Sermon - 7/3/22

23 min•0 پلے•0 پسندیدہ

Religion

تفصیل

On this holiday weekend as we celebrate the formation and founding of our country and our independence as a nation, we frequently find ourselves thinking about certain characteristics associated with American identity. Characteristics like individualism, invulnerability, and self-sufficiency are often celebrated. Today, in our present time and culture, we are also seeing the growing disease of extreme individualism and Christian nationalism. These malignant ideologies are not at all representative of Christianity, and they do not at all represent the Christian message or connect in any way to the teachings of Jesus. Frankly, perceptions of American individualism and self-sufficiency infuse almost every aspect of our lives, including religion. We, as a people, preserve and perpetuate the myth that we are a nation defined by the idea that people should set their own course through life. This is reflected in so many aspects of culture. Think of Frank Sinatra singing “My Way.” Think of movies in which famous actors like John Wayne render a rugged brand of individualism and self-imposed justice. As Americans, we have fallen in love with the idea of the self-made person, the rags to riches story. We have created the myth that if you make it to the top of your profession, you deserve a huge salary because you are the one responsible for getting to the top. We have this sense in which we are to live as invulnerable human beings. This rugged individual ethos permeates virtually every aspect of the way in which we think about achievement, education, work, and vocation. It infuses our understanding of how we are to live, how we should raise our children, and even the way in which we understand religion and faith. As a matter of fact, the concept of decision theology – the belief that a person must accept Jesus as one’s personal Lord and Savior and the idea that each individual must accept God’s gift of salvation – devel

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