“We ask for your forgiveness for making the church into a dangerous place to be honest with your struggles. We have made following Jesus a self-enrichment exercise – rather than an authentic and vulnerable gathering of people that are moved with compassion.”
In the 90’s All Star United wrote the lyrics: “My Jesus decal does the trick. Right above my dashboard I stick it, a good luck charm, it keeps me from harm, and saves me from speeding tickets.”- They correctly saw the ways in which Christianity was becoming more and more self absorbed. Christianity and church business had gotten big. In the process Jesus became a tool. The Jesus fish was a way to make sure other people knew how holy you were. Holiness became a type of performance. You could grab a checklist of things you did not do to see how Christian you were: “I went to three promise keeper events last year, all the music I bought at Lifeway, I’m current with the Left Behind series, and I got a raise at work because I’ve been reading the prayer of Jabez.”
Granted most Christian’s did not live this way, but for some Christianity was simply a club. For some, it still is. American Christianity often gets mixed with patriotism, capitalism, and a good old protestant work ethic to be a self enrichment exercise. It is a way of meeting the expectations of our families or communities. We aim to be a “good person” so we exercise, eat right, and become spiritual.” This fails to meet the mark for Christianity.
Christians should “improve,” but when we say improve, we do not necessarily mean that we become prettier, wealthier, better liked, etc. Improvement for a Christian is not about gaining status in society. Improvement for Christians is becoming more like Jesus, the homeless prophet who upset the establishment so much that they killed him.
In order to be like Jesus, Christians readily admit that the way forward is not through self enrichment projects, but through death to ourselves. By dying to ourselves we are moved to compassion. Once we stop seeking our own good and start seeking the good of the city, we should find ways to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, visit the lonely, and liberate the imprisoned. When we do these things we should not be self-enriched, but selfless.
At the Anchor we admit that we are not always great at being selfless. We recognize the difficulty of letting go of our plans and trusting God. We are on a journey to grow in love of God and love of neighbor. For this reason we routinely gather and pray “God, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”