HUMANS - BEAUTIFUL CREATURES BUT SELFISH

People are very selfish creatures. We are given the freedom to choose, free will so to speak, and we undoubtedly choose to be selfish – care for ourselves and live for ourselves. We don’t live by instinct like animals do. We live by such incredible ability to think, to process, and to decide that is totally free from any manipulation. God gave us that free will. We are free moral agent. But I have a sense that we have the propensity towards selfishness.

Sometimes we get the same selfish treatment from our supposedly BFF (Best Friend Forever). Where is loyalty? Where is the spirit of camaraderie, solidarity or comradeship? Even in our vocation there is no longer loyalty – no longer longevity of service. There is always a need to move up the ladder. There is always this need to get ahead, to win, and to achieve. It’s not about the passion to work where we have a cause. The cause is no longer the company, the church or a particular ministry or activity. The cause has turned inward – what is in it for us! The cause is about our success. We are selfish and arrogant!

Even in the church today – ministry involvement is not based on genuinely wanting to help the church succeed in advancing the Kingdom but how much I am worth. If I am not being valued, appreciated and recognized or if I am being slighted I walk. Whatever happened to the call of God? Whatever happened to submission? Whatever happened to Paul’s admonition: “in all things preferring others better than ourselves.”

Whenever I see such things being played out in the church I developed jadedness in my spirit. It begins to sap away every ounce of spiritual energy still left in me. After 28 years of serving God, I have seen so many people come and go – especially those who have been in ministry and in Christian leadership. I remember when God called me long ago it is not a matter of what I can get out of it but rather how much I am willing to surrender, to sacrifice, and to allow God to do whatever He wants to do in me! This is not happening today!

Perhaps, the worse is also not about ministry involvement but about the sheer fact of coming to church on Sundays. I noticed that there are people who no longer come to church regularly. There are many reasons to it: apathy and indifferent, operating under wrong priorities, church is boring and attending church becomes not as important as a good sleep-in, running marathon, bicycling, movies vacation or even work in the office.

My conclusion: urban Christians have slipped into the mold of secularism, drowned in the cesspool of consumerism and spiraled down the tunnel of affluence. We work for play. We accumulate to dispense lavishly. We educate for status and stature. We get in the game for ourselves, our cause and our momentary happiness – oh, so that’s what we think!

Isaiah 60:1-2 - Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.   

Revive us once again! Reveal your glory once again! Establish your reign within our hearts once again!