This Summer, our church went through The Purpose Driven Life. The book begins with the statement, "It's not about you." The book was a huge success in the United States, as well as around the world. How in the world is that possible?! A book that begins with, "It's not about you," becomes a best seller across the world? As I watch TV or read the news, I don't see a world that believes that it is not about them. As I look into my own life, I realize that there are many times when I am living out a life that is about me. Maybe, "It's not about you," is the beauty of Christianity that draws the lost to Christ. Maybe our culture has become so focused on "me" and we have allowed that mentality to creep into the Church in America and we have lost our prophetic voice of love.
I am not here to condemn or judge anyone, but this is what I have been dealing with since we began the book together as a church this summer. "It's not about me." Looking at the greatest commandments and the great commission, I see that not only is it not about me, but it is about God and it is about others.
That is the attraction of the Good News. In a consumeristic society where we are catered to on a regular basis, the draw of the Good News is that there is something more to creation than just me. There is a Creator who loves me and calls me to love others. It is no longer what I want, but what God wants that is important. God wants me to put aside my own personal wants and desires and see the world as God does. When the Church does this, when I do this, then we look different...we are different...we are living water to those who are thirsty!
How church is done is not about me, it is about God. How I relate to my coworkers is not about me, it is about God. How I relate to my family is not about me, it is about God. How I treat the least of these is not about me, it is about God. The whole of Christianity, the whole of life, is not about me, it is about God.
In my life today, that is an easy concept to hear, but a difficult concept to live out on a daily basis. My parents tried to raise me in such a way that my life would be about more than just me. Everything else points me in the opposite direction...except for Jesus, at least the Jesus of the Bible. I think at times we, no I, make Jesus into the image of me and forget that I am made in his image. When I forget "It's not about me," I forget what it is to be truly human. I become selfish and inward focused, not living out love as God has called me to do.
The good news is, there is forgiveness and a Savior who is constantly beside me, challenging me to be more and live out a life that is about God and about others. When I am living that way, I experience the life of abundance that has been promised to me.
I am not here to condemn or judge anyone, but this is what I have been dealing with since we began the book together as a church this summer. "It's not about me." Looking at the greatest commandments and the great commission, I see that not only is it not about me, but it is about God and it is about others.
That is the attraction of the Good News. In a consumeristic society where we are catered to on a regular basis, the draw of the Good News is that there is something more to creation than just me. There is a Creator who loves me and calls me to love others. It is no longer what I want, but what God wants that is important. God wants me to put aside my own personal wants and desires and see the world as God does. When the Church does this, when I do this, then we look different...we are different...we are living water to those who are thirsty!
How church is done is not about me, it is about God. How I relate to my coworkers is not about me, it is about God. How I relate to my family is not about me, it is about God. How I treat the least of these is not about me, it is about God. The whole of Christianity, the whole of life, is not about me, it is about God.
In my life today, that is an easy concept to hear, but a difficult concept to live out on a daily basis. My parents tried to raise me in such a way that my life would be about more than just me. Everything else points me in the opposite direction...except for Jesus, at least the Jesus of the Bible. I think at times we, no I, make Jesus into the image of me and forget that I am made in his image. When I forget "It's not about me," I forget what it is to be truly human. I become selfish and inward focused, not living out love as God has called me to do.
The good news is, there is forgiveness and a Savior who is constantly beside me, challenging me to be more and live out a life that is about God and about others. When I am living that way, I experience the life of abundance that has been promised to me.
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