One Christian's Perspective on Bucket Lists

Should Christians have bucket lists?  One argument says bucket lists are a way to enjoy life and an opportunity to engage others on issues of aspirations and priorities.  Another argument says bucket lists are unnecessary and idolatrous for someone who claims to have God as his only prize and eternity as his timeline.  As for me, I think the answer is that it depends.  And what it depends on is motivations.

But let's step back.  What is a bucket list?  "Kick the bucket" has long been a euphemism for dying, so a bucket list is a list of things you set your heart to do before that.  And not just in a clinical "to do list" sense, but rather a "I can die in peace now" sort of way.  In my mind, bucket lists tend to fall into one of three categories:



1. Travel and related experiences; think "run with the bulls in Pamplona" or "visit Machu Picchu" or "go to Wimbledon"    

2. Personal accomplishments; think "run a marathon" or "write the next great American novel"or "start my own charity"

3. Relationships; think "walk my daughter down the aisle" or "reconcile with my father" or "take the family on a road trip across the country"

A Christian's faith should inform their perspective, which should inform whether they set such goals and what motivates their achievement.  Specifically, of relevance is the all-sufficiency of God and of relationship with Him, the promise of an eternity with Him in heaven, and the purpose a believer is infused with for her life here on earth.  There's more to being a Christian than that, but not much, and one can keep things simple by saying that righteousness is about pursuing those things and sin is about what takes you away from them. With those points of reference in mind, let's revisit those bucket list categories.

Travel is a profoundly powerful activity that, if you are privileged enough to have access to it (and, I could go on and on about just how privileged it is to be able to even think about traveling), you should do it, because there's so much you get out of it: broadening your perspective, learning about yourself, respecting other cultures, seeing some truly amazing things.  Travel in the context of a bucket list is about elevating a specific location or experience as "must see."  There are a lot of ways this can go wrong for the believer, whether letting discontentment and materialism creep into your heart, or alternatively boasting about your accomplishment on social media in an idolatrous and self-serving manner.  But travel that makes our worship of God greater, and that does so by reminding us of even greater natural sights and cultural spectacles on the other side of glory, can be profoundly honoring to God.  Fundamentally, the motivation question is: does having and achieving this goal give honor to God in my heart, or does it displace that honor with a poor substitute in the form of coveting a worldly experience or boasting about my fabulous lifestyle?

Similarly, personal accomplishments can make ourselves or our accomplishments into a god.  Or they can be a deeply meaningful act of consecration to our God.  Most acts are not inherently good or bad, but are made good or bad by the inner motivations that compel us to consider them "must do's" and put forth the effort to achieve them.  To use my examples above, starting a charity can be done in a way that elevates self, while running a marathon can be a form of worship; it really depends on where your heart is.

Relationship-oriented bucket list items are further down in priority for most people.  But it is interesting how often one gets to the end of one's life, and the regrets felt are often related to relationships: wishing you'd made a stronger attempt at love, wishing you'd been more involved in your child's life, wishing you could've made up with an estranged member.  The Christian God is a God of relationship, not just God with people and people with each other, but God with Himself (in that the Christian concept of God is triune, Father and Son and Holy Spirit).  Relationship, and wholeness and delight in relationship, is of utmost importance to our God.  Would that Christians have more relationship-oriented bucket list items, which acknowledge the primacy of relationship to the faith journey, and that seek to honor God by honoring the relationships He has put in our lives.

In the end, I can't answer the question for you about whether you, if you are a Christian, should have a bucket list.  Hopefully, I've articulated ways that having a bucket list can be bad for your soul as well as good for your soul.  This post has helped clarify for me how I should feel about the items on my own bucket list, but the soul-searching will continue, as it should.  We only get one life on this side of glory, and how we live it matters for eternity.