Yes! I'm Talking to You! - A lesson about self-ignorance

The presence of self-ignorance in the church is a very prominent and ugly truth that many of us struggle through, and yet has not been commonly discussed. What I mean by self-ignorance is this idea that many of us have when we listen to a lesson, agree with it, and begin to think immediately of others who would benefit from listening to that lesson. We view the preacher as speaking to the congregation rather than to us individually. Since the preacher doesn’t say, “Hey [insert your name here], listen to this next part,” we often assume that he’s just talking to everyone else. Sometimes we even look at scripture this way, making the assumption that God wrote “this part” for someone else. This all occurs more often than you think, and every time we do it we make a huge mistake.

Products of Self- Ignorance

I’m going assume that you have fallen for the trap of self-ignorance at some point in your life; I’ll even be the first to admit to it. But what really happens when we act this way?

1. A Wrong Attitude

Sometimes we forget amongst the coats and ties, the smiles, and kind words that the church is full of broken people. No one is excluded from the brokenness because no one is perfect and all of us struggle with sin. That means the preacher, the elders, and YOU too. We like to come to worship pretending like everything is fine but every one of us deals with sin and temptation every day. Because we pretend that everything is fine, we determine that everything is fine and approach studying with the wrong attitude. With this attitude we ignore our brokenness, begin to judge others, and make assumptions as to who you think ought to respond to the invitation when it is YOU who is trapped in sin.

2. Starving Ourselves

One specific part of this attitude that we have that contributes to our self-ignorance is our approach to scripture. It’s very easy not to turn to the scripture in a sermon. It’s even easier to let a scripture just pass on by without much consideration or thought at all. I have heard myself and imagine others thinking, “Yeah, that’ll convict ‘em preacher,” when it is really us who need to be convicted. Are we letting God speak to us through His word and are we drinking and eating the spiritual milk and meat that we need?

3. The R Word…

Rebuke. Why are we afraid of this word? Why are we disgusted by it? And even more so, why don’t we accept it and desire it? God has seen Man’s works and knows that all men have gone their own ways rather than His. He has seen that we desire to live that way, and because of it we hate to be rebuked and don’t like to rebuke others.

How Can We Stop It?

Sounds like you got some problems! That’s ok though! I’m working through these problems too so we’ll just work through them together. All I ask, and what God asks is that you do not allow your pride to get in the way of Him molding you into Christ.

1. Check Your ‘tude

It has been said on multiple occasions in multiple contexts that, “attitude is everything.” This is definitely true when approaching worship and studying God’s word. We need to consider our attitude because, in a very real sense, it is a window into our hearts. Christians are called to have a spirit of humility, not pride. We are called to seek perfection in Christ, not to spitefully judge others. We are called to recognize ourselves as imperfect beings being perfected by God, not to pretend everything is fine and be “fake” Christians. In a spirit of gentleness, I implore you to open your heart up to God when His word is being preached.

2. Feast on the Good Stuff

The Bible was written and has been preserved for God’s elect: aka you. We ought to cherish these words that the creator of the universe breathed out and delivered to us rather than use them as instruments to attack others. One of the greatest tools to eliminate self-ignorance is to recognize scripture for what it is: God’s message to you about His Son and His love and concern for you. Let’s desire to eat from the bread of life and to hunger for God’s word rather than let it pass us by.

3. Rebuking in Love

As a preacher (and more importantly a Christian), I beseech you to rebuke me if you see me living in sin. So many people fear rebuking others because they are afraid of “judging others” or fear retaliation. The Bible doesn’t say, “Everyone has their own lives and their sin is none of your business.” Sin is our business. At least, it’s our business to expose it (Eph 5:11). Rebuking is often seen as a taboo in the church but is in fact something that we are commanded to do by Christ and the apostles (Matt 18:15-17; Gal 6:1; 1 Thess 5:14). We must come to know how to rebuke each other with love and ACCEPT being rebuked. It should actually be our desire to be rebuked when we are unaware of our sins. Consider James 5:19-20 when you are rebuked or know of someone who needs to be rebuked.

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him

back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save

his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

We have got to approach the Bible and the lessons we hear with the right attitude by appreciating what it is and by recognizing and accepting rebuke when it is given. It has been my goal to convict you of self-ignorance if you have it but to do so in a loving way and in a way that has helped me to understand it and eliminate it from my life. Let’s work together to praise God and to worship and study the right way.

Yours in Christ,

Zack