What If?

What if we have this thing we call Christianity wrong? What if it is built upon what is perceived as best for us, rather than on what is best?

What is the best? Is it Christianity really about Christ? Is it about dying to self? Is it about glorifying God? Is it about living and dying in the manner it was meant to be?

If it is about God, then why have we made it about man? That could only lead to disaster.

It seems to me that so often we do everything we can to make God, Creation, and our churches about us. Our prayer times are about us, our giving is to causes that benefit us, our “giftedness” is about us, our pastor needs to be about us, our voice needs to be heard, our friendship wanted, and our lives need to be affirmed.

Not only has it become acceptable, in essence, to worship man; it has become the norm.  We now gather in our ministry meetings and talk about what we are capable of doing. We make long range and strategic plans according to what we see us being able to do. We recruit people to join us who can contribute to our cause. We plan, scheme, and implement in ways that work at diminishing our faith in God and maximizing our belief in ourselves. For some reason, faith and trust in ourselves is the new norm.

It does not stop with churches and other various ministries. Our families have become all about us in the name of Christianity. We now have taken self-centeredism to a whole new level. The church became the enemy of the family in that it was taking too much time away from family interaction and healthy relationships.  We limited our services and went from Bible meetings three times a week to messages that packed relevance (to me) and “wow” (to me) to one (30) minute time frame a week. The new norm for the self-centered Evangelical family was supported by the Bible, and taunted by those who were lazy and self-centered, rather than those who love and died to self. Soon, our world revolved around our children, which would sound good to most except that our children were being trained that they were the center of the universe. We allowed them to set a schedule, and we felt guilty if we limited anything they wanted to do. They did not learn of a church that was a vehicle in which to serve. They learned of a church that was about them, their happiness, and their comfort. The great institutions of the church continued to become more and more image-producing and less and less substantive. Family weddings became focused on the bride instead of Christ, funerals focused on the man instead of the message, and resources were ours to manage, instead of God’s used for His purposes.

In reality, families seemed to shift from serving others to serving themselves. Now, they spend their time at sporting events, watching television, being immersed in media, and, in reality, spend more alone time than when they were “overactive” in church work. The fruit is obvious.

This new brand of syncretistic self-centeredness seems now to have taken over. We think so much of ourselves that we now think we can give our opinions about God, the Bible, politics, and other things, and have people listen to us because we are us, not because we know anything about these things. We think that suffering shows that God is not God, and that hardship is to be avoided. The Evangelical life has little contrast in comparison to those who do not know Christ, and is therefore offing them no real hope, for there has been no real change. God, if presented to an unbeliever, is presented as one who needs appeasing rather than loving, and one who, if a part of your life, will be your “sugar daddy in the sky.”  We now drink like the world, dance like the world, eat like the world, entertain like the world, build houses like the world, go on vacations like the world, drive cars like the world, structure our ministries and businesses like the world, have weddings like the world, have parties like the world, and now even worship like the world, all in the name of Christ. (Worship songs are often now about us and our feelings, rather than about God and His attributes, so worship has moved from being God-centered to me-centered, and we like it that way.)

The idea of dying to self seems old-fashioned.  The idea of contrasting the Godless world seems to be archaic thinking, even though we are told that this world is not our home, that we are aliens here, and that we should fix our thoughts on things above and not on things on this earth. The idea of being radical in our love for God and people is good as long as it is redefined from actually doing what is best for someone to enabling someone. We trust God to do the tough work now, since Christianity is about us and we shouldn’t have to, so our sugar daddy is now the only one responsible for speaking up, convicting, and leading. We will just live our life loving and saying little; after all, God can take care of His own business.

In many respects,  our Evangelical Christianity has become a worthless religion, much like that of any man-centered religion.  Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? (Matthew 16:24) 

The Apostle Paul said this: “ Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  ( 2 Timothy 3:12)  We will be persecuted, not because we desire to be, but because it is what will happen when darkness tries to overtake light or render salt useless. The way of the King and the one who loves God is about God and His business. He/She is obedient because they love; they do not love because they are obedient. They adjust their lives according to absolutes, not according to a Godless norm, and they care deeply--deeply enough to confront, deeply enough to give, deeply enough to die…..

I am not sure we even see the problem within our churches, for the demise has been gradual and well accepted. Perhaps it is time to ask God to reveal to us our real heart, to show us the real whys behind our doings. Then, it would be time to repent, relinquish, rely, and redeem the remaining time, lest He come and clean His own house.

I am not certain of everything we need to do, but this I do know--that today I need to be intentional about loving the Lord my God with all my heart, and all my soul, and all my mind, and my neighbor as myself. This will demand that I look at all things through a lens of love—a lens that shows what is best for those I am looking at, and not what is best for me. As I die to self,,I will see fruit in abundance, and will begin to live in a manner that was meant to be. I invite you to join me in this journey.

Dave Wager
davewager.com