When Worlds Collide

Back in the 1940's America went to war. Not just any war -- a world war. We sent armament and supplies and men to two fronts. There was rationing and volunteering and an entire sense of pulling together for the common good. Fast forward just two decades and America was spitting on troops coming home from an "unpopular war". Something changed. Something shifted. In a very short time America went from a focus on family over self and community over family and society over community to self as the primary focus.

Today we are faced with what the general public refers to the "Me" generation, a generation focused almost entirely on self. But this isn't about America. As it turns out, Christians in America are in almost exactly the same place. We shop for a church for what we can get out of it. We go to church not to minister, but to be ministered to. America's primary focus is the individual, and Christians are, for the large part, going right along with it. "As it should be," most would say.

Square that with Scripture. Do a rundown on the loads of "one anothers" in the Bible. How does "What do I get out of it?" line up with all the "one another" commands? Look at Paul's command, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (Phil 2:3-4) Think about the collision of "A good church is one that feeds me well" with "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." (1 Cor 12:7)

We Christians have largely accepted the American worldview that it's all about the individual. It hasn't always been this way. German sociologist Max Weber wrote a book in 1905 that argued that the success of American Capitalism was due largely to Calvinism. Apparently it's true. How? Well, the Reformers believed in a notion called a "vocation", not in the Catholic sense or even in today's sense. They believed that we are called by God ("vocation" literally means "calling") to do the work of Christ in this world by working. Our work is Christ's work. The shoemaker and the CEO and the trash collector are all doing God's work when they serve others in the jobs that they do. To these guys, work was considered "good" and "rewarding" insofar as it was good and rewarding for those whom it was done. You see? Not "What benefits me most?" Instead, "What is best for them?" It's called the "Protestant work ethic". And it stems not from a "What's in it for me?" perspective, but a "What can I do for you today?" point of view.

Now, you have to admit, this is not a common perspective in our modern world. And I think, if you're honest, it's not particularly common even among Christians. I think, however, that it's clearly a biblical perspective. So what about you? Is it possible that you are more caught up in the current idol of self than in the biblical model of worshiping God by sacrificing self (Rom 12:1)? Is it possible that you, like me, might have some changes to make here in your thinking? Perhaps?