Its all about me...

We are always asking the tough questions in contemporary society. What is the meaning of life? How did we get here? Just how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop? In our contemporary Christian culture, we are no different. We look at Scripture as a book of answers to our burning questions about justification, salvation, forgiveness, reconciliation, etc. Despite our best efforts to discontinue our navel gazing, we first see our own personal or cultural experiences and then find God’s answers in the good book. We ask ourselves, how is God meaningful to our contemporary experience? If our theological endeavors begin with human experiences and end with anthropological "human centered" understanding of the Christian faith, are we left with a religious belief that is meaningless without our human experience? Furthermore, where is Christ in this understanding of Christianity? Have we reduced the unsubstitutable, particular Jesus Christ to an antidote for our ailments and an answer to our burning questions? What is more meaningful than the radical, transforming message of Jesus Christ?

I wonder about this because even in my own life and ministry I find myself in a place again where I put myself and my problems and my life first. Its all about me... my questions... my limited understanding... my spiritual life... But really... it is not about us. When we talk about faith we have become a culture that believes faith is about us... when really faith is entirely about God. We can sing all the hymns that we want about it being "all about you... Jesus" but when we study our bible or sit down to pray... all to often it ends up being all about us.

This story about the one and only Jesus of Nazareth, is the greatest love story ever told. When we look to the scripture as a manual to life or a dictionary of moral behavior, we miss the point. Salvation is not a recipe in this book... We are not the hero in the story... our role in this book is to listen. Instead of coming to scripture with our questions about our experiences in our lives... we must begin to let the scripture and this love story of a creator for His creation shape our questions about our experiences in our lives.