Job 1:20-21 (ESV)
[20] Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. [21] And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
In
the early 20th Century the Church Growth Movement got its start. Foundational
to the movement was the idea that the goal of the church is to build the
church. Out of that grew Robert Schuler’s Crystal Cathedral. His work
influenced Rick Warren and Bill Hybels as they began their ministries. That
developed into the Seeker Friendly church service designed to make unbelievers
comfortable so that they would come to church and hear the gospel.
We
could talk about the theological implications of the movement and where it led,
but I want us to think about a peripheral impact of the movement. That is a human-centered
approach to our faith. We began to hear more sermons about how to find
happiness, how to be effective, how to conquer our fears, etc. That’s not all
bad, but when flourishing in our humanity becomes the central idea of our
faith, we have missed something. Ultimately life is not about us. It is about
God. He created. He designed us. He breathed his breath of life into us. He
tasked us with the stewardship of his creation for his purposes. We have taken
a faith that is grounded on Jesus words of self-denial and turned it into a
faith of self-fulfillment. Perhaps it is time for us to re-evaluate what we
really believe, and why we are here.
Job understood that life was not about him. That’s why he could say, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Maybe we need a little less self-fulfillment and a little more self-denial.
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