If you have any familiarity with pop culture over the last five years, you’ve run across the acronym YOLO– You Only Live Once. The first time I heard it, I had no idea what it meant or even what exactly I was hearing. Yo-yo? Is that a new, hip thing? Rolo? The delicious chocolatey caramel candy? Seriously, I am out of the loop when it comes to current slang (don’t get me started about my irritation with people who write words with numbers in them), but I’m fascinated by the etymology of new words and phrases. YOLO seems to have started as a way to justify risky behavior by people a generation younger than me and now I (and the rest of my minivan moms) might use it somewhat ironically (“In the drive-thru getting a Big Mac at 3 pm because #YOLO.”) Like carpe diem before it, it reminds us that life is short and the things we put off doing we may never get around to experiencing at all.
Now that’s a life philosophy I can get behind.
It may seem a little odd for a churchgoing mom of 6 in her mid thirties to be all onboard the YOLO bandwagon, but here I am. I just think the application is slightly different in my life. I happen to believe Jesus was all about YOLO.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Hebrews 9:27-28
The basic message isn’t really that deep, just factual. We get one shot with this life. We can use it however we choose. For some people that idea may make them feel like they need to squeeze all the enjoyment they can out of life. They should blow their money on what makes them happy in the moment. If this relationship isn’t fun anymore, it’s time to opt out. If the responsibility of this job seems too heavy, walk away. If your extended family drives you crazy, cut them out. Have all the fun you want regardless of the cost.
But that’s not my YOLO philosophy. I believe once you die, you are held accountable for what you did with this one life. When I see Jesus, what do I want to tell him I used this precious gift of life to accomplish?
In my home growing up was a little plaque with these words from a poem by C. T. Studd:
Only one life ’twill soon be past
Only what’s done for Christ will last
Apparently my parents were working to instill a YOLO philosophy in me from the time I was very young. It’s not a guilt motivation that makes my YOLO life look different. It’s a desire to do something that matters. I have one life to use for good and to make change in the world. Any pain that causes me is temporary, but eternity is long. If I use this one life well, my faith is in a God who sees and values my sacrifice.
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