"What's In It For Me?"

In the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner plays a character who lives in a manner consistent with the type of faith we see in scripture. Costner's character, "Ray," follows a voice by mortgaging his farm, leveling his crops and builds a baseball diamond in the middle of Iowa. Everyone thinks he is crazy and only he and a select few are able to see old time baseball players emerging from a remnant corn field to play baseball every day. At the end of each day the baseball players retreat to the corn field where they gradually vanish into the corn.

On one occassion, Ray's friend is invited to go into the corn field with the players to what appears to be a place like heaven. However, Ray is indignant! He asks one of the baseball players, "Why does he get to go?" "Why not me?!" He objects to this unfairness by self-righteously declaring, "I am the one who built this field! That's MY corn you are playing in!" Notice all of the personal pronouns.

One of the baseball players says to Ray, "But you weren't invited." Ray is incredulous and demands an explanation. The baseball player asks Ray, "What are you asking Ray?" Ray says, "I am asking...what's in it for me?" The baseball player responds, "Is that why you did this Ray? Did you do this...for you?"

Often times people get frustrated with God and disenfranchised with their churches. People don't like their life's situation or their church's direction, especially when their church focuses upon it's non-members. When a church focuses upon reaching other people rather than catering to the church people, often ask people ask, "What about me?" By asking this question people are essentially asking, "What about my needs?" "I give financially, what's in it for me?" "What about my children's programming needs?"

Sadly, even though Jesus said it is better to give than to receive, and sadly even though Jesus modeled laying down his life for us and taught us to think of other's interests as more important than our own, when people don't get their way, they hit the highway and part company with their existing church family. Even more tragic is how often church leadership boards and staff cave in to these consumeristic demands by catering to the cries of "What about me?"

Although most churches spend most of their time, energy and money on internal programming, CrossPoint desires to be different from our consumeristic culture. CrossPoint recognizes we are called to be God's holy church which demands us to be radically different from our consumeristic culture. As we increasingly continue to be focused upon those who are not members, may God supplant any "What about me?" questions with "What about the lost?" and "What about God?" questions. Aren't we glad when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, faced with absorbing our sin and being seperated from the Father, Jesus did not ask, "What about me?" I am so thankful that Jesus essentially prayed, "What about Thee?" This is what he was saying, when he said, "Not my will be done, but Thy will be done." May we all be able, by the grace of God, to say such prayers. Can you and I in the midst of our tough life situation or perhaps church frustration be able to say, "What about Thee?" Or may we in our inevitable frustrations with God and/or church leadership be able to pray, "What do You want to do in me?"

Beams Away!