" I " ministry

It seems to me that it is hard to read a book, hear a sermon, talk to a minister where the primary subject is something other than the writer/speaker. It reminds me of that Toby lkeith song "I wanna talk about me, wanna talk about I, I wanna talk about number 1, oh me oh my!". Or something to that effect.

I certainly know the value of vulnerability and authenticity, (thoughts that will be reserved for another post). I mean even the great communicators, that you can get on podcasts, websites or CDs. It seems like it is more about them than it is about anything else, including Jesus. What is going on?

I have picked up a little moniker that I attribute to such messages. If someone asks me how was that conference when you heard "Mr famous person" my comment is: "Well it was a lot of "I Ministry".

Of course not always - I hear or read many books, articles, sermons where there is much to be gained and applied to personal faith. but it does seem like there is a lot of "I ministry" out there!

Now why is this bothering me: well it is a bit personal - (now I will engage in a little "I ministry"). Because this summer I am trying to get thoughts on paper from 37 years of ministry, and my desire is to make it about God, Jesus and people that I have met along the journey. But I am discovering that in many of the stories that I write the main subject is me! YUCK!

As I think about the story in my mind the main subject is God and His works. But when I write the same stories it ends up being about me and a verb. I said, I saw, I talked to, I heard, I went and on and on.

So the effort has been on trying to write a story then to go back and take the "I-s" out! It's quite humorous at times. Because sometimes when the I is gone the story seems empty (that is the opposite of what I am going for.

So I think this summer will be an exercise in personal discipline for me - not allowing "I" to be the central subject.

What do you do? How to you become more selfless as you live your life?