posted by steve | on Quotes & Gospel
American Idol is in full swing, and Paula Abdul thinks they’re all stars this year (so I hear). I never cease to be amazed at the beginning of every season how many horrible singers think they can sing, and do so horribly…with pride. But every year, the judges dish out a little reality check. Yet, some of these horrible singers think it is the judges who are horrible hearers, and refuse to accept a dose of reality!
I want to offer a little reality check for those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ. Today, I’ve got three quotes and a few questions.
“We need Jesus far more than he needs us.”
- Dr. Joel Gregory (as quoted in the North Carolina Biblical Recorder, 6/25/04)
“The Christian life consists mostly of what God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is and does.”
- Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places, p. 41.
“There is a fundamental question we must ask … What is the Bible really about? Is the Bible basically about me and what I must do? Or is the Bible basically about Jesus and what he has done? Do you believe the Bible is basically about you or basically about him? … The Bible’s really not about you – it’s about him.”
- Tim Keller, Gospel Centered Ministry
- Do you ever think Jesus needs you more than you need him? (Do you ever talk like he does?)
- Do you ever think the Christian life is more about what you do, or must do, than it is about what Jesus has done and is doing?
- Do you ever think the Bible is more about you than Jesus?
- Who is at the center of “your” Christianity — you or Jesus?
We probably don’t want to answer those questions on a blog. But here’s a question you can help me answer:
What are some symptoms or indicators that we’ve started thinking the Christian life, and/or the Bible, is more about ourselves and what we do than it is about Jesus?
8 Responses to “A Little Reality Check”
Paul on 13 Mar 2008 at 10:02 am #
Steve,
Is there a limit on the word count for a comment here?
As a pastor here are some things that I see in church life that I believe are a reflection of a “me centered” faith.
One is church shopping. It’s not uncommon to be asked, “Does your church have a good _________ (fill in the blank with your favorite: youth program, childrens program, choir, basketball league, singles program, etc.). Prior to American consumerism there wasn’t a church that existed that had any of those. I’m not saying those are wrong, but I am saying that many people approach church asking the question: What does it offer me/my family?
Another example can be seen in what have become known as “the worship wars.” When churches begin to make changes in worship styles - the kind of music we sing, whether or not the pastor wears a suit/tie, doing away with the church choir, etc. we almost always approach those changes with our own preferences in mind.
A couple of years ago a man in our church told me that he didn’t like the music we were singing. I told him we weren’t singing to/for him. If God is honored and praised it matters very little, if any, whether you or I like it (He’s still a member, by the way, and he hasn’t learned to like the music any better).
I’ll just mention one more and then let someone else have the floor. ;-)
A lot of the Bible study literature that I see is very “me centered.” It is based upon felt needs and generally follows a pattern something like this:
Have someone read the passage.
Ask the class, “What do these verses mean to you?”
Now, it’s not that I’m opposed to asking that last question, but if that’s the only question being asked then it generally devolves into little more than shared ignorance in hopes of making us feel better about ourselves and our lives. Not that those are bad goals, mind you. But Biblical interpretation and learning should not begin and end with me. It should begin with God and what he is saying (not just what I think he is saying or what I want him to be saying), and then ends with a response to His voice.
Ok. I’ll stop now. Great quotes, by the way.
Jared on 13 Mar 2008 at 10:11 am #
Ever heard “The Bible is God’s love letter to you”? There’s truth in that. Heck, on the face of it, it is true. God is love, and His word is revelation for the purpose of His being revealed to us. But somehow we take the revelation of His love for us and mistake that for us being especially lovable, when the really amazing thing about it is that He loves us unfailingly despite us being especially unlovable. It becomes about us, not Him.
I think one symptom or indicator that we’ve started thinking the Christian life is more about us than Jesus is when we actually start treating Scripture as insufficient. I do believe the Spirit speaks to us, but the primary way He does that is in illuminating written revelation to us.
I’ve sat in Bible studies where person after person laments that “God isn’t speaking to me” and we all have Bibles open not six inches from our noses. I think that’s an indication we are not satisfied with all that God has given us to be complete for every good work; we still want something special, something just for us, something that validates our self-interest. And as anybody who spends any time in the Bible should know, the Scriptures are pretty much the antidote for self-interest.
pablo on 13 Mar 2008 at 12:55 pm #
one indicator for me is when people acknowledge that they have a spiritual gift and then do not use it for the benefit of the Church. it makes them feel good that God has gifted them, but they forget why He has. God did not give us gifts for our own egos, He gifted us for the benefit of our brothers and sisters.
i love jared’s observation regarding “God isn’t speaking to me”. i would expand that to include when we are unable to answer the question of “what is god doing in/through/around you?”. i ask that question every time i lead music at church. yet many cannot answer that. i imagine some are embarassed to speak out in public, i get that. but i also think some are so out of touch with it that they genuinely don’t know. even people who are dilgently working to invest in God’s Kingdom can lose sight of what God is doing over what they themselves are doing.
last, another indicator for me is a little related to what paul said above. i understand and agree with what you said regarding “what do these verses mean to you?”. however, to expand on your thoughts, i believe that unless we ask that question (in tandem to studying what it means in context of the text itself of course) then we are not believing in full that God’s Word transcends time and culture to be speaking to us right now.
if we are not asking ourselves what God’s words and commands mean to us and what God is telling us, then we are not focusing on God’s work that is happening in us right now. our understanding, in effect, is that God’s work ceased in our redemption and that all we need to do now is learn more. nope, God is still at work perfecting the work that He began in us even now.
all of this, to me, often points to someone being more interested in the Scripture from a scholastic perspective than reading it as the early Church did, as the very words of life that will revolutionize how we live our lives.
Tim on 13 Mar 2008 at 8:56 pm #
My indicator that the Christian life has become about me is my prayer life. I find that my prayers tend to be focused on me: “Help me do this, use me to accomplish that, speak to so and so through me.” Now, I wrestle with these prayers because they don’t exactly sound wrong. However, when I truly question my heart I see that I’m praying for what I want instead of what God wants. They may often be similar, but I don’t want my prayers to be all about me.
I want my co-workers to come to the knowledge of Christ. If I happen to be the one who helps lead them — great! But if I’m not, the situation is still great!
I notice that I tend to pray for myself first, then transition to those around me. I hope that I can reverse it.
pablo on 14 Mar 2008 at 6:32 am #
great comment tim
steve on 14 Mar 2008 at 6:33 am #
Good comments. I appreciate all of your contributions to this conversation, so far.
For myself, I’ve started simply trying to listen to how I talk. Do I put more emphasis on what I do, or on what Jesus does? Do my words communicate I’m the one saving myself and others, or is Jesus the Savior? Do I focus more on the problems of the world, or the power of the gospel? (A Jesus-centered Christianity announces with absolute confidence that the gates of hell will not prevail; it proclaims victory rather than fearing defeat — and not only proclaims it, but experiences it; it causes us to set our minds on the things above and to live daily in the reality that Christ is currently ruling this world from a position of unequaled and unthreatened authority and power.)
How we talk about politics, church, finances, family or any other aspect of life, and how we pray, communicates whether we have a me-centered or human-centered “Christianity”, or a Christ-centered Christianity. I think all of the examples you guys have provided illustrate that beautifully.
And just like on American Idol, quite often we are the only ones who can’t hear how out-of-tune and off-key we really are, spiritually.
Mike Leake on 14 Mar 2008 at 8:41 am #
Here is another one, you might want to add:
Am I in the business of defending/promoting myself or Jesus? I find that my level of handling criticism is a great reflection on whether or not I am trusting in Jesus and His glorious gospel. If I can’t take criticism then it’s because I’ve forgotten that it’s not about me. On the other end, if I start fishing for compliments or making certain that I get noticed…then it’s become about me instead of Jesus.
I Still love McCheyne’s Prayer: “Perish my honor”.
Great questions!
steve on 14 Mar 2008 at 9:13 am #
Thanks Mike. I agree with what you say about promoting ourselves and handling criticism.
And thanks for the reminder about McCheyne’s prayer.
After some itinerate preaching, he writes: