Part of the greatness of America is the value the culture places on the individual. No two of us are exactly alike. Every person is an individual and has merit as an individual. An overemphasis on individualism, however, can cause us to devalue the importance of the group.
Individualism often leads to “looking out for number one,” to the measuring of all values in terms of personal values, and to thinking, “If it feels good, do it.” This does not bode well for our nation. Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary War patriot who was hanged while spying behind British lines, and who said on the scaffold just before his death, “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” would be regarded by many today to be a fool. Today’s cry might be, “I have but one life. It is mine, and I will spend it on myself.”
Selfish individualism is never pretty, wherever it is found, but it is especially ugly when it is found in the family of God. When individual Christians insist that things be done in a way that serves their own ends, division results and the mission that Christ has assigned to the church is put on the back burner. The mission Christ assigned to His church is not just given to individuals. It is given to the entire family of faith.
It is no accident that when Christ’s disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, He taught them a corporate prayer replete with plural pronouns like “us” and “our,” not “me” and “my.” It is also no accident that immediately after He taught them to pray, He emphasized the importance of having a proper relationship with others. He wanted them to see the connection between believing and the power that flows from relationships.
Our individualistic, American viewpoint misses how often the Bible talks about covenants – covenants that are generally made between God and a group of people, not just between God and an individual person. God did more than call Abraham to a personal relationship with Him. He called an entire nation to that relationship (Genesis 12:1-3). Over and over again the promises found in the Bible that believers apply to themselves are, in reality, promises God made to a nation of people.
The point is this: When we accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we came into a family. It is a family so totally connected that the Bible says the one thing to which it can be properly compared is the human body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Within that body, my tears ought to create a lump in your throat. When my heart is broken, you will bleed. When you are afraid, my hands will shake. When I am lonely, you will feel my pain. When you are sick or have a need, I will immediately go to stand by your side. When you are in trouble, I will be there to aid you in any helpful way I can.
I know. I know. This isn’t the way it always happens, is it? There is nothing worse than a church going through a civil war – individuals trying to get their own way at the expense of others. Overnight, normally congenial church members who are in church almost every Sunday are raising their voices at each other and almost coming to blows. I have seen it happen, and so have you. Jesus said that the world knows that we are His disciples by the way we love one another.
Though some churches do an inadequate job of demonstrating that their members love one another, there are, thankfully, many churches that do an excellent job. By loving both God and each other, they are growing steadily and sharing the good news of Christ with the community around them in an effective way. Why do they genuinely love one another? They view themselves as being members of a loving family.
The Paper Pulpit 
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