Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Jesus Cropped from the Picture

faith this way: “My true self is known by what is unique about me. The community exists for me to discover myself. Christ is ‘my’ savior, and salvation provides me a one-on-one personal relationship with God, who speaks to me individually. I can decide to make him Lord of my life or not.” In contrast, a biblical understanding sounds more like this: “My true self is known by the groups I associate with, so I find value in my connections with those groups, not in my unique personal qualities. I am responsible to the community, it is not there just to meet my needs. I am part of the body of Christ, where Jesus is head, so salvation makes me a member of a community, where I am adopted into a family. Most often, God speaks to me through the community, not to me personally. Through baptism, I publically declare my allegiance to the Kingdom of God as a lasting sign of commitment to Christ and his family.” 14 Unspoken Misery Despite the decline in attendance, many believers do stay committed to the local church. However, if they would admit it, they often do so out of a sense of duty . Oriented around the belief that me and my personal relationship is what Christian faith is about, believers approach worship, study, and fellowship to receive. So the key question they are taught is, “How does this apply to me?”

This orientation around Self produces a variety of internal responses: “Church is boring to me sometimes. The church does not meet my

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