Where Is Utopia?

I’m sure that we are all familiar with the word “utopia.” Many of us may think that, if certain things were true, we might even be able to experience it. 

For those who may not be familiar with either the word or the concept, dictionary.com defines “utopia” as:

1. an imaginary island described in Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) as enjoying perfection in law, politics, etc.

2. (usually lowercase) an ideal place or state.

3. (usually lowercase) any visionary system of political or social perfection.

There are at least two words in that definition that are intriguing. Those words are “imaginary” and “visionary.” They indicate that one cannot point to a spot on the globe identified as Utopia.” 

That becomes even more clear as one researches the etymology of the word. According to the same source (dictionary.com), the origin of “utopia” is a combination of two Greek words. It is very interesting to learn that those two Greek words mean:

“not” and “a place.”

While it may be true that most of us already realize that no physical location will be perfect we may still be seeking something like utopia in other ways. We may express this in our “if onlys.”

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? If not, here are a few examples:

• If I only had more money…
• If I only had a better job…
• If I only had a better boss…
• If only my spouse was more understanding, caring, romantic, handsome/beautiful, etc….
• If I only had a new car…
• If I only had a newer/older, larger/smaller house…
• If I only lived closer to/farther away from some members of my family…
• If I only lived in a larger/smaller, more urban/more rural community…
• If only the climate where I live was warmer/cooler, more consistent during the year/changed seasonally…
• If I only could be more independent/dependent…

In the rather lengthy conversation that Jesus had with His apostles (except for Judas) recorded for us in John chapters 14, 15, and 16, He said this to them:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (John 14:27).

It seems to me that our Lord was, at the very least, suggesting something to them. When this is “fleshed out” in the rest of His teaching and the teaching of those apostles, I am left consider the following:

• Utopia is not a geographical location.
• Utopia is not dependent upon whatever circumstances prevail in my life.
• Utopia is not dependent upon the political, social, or economic environment in which I live.
• Instead of a futile effort to find anything that resembles utopia, I need to focus on my relationship with Jesus. 
  • I need to make sure that I am “in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17). 
  • I need to understand that the only way to get “into Christ” is by being baptized “into Christ” (cf. Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27).
  • I need to continually “walk in the light” so that His blood can continually cleanse my sins (cf. 1 John 1:7).

If my focus is on Christ, my interest in things of this life will be less and less important to me. In the words of a song that has enjoyed some popularity in recent years:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn