THE CHURCH OF ME, MYSELF, AND I

THE CHURCH OF ME, MYSELF, AND I

There is a growing religion in our country and it is alarming at how fast it has grown and is growing.  It is known as The Church of Me, Myself, and I.  It has continually grown exponentially and it has become a dominant force in the United States.  Satan has taken this religion and maximized its effectiveness by taking people and turning their focus on self-centeredness, self-promotion, and living in their own self-interest.  They will use whatever and whoever is necessary to accomplish their desired objective.  This religion is certainly not new and in fact, dates back to Old Testament Days.  Let’s look at it in its infancy when God asked Cain an important question.  “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’  “I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?”[1]

This religion is very inviting and compelling because it is based on the very essence of our sinful hearts, SELF.  The following list is certainly not exhaustive and gives only a few good examples of how Scripture has documented The Church of Me, Myself, and I:

• James 3:16 “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” 

• 2 Timothy 3:2-4  “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” 

• Proverbs 18:1“An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.” 

• Isaiah 56:11 “They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough.  They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain.” 

• James 3:14-15 “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.   Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” 

• Romans 2:8 “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” 

• Philippians 2:21 “For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” 

• Galatians 5:19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” 

So how does God’s man protect himself from being lured into The Church of Me, Myself, and I?  It starts with remembering something Rick Warren wrote in his book The Purpose Driven Life[2] when he states “You were made by God and for God – and until you understand that, life will make no sense.”  He goes on to say ““Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for His purposes, not you’re using Him for your own purpose.  It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.”

WOW!  What a powerful commentary!  And it is absolutely 180 degrees from the world view in which we live.  God’s man is here to serve God and while that is not always simple or easy, it is doable.  We have to start by relying on Him and being obedient to His direction rather than listening to the lies of the enemy and falling victim to self.

David Friend, editor of the book “The Meaning of Life” writes “Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under an atheistic Communist regime. But God got his attention one dreary day. He recalls, ‘In my 27th year, while riding the metro in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, pre-empting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro, and walked into God’s light.”^[3]  God’s men know that without God life makes no sense and with God all things are possible.

God’s Word makes it very clear when it says “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.   Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.   And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”[4]

We serve a God with high expectations yet they are fully and completely attainable as long as we put our faith and trust in Him.  The Church of Me, Myself, and I preaches individualism and self-preservation but God’s man sets aside self and strives to put others needs and interest ahead of our own.  We are called to have the “mindset of Christ Jesus.”  For many of us the greatest challenge to successfully accomplishing the above is humility.  If anything, The Church of Me, Myself, and I teaches arrogance and a “me first” mentality.  This is easy to embrace because, again, it fits right into our sinful nature.  God’s man should make it a daily habit to pray “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”[5]

There was an elderly man who was not only a follower of Jesus Christ but love Him dearly as well and in his advancing years his memory had been affected. As his health faded there came a time that he could recite but a single verse (2 timothy 1:12) … “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.”  Even these words slowly slipped away from his memory and when just a few days of his life remained friends would hear him repeat just six words  “what I have entrusted to Him”.  Finally as the hour of the man’s death neared and his memory was all but gone.  He voiced a single word repeatedly; it was all he could remember. HIM! HIM! HIM!  A life constantly focused on HIM helps God’s man avoid being tempted to join The Church of Me, Myself and I.  Let us be men that are constantly focused on HIM!