...the - I - Me - My -Mine - syndrome
I promised to say more about us humans and how we have this thing about ourselves... how important we are to us... how I am the center of my universe... I call it the - I-Me-My-Mine-Syndrome... it is built in... part of the original equipment... oh no... no, no, no... I say... not Philip... I'm not like that.... and in my denial I attempt to prove to myself what I have known all long... that Philip the Great is so much better than the rest of the human race.... :)
I really really knew it was true when I became a professional full-time minister ... I mean I had now achieved the greatest goal... the highest good in Christendom... I was one of those very special people... ordained to live from the gospel... I was a paid preacher...I could now leave all that serving stuff to the others... to the lesser ones.... and give myself completely to the work of the ministry.... I could now "devote myself to prayer, and to the ministry of the word"...
I said it yesterday and I'll repeat it today... what a crock!
...and you know what's even worse?....even uglier?.... scripture says: "the statement found approval with the whole congregation" and another hierarchical class was formed... deacons were birthed into the first religious system.... and the whole thing just goes on... and on.... and on.... they missed everything Jesus had said... "don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think".... "the first shall be last" .... "become the servant of all".... "unless a seed goes into the ground and dies".... "save your life and you'll lose it"....
Somebody actually got it straight when they said: "we conquer by yielding, we receive by giving, we overcome by being defeated, and we live by dying. There is no other way except the way of the Cross. It is the one and only principle of Christian conduct.
Here it is... right from the Man Himself.... "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
We look at those first apostles as the epitome of maturity.... of power .... of grace... people who immediately had it all...who did not need to learn or develop. Come on... those guys were just like you and me... we need to stop reading the scripture like God penned it all by Himself... these are the writer's stories... in their own inspired words... all the struggles are there... all the failures are there....
You know something?.... the world is not offended by our struggles as christians... it is offended by our attempts to hide our struggles and failures behind masks of spirituality and perfection.... our pretense that God is on our side but not on their side... that everything in our lives is just hunky dorry... so we put on our phony plastic smiles... say praise Jesus... and think we would be failing God if we ever said how we really feel right now.... I didn't learn this by reading a book... I learned it because I lived like this... and taught others to live like this... I am very thankful for His forgiveness...
Humility and struggle does not offend.... but hypocrisy does... big time.... The early apostles and the early church had a learning curve.... just like the rest of us human beings....
The place to start might just be... to start getting honest... with myself....especially since everything is all about me all the time anyway..... it's the I-Me-My Mine syndrome... that's where I started... it really helped... I can even be honest with people now... most of the time anyway...
:)
I really really knew it was true when I became a professional full-time minister ... I mean I had now achieved the greatest goal... the highest good in Christendom... I was one of those very special people... ordained to live from the gospel... I was a paid preacher...I could now leave all that serving stuff to the others... to the lesser ones.... and give myself completely to the work of the ministry.... I could now "devote myself to prayer, and to the ministry of the word"...
I said it yesterday and I'll repeat it today... what a crock!
...and you know what's even worse?....even uglier?.... scripture says: "the statement found approval with the whole congregation" and another hierarchical class was formed... deacons were birthed into the first religious system.... and the whole thing just goes on... and on.... and on.... they missed everything Jesus had said... "don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think".... "the first shall be last" .... "become the servant of all".... "unless a seed goes into the ground and dies".... "save your life and you'll lose it"....
Somebody actually got it straight when they said: "we conquer by yielding, we receive by giving, we overcome by being defeated, and we live by dying. There is no other way except the way of the Cross. It is the one and only principle of Christian conduct.
Here it is... right from the Man Himself.... "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
We look at those first apostles as the epitome of maturity.... of power .... of grace... people who immediately had it all...who did not need to learn or develop. Come on... those guys were just like you and me... we need to stop reading the scripture like God penned it all by Himself... these are the writer's stories... in their own inspired words... all the struggles are there... all the failures are there....
You know something?.... the world is not offended by our struggles as christians... it is offended by our attempts to hide our struggles and failures behind masks of spirituality and perfection.... our pretense that God is on our side but not on their side... that everything in our lives is just hunky dorry... so we put on our phony plastic smiles... say praise Jesus... and think we would be failing God if we ever said how we really feel right now.... I didn't learn this by reading a book... I learned it because I lived like this... and taught others to live like this... I am very thankful for His forgiveness...
Humility and struggle does not offend.... but hypocrisy does... big time.... The early apostles and the early church had a learning curve.... just like the rest of us human beings....
The place to start might just be... to start getting honest... with myself....especially since everything is all about me all the time anyway..... it's the I-Me-My Mine syndrome... that's where I started... it really helped... I can even be honest with people now... most of the time anyway...
:)
