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Beyond Me
Brian Mashburn
September 30, 2018
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Moving Beyond Me
Have you ever heard of Diotrephes?
He is mentioned one time in the Bible, by the beloved disciple John, and so becomes a classic archetype of the person who cannot move beyond themselves.
"Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first..." - 3 John 9
Diotrephes was so about himself that he would not welcome John into "his" church, he would not welcome others, and he would even kick people out of the church who did try to welcome others.
Imagine if he was a member of Southwest as we attempt to welcome the Recovery Community of Amarillo into our church family.
What a sad, scared, and me-centered way to live.
Perhaps you are not as overt about it as Diotrephes, but we are all vulnerable to putting ourselves first. After all, you must "take care of #1," and do "whatever you want," and have "whatever makes you happy," right? These cliches have some truth, but also some anti-Christ.
Now, we must all live our lives, and we are responsible for our stories. Your story is, after all, your story. But precisely because it is your story, you can decide to give your story over to God, to put Jesus at the center. You can choose to live your life with God's interests rather than yours. And eventually, if and when you do, His Spirit will make God's interests yours. When you make this very un-Diotrephes-like move, you will then "look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." - Philippians 2:4
May God save us from being consumed by our own stories and self-interest, and instead use our stories for His work.