Every culture offers its own vision of the good life. Jesus offers something better: a life surrendered.
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
These lines have been the screensaver on my phone since 2024. They come from a poem by C. T. Studd, an English cricketer who left his athletic career to serve as a missionary.
Long before we moved to France as missionaries, they confronted us with a simple question:
What are we doing with our one life?
The words are still there—and so is the question.
A career change and a transatlantic move do not free us from the pull of worldliness. They simply introduce us to a different version of it.
Every Culture Sells a Dream
The American dream often tells us to work hard, build wealth, protect our comfort, and eventually retire to enjoy the life we have earned. It says that anyone can create the life they want.
There is wisdom in parts of that vision. Hard work, responsible planning, meaningful careers, safe homes, and rest can all be good gifts when they are used for kingdom purposes.
The danger begins when these things stop supporting a life of obedience and become the purpose of life itself—when our focus shifts from participating in God’s kingdom to building and protecting our own.1
And America is not the only place that sells a dream.
France has its own version too: slow down, notice beauty, linger over meals, prioritize relationships, live freely, enjoy good wine, and make the most of our brief spin around the sun.
There is some wisdom here too.
But for a follower of Jesus, the French dream can become just as dangerous as the American one.
My Facebook feed keeps offering me an exaggerated version of this dream:
“We bought an abandoned château in the French countryside—and now we’re restoring it.”
I understand the appeal.
A garden full of flowers. A quiet corner of the world to call our own. Rain against the windows while candlelight flickers through rooms thoughtfully arranged down to the smallest detail.
I have personally looked for wallpaper that turns the ceiling into a daytime sky. I am not above the château fantasy.
But the château represents more than a house.
What the Château Promises—and What It Costs
The château represents an escape from pressure and noise: a slower life filled with beauty, rootedness, and the chance to begin again.
Beneath the fantasy are real longings for purpose, belonging, and wholeness. Those longings are not foolish, and the château itself is not inherently a problem.
We should, however, take an honest look at why we want it—and what it is costing us to pursue it. Our money, time, attention, and emotional energy are limited resources.
After everything spent building, decorating, and maintaining our ideal life, how much of us remains available for making disciples, serving others, or participating in the kingdom work already in front of us?
As Christians, we can be quick to reassure ourselves:
Of course I’ll love Jesus while restoring the château. I’ll use it for hospitality!
Maybe we would. Someone might be able to steward such a place faithfully for hospitality and generosity.
I am not sure my own heart could.
That is why good intentions are not enough. Jesus cannot simply become the spiritual language we attach to a life still designed primarily around our own desires.
We can spend years creating the perfect setting for a meaningful life while postponing the costly obedience already in front of us.
So it’s worth asking ourselves regularly:
Are the good things in our lives still surrendered to Him?
- A family can be a place where disciples are formed—or an excuse to turn inward, making our lives increasingly private and self-focused at the expense of our witness.
- Caring for our bodies can help us remain available—or become an endless pursuit of control and ego.
- Hospitality can make Christ’s welcome tangible—or become a performance meant to impress.
Even good priorities can quietly become centered on us rather than Jesus. We must stay awake to the subtle drift of our hearts.
A Different Definition of the Good Life
The American dream says the good life is one you successfully build.
The French dream says the good life is one you thoroughly enjoy.
Jesus says the good life is one we surrender to Him.
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.” —Matthew 16:25
Jesus is not asking us to neglect our families, mistreat our bodies, abandon beauty, or serve until we collapse. He is asking to be Lord over every part of our lives.
The question is not simply whether something is good. The question is whether it remains surrendered to Jesus and beneath the greater call to seek first His kingdom.
One day, we will stand before our King and give an account of what we did with the life He entrusted to us. We don’t want the great summary of that life to be:
Look how beautifully the wall moulding in the château turned out.
People are eternal. Christ is worthy. His kingdom will remain.
A Lifelong Surrender
I am not writing this as a missionary who has rejected the world’s dreams while everyone back home remains trapped inside them. Living overseas does not automatically make a life sacrificial, and crossing an ocean does not guarantee that Jesus is our treasure.
The temptation to build a life around comfort, beauty, control, or our own desires did not disappear when my family followed Jesus to France.
Surrender is not a single decision we make once. It is a posture we choose throughout our lives.
These are questions we continue to wrestle with as we learn what it means to live as faithful witnesses to Christ in France.
We need the same daily surrender every believer needs:
Jesus, this life belongs to You. How would You have me use it today?
Surrender will look different in every life and season. For some, it may mean changing jobs and crossing an ocean. For others, it may mean remaining faithfully where God has placed them—sharing the gospel with a coworker, opening their home to nonbelievers, repenting of a hidden sin, discipling a child, choosing a simpler lifestyle so they can give more generously, or giving up a level of comfort to make themselves more available to others.
It could mean loosening our grip on something good because maintaining it requires so much of our time, money, attention, or energy that we are no longer available to seek first the kingdom of God.
Whatever it looks like, following Jesus will sometimes mean setting down something we would rather keep. This kind of surrender is the calling of every Christian—not a one-time decision, but a lifelong posture of following Jesus.
When this surrender feels most difficult, believers can take heart in Jesus’ promise: “Whoever loses his life because of me will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
So may we not buy into the American dream or the French one.
May we spend our one life surrendered to Jesus—working, resting, building, giving, remaining, or going wherever He leads.
And when our lives come to an end, may they close the same way as Studd’s poem:
Only one life, yes, only one,
Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say, “’Twas worth it all.”
Footnotes
- John Piper explores this danger in “Boasting Only in the Cross.” Drawing from Galatians 6:14, he challenges us not merely to avoid obvious sin, but to ask whether Christ has become the treasure that gives purpose to everything else in our lives. The full message is well worth watching or listening to.
Questions to Explore With the Holy Spirit
As you ask these questions, remember that Jesus is not a harsh, disappointed God. He loves you and came so that you could have life—and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
- What vision of “the good life” has most influenced you—whether from your culture, family, career, or your own desires? How has that vision shaped the way you spend your time, money, and energy?
- What good thing in your life might be quietly becoming too important to you? Is God inviting you to pursue it more fully for His kingdom—or to place boundaries around it so it doesn’t consume more of your life than He is asking you to give it?
- What would it look like for you to seek God’s kingdom first in this particular season of your life?
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Other Links to Explore:
- The Apostle Andrew Shares His Struggles with Supporters
- Was Paul Really a Tentmaker?
- Explore Short-Term Missions
- One Woman Makes All the Difference