I was thinking about Jesus’ ministry compared to typical ministry today. Jesus’ ministry was like a magnet. People flocked to him in large crowds. He would take the time to teach them and heal them, however, His ministry was focused on making disciples. His goal was to make disciples to carry on His message. He spent three years focused on the twelve and a core of others. His message was clear, “Love God and love people;” “If you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me.” Three distinct steps. Not the “God is waiting to make your life better” message heard so often today.
I believe this misguided teaching has permeated the ministry today. A lot of the preaching and worship songs we sing perpetuate the “it’s all about me” philosophy. The message of outreach programs is “join us and your life will get better.” We have many people in churches today that feel better about themselves, and maybe even stopped doing things they did before coming to church, but they believe God is there to make their life better, a cosmic vending machine. They are confused when things don’t go the way they want them to. When things don’t go their way, they ask questions like “Can I really trust God?” or the classic “How could a loving God allow that to happen?” They do not recognize the Sovereign Creator and it is His plan for eternity, not theirs.
They are religious, but not servants of the Living God. I have heard them called Culture Christians. In their minds, going to church makes them more acceptable to others. They believe their new morality makes them acceptable to God. They believe they are God’s children because one day they said the “sinner’s prayer” (which by the way is nowhere in Scripture) and they do “good things” (go to church, pray, read the Bible). However, that would be “works” not “faith” wouldn’t it? We are saved by faith alone. Faith in a Sovereign God.
To me the scariest verses in the Bible are in Matthew 25 where Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats. This is a picture of the Church today, the sheep (disciples) and the goats (Culture Christians). Both groups call Jesus Lord, but only one group spends eternity with Him. To the others He said, “I never knew you.” Combine that with Jesus’ statement, “Many are called, but few are chosen” and maybe you can understand my concern.
Jesus said in Matt 7:21 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”, not their own will focused on having their way and pleasing themselves.
As humans, we see ourselves as the center of our world. Everything we do or say comes from what we have understood to this point and starts within our thought process. When we are with our family, friends, and others we see them through our “filter.” As we interact with them, our bias sets the stage for the interaction. How we perceive a situation is solely based on our filter. If others do not agree with us, we believe they are simply wrong. Everything we have learned to this point in life makes us think and act the way we do.
The problem is some of the things we take for truth simply are not true. The facts do not support the belief. The Gospel of “It’s About Me” is one of those mistaken philosophies that is not supported in Scripture. The Kingdom of God is about God’s Kingdom, not our kingdom. God created His children to serve and worship Him. He is not setting in heaven waiting to serve us. Anything He does for us and through us is by His grace meant to fulfill His plan and it is done to bring Him glory.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.Yes, we are part of the “world” and yes, if we believe He is our Lord and Savior and surrender our life to Him, we will have eternal life, but the statement is not about us as individuals. I have heard preachers say, “If you were the only human on earth, Jesus would have died for you”. That thought simply is not Biblical. “God gave His one and only Son” is about God making a way for His chosen to spend eternity with Him collectively. Jesus, as God’s High Priest, made the only sacrifice that could forgive all sin, Himself. “God…gave His one and only Son”, and Jesus died to complete His Father’s plan of redemption for “whoever believes”. His sacrifice and resurrection were to bring glory to His Father, remove the barrier between the Father and His children (the tabernacle curtain torn in two) and allow His Father to spend eternity with His children.
In Matthew 28, called the Great Commission, Jesus told the eleven to make disciples, not to help people feel better about themselves. Think about how most church leaders measure success. It is how many come to church, not how many people are true followers with fruit in their life to show it. If a church is small, a few hundred or less, they are not considered anything special. However, the mega-churches with thousands of attenders are famous and their pastors are looked upon with awe. Jesus was not about numbers. He was always trying to get away from the crowds that were there for the “show.” In John 6, where Jesus told the crowd, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you”, Jesus’ message reduced the large crowd down to only His disciples.
Here are a few verses that challenge the “Its about me” philosophy-
Matt 16:24-25, Luke 9:23-24 – “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it” (a cross leads to death, death to self, denying self and following Him)
Luke 18:17 – “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (total faith in our Heavenly Father, whatever the circumstances)
John 3:21 – “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (God strength to do what He asks us, not ours)
John 6:37, 39 – “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away”, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me.” (the Father will give His chosen children to Jesus, and none will be lost)
John 6:44 – “No one can come to Me unless the Father draws him” (only the Father can draw people, it is not our choice)
John 15:8 – “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples” (disciples’ fruit gives God glory)
Romans 8:5 – “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (not what they desire)
Math 5:14-16 – “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (not give you the praise)
Two passages that clearly point to our need for the Spirit’s leading in our lives are 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, commonly see as the Biblical definition of love, and Galatians 5:22-23, referred to as the Fruit of the Spirit (not the fruit of man). Neither list of characteristics can be lived out without the Spirit being in control of our lives. In our own strength we are not capable to live that way.
The Gospel simply is not about us individually. God knew man could not live sin free. The Father cannot be in the presence of sin, so He created a merciful plan to send His Son as His High Priest to make the sacrifice needed to redeem His chosen people. He even prophesied it in the Garden to the serpent in Genesis 3. Jesus’ death on the cross covered all sin from the beginning of time until the end of time. Every sin ever committed or will be committed was “remembered no more.”
Now the only barrier between God and man is surrender to His Lordship. In His Sovereignty, He decided to draw His children to Jesus. Without the Spirit’s enlightenment, natural man cannot understand God’s ways and will not surrender control of their lives. God’s truth seems foolish to man. They will even say parts of the Bible, God’s Word, are irrelevant today if it goes against their thoughts. Self-focused people decide what Scripture they will follow and what Scripture they will ignore. That is the gospel of “it’s about me”.
Paul refers to himself as a bond servant. That is what we are called to be. Servants of the Living God, not servants of self. Spirit led people being salt and light in this dark world so that others He will draw will hear His call.
John 10:14-16, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and My sheep know Me – just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd.”
The Gospel, or good news, is Jesus paid the price for sin once and for all so that those the Father draws can spend eternity with Him. We are called to make disciples, not see how many people will come into our church buildings. We need “to make disciples” that live Spirit-directed lives that God can use to reach the elect that have not yet seen the “light”.
I feel like we are afraid to teach “solid food” because it might not be “seeker friendly” and drive people away. However, is that not exactly what Jesus did in John 6? True disciples that “hear His voice” will not go away. My favorite verse in all the Bible is John 6:68 where Peter answered Jesus question if the disciples were going to leave like the crowd did after His “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” comment. Peter said, “Where else would we go. Only You have the words of eternal life.” Disciples do not leave because they don’t understand. They just follow Him. Disciples are not focused on what they want in life. They are “salt and light” to this dark world. They are not concerned if others reject the truth of the true Gospel. Drawing people is God’s job. We are simply His messengers. If people reject Biblical truth, that is between them and God. Disciples are tools in God’s hand. They are Spirit lead. They “deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Jesus”. They are not complicated, just surrendered.
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