Object of Our Faith....

Former CoJ member, John Clauser recently posted a video link to something his pastor said and it interested me enough that I bought his pastor's new book.  The book is called  Radical: Taking back your faith from the American dream" by David Platt.   It is an interesting book that is unsettling for me and is provoking many thoughts!

Here is one such quote that really struck a chord with me...

"If you were to ask the average Christian sitting in a worship service on Sunday morning to summarize the message of Christianity, you would most likely hear something along the lines of "the message of Christianity is that God loves me."  Or someone might say, "the message of Christianity is that God loves me enough to send his Son, Jesus, to die for me."

As wonderful as this sentiment sounds, is it biblical?  Isn't it incomplete, based on what we have seen in the Bible?  "God loves me" is not the essence of biblical Christianity.  Because if "God loves me" is the message of Christianity, then who is the object of Christianity?

God loves ME.

ME.

Christianity's object is ME.

Therefore, when I look for a church, I look for music that best fits me and the programs that best cater to me and my family.  When I make plans for my life and career, it is about what works best for me and my family.  When I consider the house I will live in, the car I will drive, the clothes I will wear, the way I will live, I will choose according to what is best for me.  This is the version of Christianity that largely prevails in our culture.

But it is not biblical Christianity.

The message of biblical Christianity is not "God loves me, period." as if we were the object of our own faith.  The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make him - his ways, his salvation, his glory, his greatness - known among all nations."   Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him.  We are not the end of the gospel: God is!"

Consider this.  Ponder it.  Ponder it's implications on the way you live your life!