Chasing Methuselah?

I'm terribly behind in my magazine reading.  I just finished reading the December 2010 and January 2011 issues of Christianity Today.  (Guess it's Christianity Yesterday by the time I get to them!)  But the January cover story for CT is relevant today - even if it was printed three months ago.  It's titled "Chasing Methuselah" and the hook is this:

Exercise, technology and diet help us live longer than ever.  Should those who look to eternal life care?  Nearly 100 million Americans currently use anti-aging products and practices.  Among these practices are special diets, such as the "120 Year Diet" from Roy Walford (who died of Lou Gehrig's disease two months before his 80th birthday), plastic surgery, vitamins, mineral supplements, human growth hormones, and other hormones like melatonin, testosterone, pregnonolone, and estrogen.

Most gerontologists assert that such remedies don't really slow the aging process.  But what if we found a way to stay healthy and active well into our hundreds?  What if it were possible to actually reverse the effects of aging - to heal arthritis, regain bone and muscle mass, and cure dementia by replenishing brain cells?  Over the past decade, the search for the fountain of youth has moved from legend to laboratory.

Extending life past current biological limits would have enormous social, political, economical and ecological ramifications.  [But] the more fundamental question is whether human aging is a malady in need of a cure.  Should we treat aging as a disease?  Is there anything wrong with hoping to live to  age 150? And, particularly for Christians, is it wrong to want to live past three score years and ten? (Psalm 90:10 KJV)

So far, science has been able to prolong existence, but it has not been able to really prolong life.  I've faced multiple end-of-life situations as a pastor where I had to counsel the family on what to do and what not to do when it comes the the care of their critically ill loved one.  Most of the time, I counsel letting the loved one go - because I don't believe God wants us prolonging our existence here when there is so much more to experience on the other side.

But what about before one gets to that end of life moment where the choice is either death or living in a vegetative state?  Should we engage in healthy living practices, using all that science makes available to us, in order to keep living for as long as possible?  I think the answer has to be "conditionally yes." 

What are the conditions?  I can think of at least three.  There may be more.

• My choices for healthy living cannot take away the choices for healthy living for someone else.  In other words, I cannot think only of myself, but I must also think about how my decisions and lifestyle impacts others - those near, and those on the other side of the planet.
• My choices for healthy living should not become an expression of fearing death.  Paul expressed this point in 1 Corinthians 15, quoting from Isaiah and Hosea:  "'Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
• My choices for healthy living should reflect my faith in Jesus Christ, and help others respond in faith, too.  Everything about my lifestyle should indicate my dependence on God rather than self or science.  "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." said Jesus in John 10:10.  My full life is a product of Jesus Christ, never of myself. 

So I've made the effort in 2011 to live a more healthy, and sustainable life.  One result of that effort is getting rid of more than 40 pounds of excess weight.  But it's not been me doing it alone, but Christ doing it through me.

Thor Ramsey, a popular stand-up comedian, built a routine on the Christian response to this question.  Take a look:



Why is this funny?  Because we know not to take it seriously or literally.  Looking at Thor, one can discern that he isn't really consuming "Twinkies for Jesus" or advocating that we should do so. 

So what are your thoughts on this topic?