i

My friend Andy and I were talking the other day. To be fair, I was doing most of the talking and Andy was listening politely.

"The thing is, I've noticed something recently." I told him, " ipod, imac, iphone." They are all examples of how our culture is obsessed with 'i'- me. Whether it is expressed in that particular terminology or not, it is so often all about i. Personal computer, Personal space, personal trainer, personal banking, personal spirituality, personal whatever."

He pointed out that the New Nintendo gaming system wasn't personal at all, it was called a "wii". I  suggested that that in itself illustrated what I was trying to say, "Even the Wii has 'i' at the center of it."

"So here's my point," I told him, "I've noticed recently how it has even started to affect church. Maybe it's been that way for a while (I'm famous for being more than a little slow on the uptake). People want to have a service that suits them. We talk about not getting much out of the service, which seems strange when you think about it, because the word service by very nature suggests, well, serving. Sometimes if I'm honest I can leave thinking that the worship didn't do much for me. It's all rather ironic that we have come to a place where we talk about a service that is meant to honour God, where we gather as a community as opposed to a group of individuals, has so quickly become about me. ichurch for the ipod generation. Or me at least. You are far more Godly than I am."

Andy shook his head modestly.

I continued, "We often talk about a personal God, or Jesus as our personal saviour, which of course he is, but that is not the totality of who he is. He is also King of the universe. My worry is that I can end up  are veering towards iGod, where I create an iMix of attributes that suit how I think about God, and ignore the rest."

I paused to breathe.

Andy smiled. He's far too sweet to say it, but I suspect he thought that I was illustrating my own point.