Keeping up with the Joneses is harder than you might imagine.  A byword for those who are always ahead of us, "the Joneses" are those we strive to keep up with in life.  They are the objects for which we hold an eager and intense desire, the inspiration for the slang word "jonesing."  And they have set yet another standard.  In 2006, Joneses spread from the United States to Australia came together in Cardiff, Wales to beat the world record for the largest gathering of people with the same family name.  At the center of the assembly was an evening of entertainment Jones-style, featuring pop star Grace Jones of Jamaica and opera singers Dame Gwyneth Jones and Gwyn Hughes Jones of Wales.  In all, 1224 Joneses came together, confusing hotel guest lists and dramatically increasing the likelihood of running into a Jones on the street. (Jones is already one of the most common surnames in Wales.)  The Joneses now hold not only our competitive neighborly attention, but the Guinness World Record to go along with it.

The familiar maxim "keeping up with the Joneses" depicts the competitive, though often subtle, nature of materialism, advancement, and accomplishment.  We keep tabs on the status and stature of our neighbors; we keep a careful eye on those we deem in "front" of us in some way.  At times this is our literal neighbor or some person who holds our mind's eye; other times it is an ever-changing, ghostly image of excellence, happiness, or success. 

But contrary to what the phrase suggests, keeping up with the Joneses is not about keeping up with a particular person or family.  It is not about the Joneses at all.  The idol in front of us is the image we chase.  Bypassing one Jones, we will always find another ahead.  Though it may seem we are making headway, it is a pursuit without a real goal, for it is a pursuit with another end always in sight.  In this race, even the Joneses themselves cannot rest in their status or trust in their records.  The Guinness Book of World Records will always have another edition on its way to print. 

If you could step back from your most-current eager pursuit would you see its absurdity?  Could you admit the fleeting nature of success and fame and treasure?  Would you divulge the weariness that arises within the incessant human desire to keep up with the elusive Joneses?  Perhaps it is true, as a wise man once said, that many of our curious ways are a meaningless chasing after the wind.

But this man also said there is one endless pursuit quite worthy of our days:

    "Remember your Creator 
        in the days of your youth, 
        before the days of trouble come 
        and the years approach when you will say, 
        'I find no pleasure in them'...

    Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, 
        or the golden bowl is broken; 
        before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, 
        or the wheel broken at the well, 
        and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
        and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7).

There are many fleeting things in this world, including the grumblings of our own appetites, including the Joneses.  But the one who made the Joneses withstands the test of time. 

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.