Your Faith
It's Not About Me
A few months ago, I went car shopping with my sister-in-law to help her purchase a minivan. Whether you’re shopping for a minivan, a computer, or a new sweater, a good consumer has one goal in mind: Get the most for the least. Get as much value as you can for the cheapest price possible. So being the good consumers that we are, we played hardball with the dealership and haggled and haggled and haggled some more. We even started walking out the door because the dealership refused to come down another $500. Fortunately, our hardball tactics worked and my sister-in-law bought the minivan she wanted for the price she wanted. Capitalism at its best!
As proud as I was of our victory against Mr. Toyota, I couldn’t help but put myself in his shoes. Every dollar that we haggled down was a dollar less that he was able to make. Like the rest of us, he had a mortgage to pay, family to support, and gas to buy. Yet when it comes to the consumer mentality, we take no prisoners. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and there’s just no time to be nice when it comes to getting a good deal.
Being a good consumer is great when you’re at the car dealership or the mall, but what about when you’re at church? As Christians, should our mentality be, “Get as much as I can for as little as I can?” Is there a place for the consumer mentality in the Church? If we would be honest with ourselves, I think we all know what the answer should be.
The New Testament is written in Greek. The Greek word for “church” is ekklesia. Ek means “out” and klesia is a form of the verb “to call.” So literally translated, ekklesia means “called out ones.” So by definition, as the Church, instead of thinking so much about ourselves, we are called to look outwards. Or to put it another way, we are called to not have the consumer mentality. The consumer mentality is all about me, and how I can get the most while giving the least. The Church is about how we might meet the needs of others. At least that’s how we should be, but are we?
Many churches in the United States are dying. Is it because the Gospel is no longer relevant? Is it because pastors today just don’t measure up to pastors of the past? Is it because there are more religions now to choose from than in the past? Or is it because people are changing? Going to church used to be as American as apple pie. What happened? Where has the Church gone wrong? The way I see it, it’s an identity issue. The Church has lost her identity. what happens when someone loses their identity? They slowly die.
One of my favorite movies growing up was Rocky II. Sylvester Stallone plays boxer, Rocky Balboa, who in the prequel is given the opportunity to fight the heavyweight champion of the world. To everyone’s surprise, this unknown club fighter goes the distance against the champion but loses the match in a split decision. Balboa suffers an injury to his right eye and decides to retire from boxing. He tries desperately to find an office job to no avail. He settles for a job in a meat packing company. Throughout the movie, you can tell that Rocky is just itching to get back into the ring. The only thing keeping him from returning to boxing is his wife. She has obvious concerns about his health, especially his eye, and she fears that he will go blind if he resumes his fighting career. This part of the movie is frustrating to watch, because we all know that Rocky belongs in the ring, not in a meat packing company. Rocky is a boxer; that’s his identity. By trying to be something that he is not, you can see his spirit slowly dying. He has no peace. He has no joy. Why? He has lost his identity.
The Church is dying because we have lost our identity. An ekklesia needs to be focused outwardly, yet many people these days seem to be focused on themselves. People look for a church with great programs for their kids, a great preacher who makes the Bible interesting, great facilities with plenty of parking, and of course, great coffee. However, when it comes to giving time, energy, and God forbid; money to the church, we often complain about being too busy, too tired, and too far in debt. Church has become a place where people go and demand a lot, but are willing to give very little. Sound familiar? It’s the consumer mentality. It’s great at the mall or the Toyota dealership, but it has no place in the house of the Lord. Once we develop this mentality, we cease to be the Church. We cease to be an ekklesia. If the Church in the United States is to experience a resurrection, we must first realize and embrace our true identity. We need to face the harsh reality: It’s not about me.
Let me end by sharing a refreshing verse with you. 1 Corinthians 9:19 says, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” The Apostle Paul got it. He truly embodied what it means to live focusing not on me, but on others. And what was his motive? To win as many as possible. The Apostle Paul had a singleminded focus and purpose to share the Gospel with as many people as he could. His life was not his own. He lived for God’s purposes and God’s Kingdom. Paul focused outwardly. He embodied ekklesia. Can we? Will we? The future of the Church depends on it. 