For this week’s blog, I want to confront us with a very riveting and penetrating question that has been bugging my mind for a whole week. The question is not to make you angry or anything, it is not even to question your love for the Lord, I know you love Him, do you? I think you do. It is just to make you rethink your relationship with and commitment to the master. The question is, WHO IS IT REALLY ABOUT?
Christian theology is being lived out in an interesting way today that theologians call the “cat” and “dog” theology. I’ve heard others say and I believe it is true that dogs have masters and cats have staff. There is a joke about cats and dogs that I think buttresses the point I am trying to make. A dog says “You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, and you love me, you must be God.” A cat says “you pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, and you love me, I must be God.” This is how it plays out in our Christian walk, the cat says “Lord you love me, you bless me abundantly, and you gave your life for me, I must be god.” Dogs say “Lord you love me, you bless me abundantly, and you gave your life for me, you must be God. “ I know we really don’t say it like that because it will be politically and biblically incorrect. So while we really do not say we are God, we say “It’s all about me.” God did all of this for me, life is all about me. God did not only die for me but also lives for me.
We are more concerned about ourselves than we are about God. We are more interested in God serving man than man serving God. So when we come to the Lord we ask “what can God do for me?” instead of reechoing the words of the great apostle Paul “Lord, what do You want me to do?” so our real interest is how to get God to give us what we want. So our desire is to manipulate God rather than get to know Him and the power of His resurrection. All our prayers are therefore about us: Bless me. Protect me. Take care of me. Martin Luther the great theologian said, “The essence of sin is that man seeks his own in everything, even in God.”
So we worship God because we have come to believe for whatever reason, primarily maybe because of scriptures, that He can provide all our needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. Therefore we are in church essentially for what we can get out of it than for the opportunity to radiate the glory of our king. I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that there are folks in church today, that if they knew something or someone could give them a better life than what Christ has offered, they would seriously have considered it.
I do not think it is all about us, because if it is all about us, why did God create the eagle to have better eyesight than humans? That doesn’t seem fair. Why can a baby horse walk at birth and we humans take nine months just to learn how to crawl. As Bob Sjorgen puts it, “Didn’t God know we had places to go, people to see and things to do?” If it is all about us, then I want to know, why are there galaxies we don’t even see? That just doesn’t make sense. Or does it? I think it does if and when we understand that it is really not about us.
John the revelator wrote “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation 4:11 (NKJV). All things, meaning everything inclusive and nothing exclusive and that means you and I exist primarily for Him, essentially to give HIM glory. It’s All about him not us. So look at your life and your attitude towards the things of God and ask yourself, “Who is it about?” What is my motive behind what I am doing? Is it for His glory or for my own personal selfish agenda? Because sometimes we make it look like it is about God but the motive is really about us. That is why sometimes in our quest for “ours”, we will destroy anything and everything in our path, even the church of Christ and not blink. Because we are convinced that it is all about us. Ladies and gentlemen, it was never about us, it is never about us and will never be about us. IT IS ALL ABOUT HIM. To Him be ALL the glory, ALL the honor and ALL the adoration.
I’ll leave you for now. If we don’t meet again, I’ll see you at the dinner table in Papa’s house.
Pastor King