The Guardian

Push back against a me-first culture through missions

“It’s not about you.” With those words Rick Warren opened his best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life. Nine years later, Max Lucado followed with It's Not About Me: Rescue From the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy. Sadly, in the narcissistic culture that we have become, it’s all about “me.” The world is disoriented in its disconnection from God. But it’s different in the church—right? Well, no. Despite so many warnings to the contrary, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the materialism and self-preoccupation of the culture to escape the Church. For many Christians “the American Dream” has come true, but their life has become a nightmare of stress, debt, and broken relationships.

Jesus anticipated this problem when he said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mat 10:39 ESV) Every day, Christians in the USA live with the blessing of living in a free and prosperous society. But there is a trap that can and must be avoided—the trap of entitlement. When we begin to feel that we deserve our blessings, we enter the danger zone of losing our life to our own selfishness.

To avoid the trap of selfishness and entitlement, we need to “lose” our life. This does not mean that we develop a dark suicidal wish, or that we enter some kind of joyless existence. What it does mean, is that we engage in an intentional life-style of giving ourselves away. For me nothing illustrates that notion better than the movie, “The Guardian.” In the film, Kevin Costner plays a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, one of those very few selfless persons that possess the courage to brave unbelievable conditions—risking their lives to save others. Their motto, “That others may live,” reveals a kind of selfless thinking and living that is rare indeed. It reminds me of an old hymn…

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

(Lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby)

[Click here for a video by Gary Chapman, with the background story of the hymn. It’s a nice repackaged acoustic arrangement.]

Thankfully, there are many ways to give yourself away. Through involvement in missions, for example, you have opportunities to give of your life through…

Prayer. Secure a list of missionaries that your church supports and pray for them. Also, Jesus instructed his disciples to, “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Mat 9:38 ESV) Click here to join us in praying for laborers in 2014.

Giving. Generously support the missions and evangelism programs of your church. Pray about waiting on that big-ticket purchase as an expression of selflessness.

Personal involvement. Join that short-term missions trip or community outreach that you church has been planning. What about nurturing a relationship with a neighbor that needs the Lord?

Sure, it feels risky. But there is no surer way to find your life than to give it away.

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