All about my personal growth
Great comment on a great post (found via Bill Kinnon's linkblog):
The problem (from my perspective) is that Christianity in North America has become all about "my personal growth and development." (This is the commodity on offer at your local church). It's the logical conclusion to a seeker-sensitive gospel, but goes much deeper - it's part of the absorption of the world culture around us. The church isn't supposed to reflect the consumer culture of the world, but alas, it does.
This commodified Christianity has become a journey of self-actualization (majoring on the 'self' part) rather than an embracing of the cross and the gospel of the kingdom (which will cost you something - it's definitely not a desirable consumer product). It's really not all about me. It's not about my spiritual growth, it's not about my understanding of scripture, it's not about my service and volunteer work. It's just not about me and my needs as a faith-based consumer.
The paradigm of consumption has been debated recently. David Fitch has a good post on the topic.
I recently wrote a variation on this theme -- click on my name to read.
"I want so much for our churches to have a future that goes beyond merely surviving but I’m deeply concerned that as long as we continue to make our decisions based only on ourselves and our personal needs, our churches will continue to struggle to become all God dreams we can be."