Thursday, October 20, 2005
Why You Should Quit This Church
I laughed the first time my friend told me where he attends church. Sure, it was in jest, but mere reality for most of us. My friend told me he was a member of “The Church of Me, Myself, and I.” He greets himself, sings to himself, takes up an offering for himself, preaches to himself, has an altar call on his terms, and closes in prayer for himself.
I laughed when he actually told me this for the first time. But I was thinking this kind of church might be what I'm looking for. Maybe start a denomination. It could expand throughout the country. Something along the lines of Fight Club. Each year we could have a conference in My Town, Pennsylvania.
Then again, maybe this is not a good idea. What would happen if one of the individual churches suffered a split? We would have a country and a denomination full of schizophrenics.
The first split would take place in my individual church because I hate myself. I can't stand to hear myself talk. So I couldn't listen to myself preach. I would get up and walkout of the service, leaving me no choice but to follow, because Myself doesn't always preach good sermons. The sermons revolve around what I should do.
Then there would be other points of contention. Me, Myself, and I would fight over how to spend the offering. It would be like any other church—fights, hurt feelings, questions about the amount of time the pastor actually works, disagreements about how the pastor’s sermons tend to sound condescending, disputes over the doctrine of red carpet vs. beige carpet, etc. You get the picture.
The Church of Me, Myself, and I never solves our problems, which is sad. But few have given up on it. We walk through its doors each day. We sing about ourselves, talk about ourselves, and spend money on ourselves because it makes us feel good. In some ways, we all worship at the feet of ourselves.
The way to tell is by paying attention to how much actual time we spend trying to get our way or trying to prove ourselves or spending time thinking about how nothing good ever happens to us, while it happens for everyone else.
Life can be difficult, but don’t allow your life to become a long complaint, where you utter such dumb slogans as, “I’m just not getting fed at my church.” People who say these type things should start their own church of Me, Myself, and I. Then they could feed themselves and disagree with themselves, and the rest of us would be a lot better off.
Evil that lurks in our hearts is hard to discern. We need God’s help. But one thing we can do is go through a day and write down how many times we say these three words—me, myself, and I. Then write down how many times we say God, Jesus, or Christ. What will our discovery be at the end of the day?
This can be one way to allow God to search our hearts. So get out pen and paper. Quit the Church of Me, Myself, and I. Just walk out.
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I laughed when he actually told me this for the first time. But I was thinking this kind of church might be what I'm looking for. Maybe start a denomination. It could expand throughout the country. Something along the lines of Fight Club. Each year we could have a conference in My Town, Pennsylvania.
Then again, maybe this is not a good idea. What would happen if one of the individual churches suffered a split? We would have a country and a denomination full of schizophrenics.
The first split would take place in my individual church because I hate myself. I can't stand to hear myself talk. So I couldn't listen to myself preach. I would get up and walkout of the service, leaving me no choice but to follow, because Myself doesn't always preach good sermons. The sermons revolve around what I should do.
Then there would be other points of contention. Me, Myself, and I would fight over how to spend the offering. It would be like any other church—fights, hurt feelings, questions about the amount of time the pastor actually works, disagreements about how the pastor’s sermons tend to sound condescending, disputes over the doctrine of red carpet vs. beige carpet, etc. You get the picture.
The Church of Me, Myself, and I never solves our problems, which is sad. But few have given up on it. We walk through its doors each day. We sing about ourselves, talk about ourselves, and spend money on ourselves because it makes us feel good. In some ways, we all worship at the feet of ourselves.
The way to tell is by paying attention to how much actual time we spend trying to get our way or trying to prove ourselves or spending time thinking about how nothing good ever happens to us, while it happens for everyone else.
Life can be difficult, but don’t allow your life to become a long complaint, where you utter such dumb slogans as, “I’m just not getting fed at my church.” People who say these type things should start their own church of Me, Myself, and I. Then they could feed themselves and disagree with themselves, and the rest of us would be a lot better off.
Evil that lurks in our hearts is hard to discern. We need God’s help. But one thing we can do is go through a day and write down how many times we say these three words—me, myself, and I. Then write down how many times we say God, Jesus, or Christ. What will our discovery be at the end of the day?
This can be one way to allow God to search our hearts. So get out pen and paper. Quit the Church of Me, Myself, and I. Just walk out.
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© 2007 by Robert Stofel
1 Comments:
I'd like to thank you for the enlightment of my new congregation of Me,Myself,and I. It's given me a
new look at myself indulgence. Perhaps the indepth sight will give birth to a better way to use me for others.
A new Me,
Marilyn Penton
new look at myself indulgence. Perhaps the indepth sight will give birth to a better way to use me for others.
A new Me,
Marilyn Penton
