unTapped Topic: The Measure of a Person

This month, a film called The Social Network was released in theaters. The film follows the rise of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg as he ascends the financial and social ladder.

In an interesting review, "Snobby Film Guy" Chris Monks notes that the real theme of the film is the definition of a man. Monks writes the following:

Every human feels the need to be defined; by somethng they did or something that transcends themselves. They want to be liked, wanted, needed, loved, and appreciated...in other words they feel the need to be important.

Humans feel the need to be immortalized. But, "What defines a man?"

You may think this is too deep for The Social Network but just watch the first scene and you'll know it's not. Zuckerberg tells his girlfriend that he wants to be a part of a group at Harvard because "It's elite. And fun. And it leads to a better life." He wanted the notoriety and the "better life" and arguably he got that in the end but still wasn't happy.

You can read the whole review by clicking here.

The singer Rich Mullins once wrote from a very different perspective. He regularly eschewed wealth, fame, and status in preference for service, poverty and obscurity. He wrote about the memory that he would leave behind:

If my life is motivated by an ambition to leave a legacy, what I would probably leave is a legacy of ambition. But, if my life is motivated by the power of God's spirit in me and the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my motives, that's the only time I think we really leave a great legacy

Thus, our question for unTapped: what defines our lives? What makes us who we are? If we accomplish our greatest ambitions how are we different than those who have none? Are we defined by our ambitions at all? What sort of legacy will we leave behind us?

Join us at Shorts Thursday night, 7pm for a discussion of ambition and definition!