Joshua: Always "us"; never "me"

As an individualistic North America its hard to think about community. In my city, young teens rarely have curfews because parents don't want to infringe on their rights. Students at my university miss meetings routinely because of how they feel. Small groups rarely stay together for long. Its hard to think about the effect we have on others when we are so focused on self.

Yet an obscure story in Joshua reminded me that this is not the norm nor is it the way that the Father thinks. In Joshua 22, when a couple of tribes built an altar that others interpreted falsely as pagan worship, the leaders of Israel implored the supposed offenders to repent because of the consequences it would have for the nation. They never spoke of consequences for the offenders only. They cited historical references where the entire nation suffered due to the poor decisions of a few.  Maybe they were not considered guilty for the decisions of others but the consequences overflowed. A child might not be guilty of his father's drunkenness but he definitely suffers from the consequences.

So what does that look like today? How many consequences do I bring into the lives of others because of the decisions I make? What does it imply for family, small groups and my working environment? And what does it imply about those bad days when nothing seems to go right in the family, group or work? Maybe my individualism interprets the consequences I suffer from the decisions of others as the results of my actions rather than theirs? Maybe I don
't even understand suffering because of my selfish individualism?

Its a thought that we don't entertain much as North Americans where we believe everyone is an island. Yet the worldview I see in scripture is less island culture and more village culture. We are intricately intertwined.

John 1:42-51; Me or Thee?

Nathaniel almost missed him. He was hung up on a detail and almost missed God on earth. I think we do the same thing at times. Instead of seeing God touch a group of people, we take offense at how the worship service was conducted. Instead of appreciating the breadth of Jesus’ love, we take offense at his condemnation of some. Instead of diving into his teachings, we dislike that they were in a style we don’t like. Like Nathaniel, we get hung up on little personal details and miss Jesus.

Also like Nathaniel, we just love it when Jesus does something neat and personal for us. Jesus, on the other hand, was more concerned for his worldwide influence, hence the reference to Jacob’s dream where heaven and earth are connected and God makes a promise to influence the world through Jacob. We have been trained to shop around for the best product that fits me personally, e.g., car, house, job, clothes. Our mission trips are planned around our schedule more than the world’s needs. Our selection of a home church is more about ease of traffic getting there than discerning where God is at work. We come to Jesus with the same mentality, i.e., we don’t really want to influence the world; we just want Jesus to show up and make me feel good. Nathaniel was impressed by Jesus knowing where he was sitting. “He saw me! He knows me! I had God come to me!” Jesus’ response? “There are greater things than that.”
The question is “can I see them?”

Am I so hung up on me that I can’t see God going and coming around me? Maybe worse yet, am I so hung up on me that I don’t really care about God working around me? After all which would I rather experience: an insignificant revelation about me or the transformation of the dysfunctional family down the street? Do I prefer a great personal devotional over seeing God change a neighborhood? Would my faith grow more from hearing God speak to me about me or from hearing how Jesus changed the leadership of a country? Is my Christianity about me or him?

Philippians 2:1-4; Self or Not

I work in a Christian university where it seems that we live and promote a paradox. We teach courses on persuasion and brag about successful graduates where success is defined by position and status. We never have a chapel speaker that is a construction worker or day laborer who is held up for his unselfish life. Our publications on the web look like those of other UnChristian universities. We often are more inclined towards the word "university" than the word "Christian."

Yet I have to ask if I am any different. I struggle to look beyond the superficial, i.e., the looks, the finances, the pretense. I have been programmed to admire achievement, to praise someone for "pulling herself up", to smile about success. So the real issue here is my belief. Do I believe that the way I should be programmed by God is better than the programming I receive from society? Do I believe that a life without selfishness will be worth living? Can I be successful without self-promotion? Can I substitute other-promotion for self-promotion? Can I bring myself to believe that I will be as fulfilled and happy by service as by being served? Do I believe Jesus knew what he was talking about when he called me to serve rather than be served? Or will I just keep mindlessly living the American dream while professing different norms?