Are we in this together, or aren’t we?

One of the most popular quotes in Chistendom originates from theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer …

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

It’s a popular quote because of the significance and value of its message. It points us to Jesus Christ’s own very succinct and rather blunt statement of what is necessary to be His disciple …

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? Luke 9:23-25.

It is impossible to be an authentic disciple of Christ and live a self-oriented life! And yet, the Church is only sparsely populated with believers who have heeded Christ’s invitation to “come and die.” Instead, we have moved away from the biblical identity of the church being the household of God, the very family of God, to a much looser definition of “community.” We have saturated the leadership training so many church leaders are addicted to with business principles and business models instead of a far more biblical view of a “first followership” leadership model. The result is a church filled with people who are more self-oriented than other-oriented, more competitive than compassionate.

So are we in this together, or aren’t we?

We who comprise the church, and we who lead the church, have both strayed so far from Christ’s insistence that we turn from our selfish ways that we don’t even see our competitive — if not downright adversarial — attitudes toward others, both inside and outside the church.

Herbert G. Hand shared a story in “Imitating Jesus Series: I Want to be Like You!” that helps us pull back the curtain on our self-orientation …

In the Philippines, deep in the dense rain forest, lives a primitive people known as the Agta Negrito. They are hunter-gatherers who wear loincloths and little else.

Several years ago a missionary family who was working among them set up a croquet game in their front yard. Before long several of their Agta Negrito neighbors curiously gathered to watch them. Soon they wanted to play, too.

The missionaries explained the game and gave each of them a mallet and a ball. Halfway into the game, one of the natives’ croquet balls landed next to another’s. The missionary excitedly explained one of the more aggressive rules: You can put your foot on your ball and smack it hard with the mallet, causing your opponent’s ball to go flying far away.

The native understood what he was saying, but couldn’t comprehend why anyone would want to do it. He said, “Why would I want to knock his ball out of the court?”

The missionary replied, “So you will be the one to win!”

The native shook his head in bewilderment. You see, competition and winning is not important in hunting and gathering societies. People survive — not by competing — but by working together.

The game continued, but no one followed the missionaries’ advice. When the first player successfully got through all the wickets, he did not see himself as the victor. For him the game wasn’t over. He went back and gave aid and advice and encouragement to the others. Finally, when the last wicket was played by the last player, they all shouted happily, “We won! We won!”

Is that how we behave as the household of the living God?

Jesus taught us the second greatest command is to LOVE others. And John was so pointed as to say that our love for one another is a primary evidence that we have been saved …

“If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead,” 1 John 3:14.

As Christians, not only have we come to understand that God is for us, we see in scripture that we are imitate Him and be for each other the same way He is for us!

Have you come to Christ and died to self?

Have you turned from your selfish ways?

Are we in this together, or aren’t we?

Scotty