A Problem

There is something wrong with the church in America. There is something wrong with the Christians in America. We don't need God. Or at least, we think that we don't. The heroes of our culture, the people we look up to, are tough, and don't need help from anybody, they can make it on their own. Self-sufficiency is held up as a virtue. Being self-sufficient isn't bad, but it can, and often is, carried too far. It becomes pride and arrogance. We Americans regard ourselves as the 'good guys', the saviors of the rest of the world. Everyone does (or should) look up to us. This prideful attitude carries over into Christianity. Think how different our lives would be if we realized we had to depend on God's mercy for everything: food, clothes, safety. Instead, we say, "God, I'll give You what You want, if You'll give me what I want." We really don't like terms like 'total surrender'. Terms like that imply that God doesn't owe us anything, and that we can't be dependent on ourselves.