The Push & Pull of Individualism

Jenga is a game where you have a pile of wooden blocks, each player carefully takes a piece out and the tower remains intact until someone makes the fateful error and down it goes.

Is the church getting more like a game of Jenga as times go on? Are Biblical values being removed from Churches bit by bit, so subtly that we don’t necessarily notice. Churches are taking bits out or watering down the gospel to make it more appealing and palatable to the itching ears of their attendees (2 Tim 4:3); some are allowing strange New Age and occultic practices or other faith beliefs to slip in and mingle with Christian values, weakening the structure more. If you question the leadership they may have no understanding that it is wrong on any level let alone Biblically! They, shockingly, can’t see anything wrong and think it’s harmless.

We are living in a time of increasing individualism, according to the Science Leadership Academy, “Individualism is the freedom to do what we want as independent People”. [1] We can do whatever we want in the secular world without the consequences. However, like everything else there can be catastrophic consequences if someone’s rights trump our rights. Are we individuals to think or do whatever feels right, to go or not go to church and choose bits of what the Bible says and reject the rest? Are churches going their own way, choosing their bits of belief with no regard to other parts of the body of Christ? To me it is almost as if we are accepting things into society as normal, then it becomes normalised and There is a responsibility on Churches and leaders today to lead well and get it right. The opposite of individualism is collectivism which can also be destructive, most of us have heard of the harms that can happen where the needs of the many outweigh the few? But when a culture begins to demand that individuals violate their own conscience for “the greater good,” that culture is dabbling in tyranny, not charity; the needs of the individual are taken advantage of and overlooked or not considered at all. As with all things, our sinful nature can use both individualism and collectivism for good or as an excuse for abuse.

Hang on a minute!!! Aren’t we all part of the body? I’m sure that I read that in 1 Corinthians 12, were we not baptised into one body (v13) Does it not say in though if one part hurts, we all hurt? If one part makes good then we all rejoice(v26) then on the very next verse it says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” So that being the case, the divisions that are occurring throughout all Christian, Bible believing Churches, hurting all of us? How can some people and leaders of churches not believe in the Bible, the divinity of Christ (or following a different Christ), or the sanctity of its word and outrageously don’t even believe in God but call themselves a disciple of Christ? We are most definitely seeing the evidence before us of the Biblical definition of “Living in the last days”. (2 Tim 3:1-5)

Another question springs to mind, a more worrying one, what is going to happen to our children or our children’s children? So much confusion is being spread in schools as to who they are and what value the Bible holds them in. We even hear that the Bible and Christian principles are mocked, ignored or cast aside as oldfashioned! Are our youngsters in danger of losing sight of who they are in Christ or never knowing it in the first place? The devil wants to lessen our family values and exchange them for material, worldly values.

How do we fight back and turn back the “Spirit of the age”? Salvation is not an individual “ticket” to heaven. Paul explicitly says of Jesus in Titus 2:14. He did not die to rescue isolated individuals; he died to create the church. In Ephesians 4:12 the whole church is responsible by working together to bring growth and maturity to its members. 1 Cor 12:7, isn’t the Holy Spirit given for the common good, we need each other.

We need to put the Jenga Bible standards back in and understand we are valued in Christ, He has a plan and purpose in our lives. We must get on our knees, get into our Bibles and spend more time with Jesus than we have ever done and study the word together. The end is in sight but you need to fight for your loved ones!

By Teresa L. Randle Married, preacher and Bible teacher.

[1] https://scienceleadership.org/blog/why_individualism_is_important. 27 May 2011