Do I get mine first and then think of others?

[Fenix]

I am just thinking out loud about our real priorities as Christians.

I am just wondering at the content of many preachings and sermons I hear nowadays. They all seem to be focused on getting a  breakthrough or reaping the harvest or whatever and, well, is this God's MO? Are we supposed to get ours first and then tell others about it? is that how we are supposed to reach out to other people?

The reason I ask is that I realize how woefully poor I am at evangelizing. I don't like to throw blame around, but it just seems like I have never been taught what my priority should be as a Christian. I know that I am supposed to bring people into the kingdom and all, but I have been to a lot of churches and this has never been in the forefront.

What say you? I am sure we have had this topic before.

[THE WOLFMAN]

Well, depends on what your "mine" is.

 ya cant help nobody if ya gots nuffin.


On de aeroplanes, they tell you to put on your breathing mask first then your the child's, as you are useless to the child's well being if you are incapacitated.

[sjonathan02]

Well, depends on what your "mine" is.

 ya cant help nobody if ya gots nuffin.


On de aeroplanes, they tell you to put on your breathing mask first then your the child's, as you are useless to the child's well being if you are incapacitated.

I use this analogy with my wife all the time as it concerns our daughter.

[lordluvr]

When you say "get ours", what do you mean?  Get our blessings? Our breakthrough? Our knowledge and understanding? Our empowerment?  Our "stuff"? 

I ask because two thoughts came to mind when I first considered your question:

The first was- A farmer has more to share AFTER his harvest.

The second was- Jesus' disciples sat under him and were empowered by him to go out.  So, in a sense, they "got theirs" first.  But, again, I guess it depends upon what you mean by "get ours".

[LaylaMonroe]

I also need a bit of clarity on the "get ours" concept...

[Blessingss]

I am just thinking out loud about our real priorities as Christians.

I am just wondering at the content of many preachings and sermons I hear nowadays. They all seem to be focused on getting a  breakthrough or reaping the harvest or whatever and, well, is this God's MO? Are we supposed to get ours first and then tell others about it?

Preachings and sermons that I hear nowadays are like "get it all for myself". It reminds me of a movie where I heard a man saying: God bless '?'  and no place else."

[Fenix]

When i said "get mine", I meant blessings, breakthrough, whatever you want to call it.

Again the reason I ask is that a lot of church programs I see and attend seem to focus on this issue of getting some kind of miracle breakthrough.

I suppose I am trying to work my way through an existential knot I am currently in. What is the ultimate purpose of this Christianity. Once we become born again and Spirit-filled, what then? Must it always be about us fighting through to get the car, house, wife, e.t.c?

Maybe this is a church rant and I just don't want to put the word "rant" at the beginning of the thread. However, I am really bothered by what I see around me in the lives of Christians in my immediate circle. It seems that many of us have grown stale and yet we are Spirit-filled, church-going and all that. We have very little clue of what we are supposed to be as Christians.

Preachings and sermons that I hear nowadays are like "get it all for myself". It reminds me of a movie where I heard a man saying: God bless '?'  and no place else."

Yes.

[LaylaMonroe]

That's such a big discussion, Fenix. So many components and variables... From where I sit, the bottom line is an overall shift of focus in humanity. We are a very materialistic people and all we really want are things, brighter things, more things, bigger things, faster things, more valuable things, prettier things and shinier things. Just about everything we do is centered around this, not around promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, that's even true in our churches.

I know my response was really broad, but like I said, I think your question merits a HUGE discussion because it's not as simple as what comes first.

[Fenix]

As broad as your answer is, Mme Rue, it touches the crux of what I am trying to get at.

Ok so here is what brought this on. I am used to simply being the background guy and playing keys or guitar while I let the singer minister. However, I have recently been asked to sing on a couple of occasions and have been really touched by the response I see from people. I sang "Your Latter Will be Greater", and the response was really touching.

Again I suppose I had what I hesitantly call a "vision". I hesitate because I am leery that it may be my own wild imagination, but I was sitting and meditating on the Word about a week or so back, when I suppose I fell into a day-dream. In this dream I saw a huge host of white robed people and we were all standing in attendance to this HUGE throne. I have never seen anything so big in my life. Anyways I saw myself and a lot of people I didn't know and we were all standing in amazingly white clothes. Feature on faces were indistinguishable, but I just had a feeling that I was one of them. We were all holding golden rods in hand, longer than our heads and were standing at attention. It was amazing the feeling of incredible attention the host gave to the anticipation of orders being sent from the throne.

Then a "voice", or more like an inspiration told me that this is what we were meant to be. The exact word used was "ministers" to the King, ministering to His every command.

That really changed the way I have approached my service to God and it is something I wish I could push inside the brains of Christians.

In fact, thinking about it now, the devil has really pulled an "okey-doke" on us. We seem to have lost our priority and place.

Anyway that'll do for now.

[lordluvr]

To me, your vision answers your question.  It's not about "us" and "ours", but rather about Him.  "...seek ye first..."

[Fenix]

To me, your "vision" answers your question.  It's not about "us" and "ours", but rather about Him.  "...seek ye first..."

[motifbludd82]

Well, depends on what your "mine" is.

 ya cant help nobody if ya gots nuffin.


On de aeroplanes, they tell you to put on your breathing mask first then your the child's, as you are useless to the child's well being if you are incapacitated.

*like button*

[Docdb04]

This is a great topic and question.  Here is my take, we as Christians shouldn’t want for anything.  Does this mean that we shouldn’t desire certain things, of course not.  However, we have become a people who have allowed desires to outweigh our needs.  This is the concept that many Christians miss.  We should be the most prosperous people, according to the Word.  The thing is, we’ve equated prosperity with material and monetary gain.  We have categorized it with, not having any issues in life or the curing of all our issues in life.  That is so off the mark, because the Word never stated that all your issues (trials and tribulations) will go away when you come in Christ.  As a matter of fact, they will become harder and more current. 

I believe we as Christians should have faith and the spirit that represents the ability of God.  In other words, when people see us, they shouldn’t just see God as a material giver.  We see a big house, nice car, etc and when we realize they are in the church or Christians, we say they do right by God.  Not that God, will not bless you with any of those things; however we shouldn’t give off that representation.  We should give off the representation that God is peace, patient, meek, stern on principles, etc.  Basically, they should see the fruits of the spirit.  If I was to bring someone to Christ, come because you see that I have a sense of peace in the midst of this crazy world.  Come because you see a spirit of meekness, when dealing with individuals around me.  Don’t come because you see I have a good job, nice house and car.  Don’t come because you think I don’t have any issues. 

So when you ask, “Do I get mine and think of others” I would say, “No” because it isn’t a matter of you first and others second.  You should strive to bring people to have a stronger relationship in Christ, just as you are striving to have a stronger relationship.  You should preach about God being a healer, just as you are seeking healing (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc).  It should be a system, when you overcome, they overcome and when they overcome, you overcome.  We are all one body and we should move as a unit.  Not that we will grow at the same rate, but if I find peace in the midst of my storm, let me show you how I found it and when you go through you will find the same thing. 

[funkStrat_97]

I am just thinking out loud about our real priorities as Christians.

I am just wondering at the content of many preachings and sermons I hear nowadays. They all seem to be focused on getting a  breakthrough or reaping the harvest or whatever and, well, is this God's MO? Are we supposed to get ours first and then tell others about it? is that how we are supposed to reach out to other people?

The reason I ask is that I realize how woefully poor I am at evangelizing. I don't like to throw blame around, but it just seems like I have never been taught what my priority should be as a Christian. I know that I am supposed to bring people into the kingdom and all, but I have been to a lot of churches and this has never been in the forefront.

What say you? I am sure we have had this topic before.

Good topic.  I'll start by saying that is normative for human beings to desire things and seek to live in comfort.  It is not God's purpose and plan to take that away from us but we do need to put in all in the proper perspective and under subjection to His will.

As Christians, our concern should be more about others rather than ourselves.  If we are all concerned about one another, and allow that to be the motivation behind our actions, we would be a blessing to others and somebody else would be a blessing to us.  As someone I know always says; "you are the answer to someone's prayer and someone is the answer to your prayer".

[phbrown]

On de aeroplanes, they tell you to put on your breathing mask first then your the child's, as you are useless to the child's well being if you are incapacitated.

i'm stealing this