It's Not About You

In our day, the statement "It's not about you" certainly will raise eyebrows and hackles everywhere, both within and without the church.  I suspect this is because I have been raised in a cultural platform which says everything is about me!    In a society that stresses the potential and value of individuals, that I can be whatever I want to be as I follow my heart, even the suggestion that my life is not about me may seem repulsive, offensive, and ignorant.  But the scriptural truth remains undeterred, gleaming ever brighter in a world darkened with humanism.  God created all things for His good pleasure, and we exist by His grace for His glory.  Our existence is all about God.

The greatest joy for a human being created in the image of the Almighty God is to know and serve Him.  Yet when we present the truth of the Gospel, it can be done in a way which emphasises personal benefits and gifts we receive from God more than the worthiness of God Himself.  Many times I have heard heaven described in all its glory revealed through scripture:  streets made of pure gold like glass, custom mansions prepared for the redeemed, the absence of tears, sorrow, pain, sickness, and death, the granting of a glorified body like the risen Jesus Christ, meeting with loved ones, and the joyous unity to be experienced forever.  But heaven is not about you.  All those aforementioned benefits of heaven pale in comparison to being in the presence of God and fulfilling His divine purposes.  Our entrance into heaven was paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.  He should receive all glory and recognition because the will of the Father has been accomplished.  We live, breathe, and have our being on earth by God's grace, and the same will be true in the heavenly realm.  We are intended to live on earth for God, and we will live in heaven for God too!

I have heard people talk about prayer or gifts through the Holy Spirit as a source of power to be tapped into, almost like a government grant of free money just waiting to be snatched up by those who fill out the forms and meet the criterion.  But neither prayer nor spiritual gifts are about you.  Prayer is not a handy way to obtain your every desire, but to accomplish God's will in and through your life.  Gifts of the Holy Spirit are not merely for your edification, but more importantly the glory of God and the edification of the church.  God did not make us the light of the world so we could bask in our own glow, but so we would be a light to all who are in the world so they might come to Him for salvation.  If you think ANY gift of the Holy Spirit is just for you, you are wrong.  The baptism with the Holy Spirit is always associated with increased service and praise unto God.  The gifts and talents provided by God are to be invested for His glory and the good of others.  Of course we too receive great benefits and increase of our faith through the exercise of gifts, but that is not the primary purpose.  All we are and all we possess is by God for God, and we are not our own.

When we realise our life is not about us, what freedom is ours by God's grace!  When we see a group photo in which we are included, our eyes quickly move to find our face.  This is often true when we look into scripture, and this is not a bad thing.  We should seek to discover who we are in Christ and the many blessings and promises He has freely offered to us.  There is so much we are called to enter into now!  But more important than focusing on how a relationship with God or the future promise of heaven will benefit us, we must step back from the photograph and ask:  "Why this glorious assembly?  Whose vision created this seemingly impossible future for me?  How should I be included in a picture with such heavenly glory?"  Let us turn our eyes upon Jesus once more and realise it's not about us.  God deserves all our affections, desires, and praise.  To look forward to the golden streets or the people we will meet in Heaven is to look forward to a gourmet meal because of the extra knives and forks.  On earth Christ is to be our Main Course, and in Heaven He is our Royal Host.  It's all about Him!