it’s not about me! 1 Cor. 10:24

I was do doing discipleship with a new believer a few months ago. He asked me to clarify something he had read in the Purpose Driven Life. These words are found in Chapter 1:

“It’s not about you.

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose. The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point - ourselves…

You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose.”

As we discussed this chapter, I was floored to see that he was not only shocked by this radical view of life, but he had embraced it! He wondered if he was accurate to realign his life with these new priorities – God and others first, himself last.

I stammered in amazed delight – he had grasped a truth even I had not fully embraced. Life is not about me!

Look at the two greatest commandments: love God and love others (Matt. 22:37-40). Where am I in that equation? I am the subject – God and others are the object. I am the giver – not the receiver.

It is in this spirit Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:24: “Let no one seek his own good, but that of others.”

This is a command we wish children would obey! This is a command all of us must learn. However, practicing selflessness is in utter contradiction to our human nature!

Here are some burning questions:
1. Why do I find it so hard to set aside my feelings, hurts, and expectations?
2. What have I done recently to seek the good of someone else above myself?
3. How committed am I to putting others before myself?
4. What will I do this week to seek the good of someone above myself? (Come to class prepared to share what you did!)

In a Christian community,
I am last – others are first.

It’s MY life! 1 Cor. 10:23

How many times have you heard someone when confronted in sin reply: “It’s MY life”??!!! Christians from Corinth to Kirkwood and everywhere in-between use this excuse.

Take a deeper look with me at Paul’s powerfully potent words:

“All things are lawful,”
but not all things are helpful.
“All things are lawful,”
but not all things build up. (ESV)

Paul is trying to expose the selfishness of the average Corinthian John and Jane. They were living their lives as if they were an island. What they did was their own personal business. “Leave my private life alone” they declared.

Paul again mocks the Corinthian adage that “all things are lawful” and that private choices don’t really matter to the community (see 6:12 also). God does give me freedom in Christ. But, NOT every choice, behavior, or action is helpful. Only certain choices, behaviors, and actions build up.

Burning Question: Can I really live however I want? Is it really MY life?

Weekly Nuggets:

~ If you are a Christian, you no longer own your life.

~ Your character is who you are & what you do – in public AND in private.

~ You may be making private choices that are tearing others down.

The wall between our home and our church
is thinner than we may think.

How do I practice idolatry? PART II 1 Cor. 10:12-22

Thanks for the excellent discussion in class this week! We are asking the question: How do I practice idolatry?

Let us begin by asking: “What is idolatry?” Idolatry simply put is “worship – of anything than God”. Wondering what you worship? Simply look at 15 of the largest industries in America:

1) Starbucks, McDonalds…Fast food industry – the idol of my convenience
2) Planet Fitness… body building/workout industry – the idol of my body
3) GNC stores…health industry– the idol of my health
4) Adult entertainment, Playboy, online pornography…sex industry – the idol of my lust
5) Hollywood, Regal cinemas…movie industry – the idol of my entertainment
6) NFL, NHL, NBA, NCAA…all things sports – the idol of my pride & human fitness
7) American Idol, America’s Got Talent… pop culture fame – the idol of my fame
8) IPods, ITunes, MP3…music – the idol of my music
9) Wal-Mart, Target…retailers – the idol of my wants
10) Ford, Toyota, GM…auto makers – the idol of my self-image
11) Citigroup, HSBC, Capital One, Visions…banks, credit cards – the idol of my greed
12) AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner…phone companies – the idol of my gossip
13) DishTV, DirecTV…cable TV – the idol of my laziness
14) Century 21, ReMaxx…realty – the idol of my discontent
15) Applebees, Tullys, Ponderosa…restaurants – the idol of my gluttony

I could go on and on. So could you. We have so many idols! Do you notice they all came back to me? Our idolatrous society is no different from India with their many gods. We just call our gods by other names.

“But I don’t worship them,” you say. Idolatry isn’t about bowing down. It’s about distracting us from True Worship. For the Corinthians, it meant going into a temple. For us, we live IN the temple! Our culture immerses us in the worship of ourselves and our lusts.

Think about it. How much of your week is spent in True Worship of God? How much is spent in worship of the above “idols”? Are you distracted? I am too.

Maybe you don’t have an idol – maybe you are one! Perhaps we struggle more with idolatry than we realize.

Perhaps we are really worshipping ourselves!

How do I practice idolatry? 1 Cor. 10:12-22

Last week we concluded that the three major temptations faced by Israel were: immorality, idolatry, and ingratitude. What were they supposed to be practicing? Purity, true worship, and trust/gratitude. If we could learn to practice these three behaviors, our lives & families & churches would be so drastically different!

The passage for this week is1 Corinthians 10:12-22. (Please read in NLT if available!)

This week continues the theme of idolatry from chapter 10. I have thought long and hard about idolatry the past few weeks. Isn’t this an outdated sin? Well, most commentators say that it is anything that comes before God in my life. So I suppose idolatry is everything! This is much too broad to have application for me.

What do you think about idolatry? How is idolatry different today than it was for the Corinthians? How is it the same? What does American idolatry look like?

I have come to some conclusions in my life that blew me away. It was after I asked myself lots of questions. What does my culture value? What do I value?

When it comes to idolatry, eventually you lose control. Eventually your idol eats your time, money, and family. You are at its mercy.

How do you commit idolatry? Answering this question was hard for me and will be for you. But it is a question we both must answer.