Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A response to Ben's "Week 6 Wednesday"

I liked what Ben had to say about individualism and its impact on the Church. Approaching Christianity by asking "Whats in it for me?" seems ok at face value. However, this question often rises from a strong sense of self interest and personal gain. The Church has responded to the "whats in it for me?" question in a way that should make everyone want to be a Christian. The common response out there is," You get to go to heaven." Or, "God will bless you materially with money and spiritually with a sense of fulfillment." Or, "God will give you a sense of being purpose driven so that you can be happy." But I wonder if it would be more Pauline or Christlike to respond to the, "whats in it for me?" question by saying, "You get to suffer for the cause of Christ." Or, "You get to be the servant of all." Or, "You get to be last instead of first." Or, "You get to lay down your selfish ambition and worldly desires for the things of the kingdom." How many people today would like that answer?

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