Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Lord, to Savior of the Church, to my personal savior. This made the Self the new SUBJECT (Individualism).

Second, analytical approaches were employed to simplify the gospel message for broader acceptance and mass communication (Rationalism). These two historic and cultural forces (Rationalism and Individualism) worked together to crop Jesus from the picture of his own Story. The “cropping” process is deeper than human selfishness. People in all cultures have been selfish. Selfishness is not new. However, a culture oriented around the Self is a recent American innovation. Americans are taught to be self-oriented, and it is unlikely the culture will change. But within American self-oriented culture, Christians can choose to act either selfishly or unselfishly . People can be unselfish, even while they live in a self-oriented culture. Therefore, the problem is not asking people to be less selfish. It is not enough to say, “It’s not about me, it’s all about him” (not being selfish). There is something far deeper than unselfishness. The problem is that the Story is too small. The solution is to restore the Story to its full picture so Christians can find a new identity, where Jesus is the SUBJECT again.

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