How to Avoid Individualism When Listening to Sermons

Listen as a Community In 2001, the United States Army launched a fresh recruiting campaign. Times had changed, so the army wanted a new slogan for a new generation. With individualism and independence in the air, a new motto was made to match: “Army of One.” Mine was the generation that recruiters wanted to reach, yet I still remember cringing at the silly concept. I wasn’t alone—this campaign earned criticism from all sides. By surrendering to rampant individualism, marketers were gutting the heart of the military. No “Army of One” can survive for long, and neither did the new slogan. It seems obvious that no one is an “Army of One.” Yet it’s easy to function like a church of one. When it comes to hearing sermons, we often view ourselves as solo listeners, there to consume the message only for ourselves. But the Bible says we’re a family of siblings, a body with parts, and a flock of sheep (1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph. 2:19–22; 4:15–16; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 5:2–3). So you’re not an only child but a family member, not a prosthetic limb but a body part, not an isolated sheep but part of a flock. You are not a church of one. It may sound strange at first, but if you want to transform the way...