The first key idea is this: It’s Not About You!
Now this isn’t the message we get from our culture. In fact, we get the opposite message. Our culture actually tells us, It is about you!
- Companies use data analytics to recommend products just for you.
- Businesses focus on delivering personalized experiences just for you.
- Same-day delivery services are designed to make things convenient just for you.
And do you know what living in this world does to us? It makes us think, It’s all about me. It’s about my needs, my preferences, my convenience. And without realizing it, we bring this consumer mentality into the church.
- For us, the church becomes a dispenser of religious good and services for us to consume. We look for quality Children’s programs, worship that suits our preferences, preaching that’s entertaining. This consumer mentality even seeps into our language. We say things like, I’m shopping for another church. I’m looking for a church that will feed me. I want a church that will meet my needs.
- Of course, we need to consider how a church can help us grow.
- Of course there are valid reasons to leave a church.
- Of course there are seasons when we need to just rest and take things in so that we can heal and be ministered to.
But we also need to be careful. Instead of asking, How can the church serve me? We ought to be asking, How can I serve Jesus and his church? Because the truth is, It’s not about you.
