ME

Written by cycleguy on August 19th, 2014

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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!

 

16 Comments so far ↓

  1. Daniel says:

    The trouble that I have when I am struggling in church is that my natural preservation mechanism is to focus on the down and in, which precludes a focus on the out and up. I have been battling myself over this for years … a battle that I often lose.

    • the Old Adam says:

      Join the club, my friend.

      I think that is the case with so many of us (probably all of us if we are honest with ourselves). We are ‘self-focused’ as a result of “the fall”.

      The good news is that God knows this about us. But He loves and forgives us, in spite of our lack of faith.

  2. Betty Draper says:

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

    First of all, I love this quote by Luther. It’s a good thing God put the assembling together as a mandate for the church or I would have dropped church a long time ago. I spent a good year of my life in an all about me pity party due to hurt from another person in our church living an all about me life. First I tried to help them, spent countless hours listening and before I knew it they had sucked everything from me so now I have a rule , a Betty rule, I will try three times to help an “all about me” person then I move on. An all about me person can never be a spiritual friend and they only want to vent, they do not want help for they think they do not need it. Once a person gets to thinking they don’t need help…woe to them. There are too many out there who really want help, they are teachable, willing to be humbled, willing to go that extra mile for others. Those I will pour my life into. The others can go their own way somewhere else. Jesus knew when to wipe the dust from His feet and go on…and He has given us the discernment to know when too.

    Looking forward to this series Bill. It’s needed…

    • cycleguy says:

      “All about me” people are draining for sure Betty. A more common term is they are toxic. God is far more interested in us being His and than in manipulating Him to be ours. Thanks for the comment. I do hope I give some good food for thought over the next few weeks.

  3. Jeff says:

    You write as if the church is one entity created by God. Churches today are far from on one page. Some churches I am sure you would find objectionable on many levels. More and more people are finding more and more objectionable churches.
    If people are going to give their time and money there needs to be an attraction for them.
    Most churches are little more than dysfunctional social clubs trying to perpetuate a tradition with outdated dogma and little relevance.
    So it is no surprise that the many variations called “church” are attracting less and less members each year and particularly turning off the age group between 18 and 35.

    • cycleguy says:

      i wish I could disagree with the heart of your comment Jeff, but i can’t. Many churches are dysfunctional social clubs. We are, in many cases, far removed from the church Jesus intended and designed and even seen in the book of Acts. The modern malady can be seen in many ways, one of them what I write about…being in it for ourselves. Like I said, I wish I could disagree with the basic thought you expressed, but can’t.

  4. Kari Scare says:

    A few years ago, I decided that no one decides where I go to church or how often or why but God. I decided that going to church is about Him and not me, so it really doesn’t matter what others say or do to me or to each other. My going or not going has nothing to do with anyone else. Now, feelings certainly get in the way of this declaration at times, but I keep returning to it, especially when trust is broken. I just can’t escape the fact that my faith is between God and me and really has nothing to do with other people. I just got tired of a roller coaster faith built on how others treated me. Am I making any sense?

    • cycleguy says:

      I think that is exactly what we have to do Kari. We have to resolve to go where God wants us to go. No matter what people say or think. And yes, you are making sense. Does that scare you I understand? 🙂

  5. Caleb Suko says:

    I think that to be honest I have to admit that I do struggle with the “me” focus in church. But I also think that it’s something most of us struggle with. Phi. 2 comes to mind as an important example of Christ’s unselfish actions toward us and how we also ought to relate to others in the Body of Christ.

  6. floyd says:

    That mindset was the one behind the original sin and we will battle this flesh for the remainder of time in this physical world. It is the ones who seek God in humility that find Him… and the truth about who we are in this world. Well said, Bill.

  7. Mike says:

    I think the question people should ask themselves is, “What am I bringing to the table?” instead of, “What am I getting out of this?” If we all thought more about serving others, we would be far less focused on the me. When a person is new to the faith or Church it’s understandable that they focus on what they are being fed and what they are receiving. Once we’ve moved to meat, we should be more concerned about service which is it’s own reward afterall.

  8. I always struggle with it being about me.

  9. Debbie says:

    I recently read another post about the phrase, “all about me”. Only he did a different take and said yes, it is all about us and the choices we make. 🙂 But for this, Pastor Bill, I can see what you are saying. I try to be compassionate and listen to people who are struggling about church. I didn’t struggle so much,because right at the outset, God told me to think of others. So that really helped me not to get in me mode where church was concerned at least. 🙂 God bless you!