It's Not About Me

Not long ago I attended a large prayer gathering. Many hundreds of people from lots of churches all over the area also attended. The event was billed as a gathering that would exalt the Lord and allow us to intercede for our region and even our nation. No one who led in prayer would be identified by name, because the organizers wanted the focus to be on God alone. He was to get center stage. The Lord was to be preeminent in all that happened—start to finish—for the entire evening.

As expected, the event began with a time of singing. I immediately stood, prepared to enthusiastically give God the glory that He alone deserves. Oddly, though, the first song we sang was, "I Am a Friend of God." Does anyone besides me see the irony in that? This event was to focus on the Lord, and we began it by singing about us! God was to be the focus of our attention, yet we started off by making declarations about ourselves. And therein, I believe, is one of the greatest downfalls of the American Church: we are far more focused on us than on God. The great I takes precedent over the great I AM. Yet Scripture repeatedly declares that we should worship God, and God alone.

If we're actually going to worship, our attention is to be focused on Him. We may make fine and true—even biblical—declarations about ourselves, but if it is not focused toward the Lord, dare we suggest that it is worship? The very idea is ludicrous!

Perhaps you think I'm overstating the case by suggesting that the Church in America is more focused on us than on God. If so, you may not want to actually try my next suggestion. But if you're not among the fainthearted, look at the working song list of your church. If it's anywhere close to average, there are more songs listed that begin with the word, "I" than any other word. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself. I love… I will… I worship… I… I… I… It's all about me and what I will do.

Don't misunderstand. There is nothing inherently wrong with such songs. In fact, there is clearly a place for us declaring who we are in God, what He has done for us, and what that means for us as His people. The reality, though, is that there is a disproportional number of such songs. Primarily this is because we have unwittingly bought into our culture's mantra: It's all about me. Even our "worship" (I find it distasteful to even use that word in this context because worship, in its truest sense, is directed toward God) can too often become focused on me, my needs, my wants, my desires. Too frequently, it's all about me. And when it is so, it bears little resemblance to truly biblical worship.

We must return to a focus on the Lord Himself. Period. Christ Jesus crucified and raised to life is the totality of our faith. It's not about me. It's all about Him. Let's fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and get them off of ourselves.

Lord, help us to be less focused on us and more focused on You. We want You to be the center of all we do. Amen.