What's at the center of our faith?

Jason Retherford, with the help of Nicholas Townsend, comments on the danger of an "instrumental" view of the church (and no, it has nothing to do with music). One of the problems ministers face, says Jason,

. . .is portraying the importance of a faith that has as its center Jesus Christ and not the individual. When we take Jesus out of the center of things, when we are more concerned with what God can do for "me", when we aren't concerned with the process of discipleship, when we divide our lives into neat categories, we are left with a less than Biblical idea of faith, one that misses the mark of what the Gospel of Jesus intends for all who embrace such truth.

Preaching Christ as a means for getting our lives in order is appealing, simple, effective, and profoundly flawed. Preaching Christ as the Alpha and Omega who turns our lives upside down, on the other hand, helps give birth to new creations.