I was recently working on a writing project which required me to sift through hundreds of sermon illustrations. When looking for illustrations on purpose I found one sermon illustration continue to crop up. This one on Ralph Barton:
Ralph Barton, one of the top cartoonists of the nations, left this note pinned to his pillow before taking his own life: “I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day.”
I doubt very seriously that anybody in our congregations have heard of an early 1900s cartoonist. But his suicide note is such a great way to show the emptiness of a man who seemingly had everything. According to this snippet from his suicide note Barton ended his life because he never could find purpose or meaning and he was tired of trying to entertain himself daily.
But I did a bit of research and found the real suicide note:
Everyone who has known me and who hears of this will have a different hypothesis to offer to explain why I did it. Practically all of these hypothesis will be dramatic–and completely wrong. Any sane doctor knows that the reasons for suicide are invariably psychopathological. Difficulties in life merely precipitate the event–and the true suicide type manufactures his own difficulties. I have had few real difficulties. I have had, on the contrary, and exceptionally glamorous life–as lives go. And I have had more than my share of affection and appreciation. The most charming, intelligent, and important people I have known have liked me–and the list of my enemies is very flattering to me. I have always had excellent health. But, since my childhood, I have suffered with a melancholia which, in the past 5 years, has begun to show definite symptoms of manic-depressive insanity. It has prevented my getting anything like the full value out of my talents, and, for the past three years, has made work a torture to do at all. It has made it impossible for me to enjoy the simple pleasures of life that seem to get other people through. I have run from wife to wife, from house to house, and from country to country, in a ridiculous effort to escape from myself. In doing so, I am very much afraid that I have spread a good deal of unhappiness among the people who have loved me.”
The truth of Barton’s death is much darker than that little snippet. Yes, this is the story of a man much like Solomon who couldn’t find satisfaction. But it’s more than that. This is the story of a man who was unable to “enjoy the simple pleasures in life”. Trying to escape from yourself is much different than being disappointed because you’ve found the bottom of a world of pleasure.
I’m sharing this with you because I believe there are several people like Barton around us who appear to be pleasure seekers but in reality are identity-searchers. I think Barton really believed that he should find pleasure in these things in life. And given a healthy mental framework he likely could have. It’s important to note that he isn’t seeking these pleasures to get a constant high. This isn’t a man riding an increasingly dangerous roller-coaster looking for the next thrill. This is a man putting on different masks trying to see which one fits.
So if you’ve got somebody in your life like Barton you don’t preach the gospel to him like a pleasure seeker who has finally hit bottom. Your bridge isn’t to say, “Guess what, friend, Jesus is the eternally satisfying treasure that you’ve been looking for.” You don’t say that because he isn’t on a treasure quest. And you’ll set the man off on the wrong foot as he is exploring Christ.
Perhaps it’d be better to explore why this man wants to escape from himself. That last line of the suicide note is clearly from a man who feels the unbearable weight of guilt over those who he has hurt. My guess is that Barton isn’t even looking for a mask to see which one feels right and corresponds to his identity. Instead, he’s likely trying to find one which he can sufficiently hide behind. He wants covering. He wants a different identity than the one he’s got. That is your bridge to Jesus.
You know people like this. They look pleasure-seekers. They look like those who are trying to cut off the chords of Christianity in pursuit of sexual liberation. And if we think this whole thing is about pleasure instead of identity, we’ll miss our opportunity.
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And this is mostly unrelated to the overall thrust of the article, but for the love of Pete can we please check our sermon illustrations? Sometimes by lazily copying and pasting off sermon illustration websites we’re missing deeper stories. Get the whole thing, not just a snippet of a snippet.
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Photo source: here
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