When you came into the faith as a Christian, something extraordinary happened. The veil that once separated you from God was torn and you gained access to the throne of grace. I’m not sure I’ve yet learned to appreciate the sheer magnitude of that privilege, but I press into it daily; how about you? Yet, this question remains…why? Why do we have open access to heaven? To quote a friend who recently relayed the vision of his local church: “We exist to take you from corporate encounters to daily personal encounters.”
And that struck at the core of my being. I mused instantly, “Isn’t that the exact opposite of the call of the church?” Aren’t, rather, your deep personal encounters meant to uplift and unify the entire body of Christ? Isn’t that the bigger reason we have open access to God’s throne? This hyper-emphasis on our personal lives in the faith, rather than what Yahweh is doing in the Body of Christ, has bred a narcissistic brand of Christianity. We have moved our focus from ‘Others’ Lives Matter” to ‘My Life Matters.’ “For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:21) The course correction is this; “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4)
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