Egotism (the Disease of Modern Christianity)
If you search for the word ego in the dictionary, the definition will be something along the lines of, "a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance." So when we say that someone has a large ego what we are really saying is that their sense of self worth is inflated or more simply, they have become conceited. They have lost their sense of grounding and have stationed themselves above others.
American Christianity has an ego problem. Just look around. All you have to do is browse the book shelves at your local bookstore or peruse the latest Christian articles to see it. Nearly every author writes from the vantage point of personal conviction in such a way that anyone who thinks differently is certainly wrong. We're right, you're wrong and let us tell you why. We love to tell others why they're deficient, don't we? And yet we're playing a game where we don't get to set the rules.
Moses knew this to be true, but we seem to struggle with this concept. We'd like to think we can put God in a box of our own making — get God to play by our neat little rules. But God will not be defined, as we so often need to be reminded. Perhaps a re-reading of Exodus 3:14 would do us some good. God won't even give us His name when asked. It's beyond our ability to comprehend. God was telling us then, as He tries to remind us now, that we need to engage in humility. We need to accept the mystery of the unknown. We don't get to see the whole picture — not yet anyway.
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God, through Jesus, shows us how to engage the rest of humanity again and again. Jesus shows us a glimpse of the Divine through an outpouring of God's love to humanity. He shows us how to be in a world filled with chaos and pain. In fact, when the Pharisees attempt to back him into a corner He makes it very clear — love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. These are the most important commandments, according to Jesus. It stands to reason that anything that contradicts or controverts this should at the very least be viewed with skepticism. As human beings with our limited ability to understand the Divine we need to be careful when speaking in the concrete.
As someone who grew up in the traditional Protestant church and later spent years within Evangelical Christianity, I think we could all stand to learn a little humility. If there is one time honored tradition within all of the various branches of Christianity, it's the fact that we've all been convinced at one point or another that we're the only ones who have it right. We've all got that in common. We need to keep in mind that in the end, God will make all things clear. God will be the one to make all things right again. We don't have the authority to condemn someone to hell or name someone a hereticas if we can so arrogantly presume to know the mind of God. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. It's almost as if God knew we'd start to pollute the waters with our own agendas.
So, let's get back to the basics. Let's work to clean up those polluted waters and start fresh.
Keep it simple.
Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself.
