Me, me, me

And he (Jesus) said to all, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." -Luke 9:23

In the middle of January, I began studying an ethic called Egoism. Egoism basically states that we as humans will ALWAYS do what is best for us. There is no such thing as doing good to, or for, others because, in theory, we want something back from them. Wanting something back can be anything from material goods, friendship, or even a hope that they might see the person doing good as a "good person." As I studied this a bit, I sat and observed those around me...and watched myself even closer.

Ever since I started observing, I noticed that the scariest thing about this theory is that I noticed myself and many other Christians thinking they can manipulate God. I started to realize that sometimes I would pray, alone or by myself, hoping that God would give me the comfort I need, make my engagement stay so amazing, etc. Now, I must say, God does do those things but I believe when we have the lenses on to look at ourselves and benefit ourselves instead of our eyes to God, then we are egoists manipulating God.

In a recent sermon, JR Vassar explains how we lie to ourselves and to God so often to try to look good for others. He explains a lot of this comes from our high view of self-importance. He gives an illustration about this. He said, "Everytime any of us bought a yearbook, what was the first thing we did? We flipped back to the index, found our name, and turned straight to our own picture." So true!!!

I believe our lives are still like this, I know mine is. This egoism theory really jacked me up because, as I watched myself closely, a lot of what I do is secretly for approval. I noticed we seek God's approval buy manipulating Him, we seek others approval by veiling our sin by pretending we have it all together while easily noticing others sin. A friend once told me, "if you can pinpoint a person's sin that they are trying to hide, you can be sure that you have done the same and that is why it upsets you so much at what they are doing.

I believe there is another type of egoism that I have noticed. People who deny serving others because they have an "excuse." As Christ followers, we are to love God and love others, not ourselves. This type of egoist, who serves himself/herself will work 8-12 hour days and believe serving others is not necessary because they worked a long day or something, that they have earned the right to be selfish as if their work earned them that. Christ has called us to deny ourselves DAILY. However, some believe that because they are doing so much of one thing, maybe comparing their life to another person, that they can leave the serving (whether it be praying with others, cleaning up after themselves and others, etc.) to the person who has "less going on." This is sad to see and I see it all the time in Christianity. We should consider ourselves less than the next person, no matter what the situation, social class, position, etc.

Here is the application I have got from all of my observing. If we have trusted in Christ, than it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). 1 Cor. 6:19-20 talks about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are not our own anymore, SO GLORIFY GOD with your body. This is not something, if you come to the realization that you ARE an egoist, that you will fix the second you are done reading this. However, we must observe ourselves and yield to glorify God. I have been praying Psalm 139:23-24 for a while now, and it is amazing how wicked the Spirit reveals me to be, but that forces me to depend on God and not myself.

I hope this does not come off as harsh, but a motivator to glorify God and serve others. This theory rattled me pretty hard, but might just be the best rattling I could have gotten.

Hating the works of your hero: Martin Luther

On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the front door of the Catholic Church. They were selling indulgences(forms that would get someone out, or shorten their time in purgatory) to build up the church. The Latin Vulgate was the only Bible used from 400-1400+ and very few people could read Latin. So, it was up to the priests to teach the Bible and before long the Church became the dominating and authoritative figure in the church. That was until Martin Luther stepped up and fought for Scripture to be read as is and taught to the people. 2 Tim. 3:16-17 states:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Martin Luther understood this. If you ask Christians today who their heroes are, Martin Luther will usually dominate the list, outside of Jesus and the Apostle Paul of course. However, most who would claim that Luther is a hero of Christianity would treat him the same way he was treated back them.

The Main Issue: Luther saw the Scriptures as all about Christ and that Christ should be our treasure, nothing else. However, I see a filthy battle going on in America right now. Church has once again been raised in authority over the person and work of Jesus Christ. When I first went to church, I started thinking I needed Jesus so I could get into heaven, so I could have an easier life, etc. It was not until a year and a half later, while attending church every Sunday, that I came to the conclusion, from the bible, that salvation is through trusting in the person and work of Christ. My silly attempts at earning it were feeble, my "serving" the church was a way to earn it, and my false evangelism (inviting people to church) were all weak attempts to earn God's favor.

Christ, which Martin Luther would risk his life to make known, is what is necessary for salvation. It is not a ticket to heaven, because heaven with no Christ is rubbish! When we trust in Christ, it is natural that we become part of a Christ-treasuring, gospel-centered community of believers. Our evangelism should be Christ crucified, not a come to church method. Not once did Jesus teach His disciples to go out and bring people to the synagogue because He was teaching something that would itch their ears (2 Tim. 4:3), but He commanded the disciples to preach Christ crucified and resurrected, then make disciples (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Matt. 28:16-20).

Unfortunately, the truth's of the cross burn bridges sometimes, when it is meant to unite believers. Luther was persecuted for explaining that Christ crucified and resurrected was far more of a treasure than being obedient to the church's heresy. Luther loved Jesus. Luther was very knowledgeable and he produced many good works out of his love for Christ. The emergent church and it's devout followers attack those who seek knowledge, overemphasize church over Jesus, and believe that all we need to do is love one another. This generation holds a lot of fiery men and women who will not stand for such garbage, and like Luther, will be told they are enemies of the Church. Praise God for these men and women, and the leaders that have not swayed from the truth and have built selfless Kingdom minded gospel communities and ignore the silly myths the "seeker-sensitive" methods. R.C. Sproul says this about the seeker-sensitive movement:

"It is a very bad thing. 1)It rests on the fundamental error that unbelievers outside the church are desperately seeking for God. 2) The purpose for corporate worship on Sunday is to reach the lost."

Why is this important? Sproul goes on to say:

"The Bible (Rom.1-3) is clear that NO ONE seeks after God. The only people who seek after God are those who have been born again."

So, let's look to the Scriptures about all matters like the cross of Christ, Church, evangelism, etc. Martin Luther fought for us to have the Word and live by the Word, Sola Scriptura. When one has a good knowledge of the Word, they treasure Christ more and more, and evangelism becomes a natural, loving effect instead of a guilt forced sales-pitch.

Treasure Christ!