​Brunswick UMC Family and Friends,

 

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I think that the passage above raises an important issue that we face in our present culture. We live in a very “me” focused world. We carefully curate our Facebook posts to show perfect people, family, and events. So often we purchase a house or a vehicle as a statement that we are special. American culture pushes us to try to present a flashy, successful image to the world. I am as guilty of this as anyone. We pastors want to let our peers know about the huge crowds we have in worship each Sunday and we love to talk about the latest great thing our church is doing. All of this is wrapped up in the concept of ego. We are so focused on ourselves and our image that we lose sight of Jesus. We want to make ourselves look awesome because we are worried about what others think of us and deep down inside we are afraid that we don’t measure up.

 

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Jesus teaches us a better way. Jesus would have us live quietly and anonymously. Jesus teaches us to give and do good things because they are the right things to do, and not to let others know about it. What other people think about us is not important. There is a valuable lesson here. Let us all try to produce genuine social media posts. Let’s not engage in conspicuous consumption, but rather live the lives that are right for us. God doesn’t need us to be better than everyone else, rather God wants us to fix our gaze upon Jesus in all that we do.

 

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Blessings to All, Pastor Matt

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