of a perspective, but it's the truth, and not in a relative way either.
Yes, everything mentioned here thus far does provide a certain degree of legitimate satisfaction. There is no denying that. Yet all of these things are proverbial broken cisterns; pour into them fast enough and they may hold water for a while, but in due time they all eventually run dry and need to be refilled.
Partying, hookups, money, fame, success and even the best of friendships and relationships are all finite. These first five only make you crave more; they can never fully satisfy because no amount is ever enough and there is always more to be had. As for loved ones, I'm willing to bet that the people most dear to your heart have all upset you on multiple occasions. Simply because we are human and therefore imperfect, so are our relationships.
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My point is this: instead of investing our lives in things of this finite world, we should invest our lives in something eternal. A relationship with Jesus Christ is the one and only place I have ever found complete and lasting satisfaction for my longing to be loved and my longing to leave a legacy.
I'm not talking about going to church on Sundays or being involved in a campus ministry. I'm not talking about conforming to a list of do's and dont's. I'm talking about spending time everyday with the one person that can provide pure and genuine unconditional love; not just knowing about my creator, but actually knowing Him personally. In doing this, my life changed in two amazing ways.
First, my relationships with other people cease to be about what we can gain from each other and instead became about what we can give to each other. With my hunger for love satisfied, I can focus on encouraging other people according to their needs without worrying about receiving anything in return. Furthermore, love becomes a choice and an action rather than a feeling. Liking someone is no longer a prerequisite to loving them by the way I treat them.
Second, my life now has eternal impact. To describe my life's purpose I use the following analogy: I am just a beggar telling other beggars where to find food. It's not a matter of me being right or wrong, better or worse. If I can help just one person find spiritual fulfillment, their lives are impacted forever. Now my life is characterized by people, not by possessions, accomplishments or status.
We are all spiritually hungry. Our souls crave love and they crave impact. The good news is God invited me to His banquet and He told me to bring lots of friends.
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