It is not uncommon to hear a pastor or a worship leader or any church leader make the statement: “It’s not about me.” Or when speaking to a whole group he might say, “It’s not about you.” Point taken. It is absolutely true. Tragically, there are far too many who  think the church and all that it involves is about them. They don’t like this. They don’t like that. Only a handful of people spoke to them…and one of them wasn’t the pastor. So they take their baseball bat and go home (nice words for “they go somewhere else to church”). I know it is rude and crude to say, but “Arrivederci! Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”

People with the attitude of “church is about me” miss the point. Martin Luther is credited with saying,

It is the promises of God that make the church, and not the church that makes the promises of God.

I have to agree with him. We get it all turned around when we start thinking “it is all about me.” In fact, I might even go so far as to say that type of thinking is rebellion against God’s design for the church. Jesus said, “I will MY church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” He didn’t tell Peter, “I will build your church.” And He certainly didn’t say, “I will build (insert your name) church.”

When “me” type of thinking takes hold so much happens…and it is all negative.The vision gets cloudy. The mission gets skewed. The gospel get pushed aside. I agree with the authors when they write: “The church is not a human invention or institution; it was birthed from God’s Word.” (p.15) God spoke and creation happened. God spoke and the people of Israel walked away from Egypt.

It is time we stopped listening to words of our own invention and started following the Word of God. It is time we stop this selfish “me” attitude (I have to get something out of church for it to be legit).

What is your attitude like? Do you struggle with the “me” type? Are you willing to go with the flow?

This is my first in a series of 12 blog posts about Creature of the Word. You are welcome to comment or even join in the discussion by writing your own posts. Love to have you join in!