There is a tragic pattern spreading today, and it’s easy to spot once you’ve been shown the real thing: people speaking about God while centering the world. They speak of Jesus while clinging to empowerment, alignment, self-worth, and emotional validation. They offer encouragement with one hand and pull souls back into self-focus with the other.
And it’s heartbreaking.
I recently listened to a young woman named Jennifer speak about spiritual warfare, inner wounds, the tactics of the enemy, and the power of becoming whole. At first, it sounded sincere. Familiar. She used Scripture, named the enemy, and even mentioned Jesus Christ. But the more she spoke, the more I saw the pattern emerge: Jesus was not the center. She was.
Her message was deeply emotional, and in many ways well-intentioned. But it was also built on sand. She talked about healing, strength, the importance of relationships, how the enemy attacks through broken people, and how you need to take control, rise up, and find purpose. All true things, in part.
But God wasn’t her foundation. He was a bystander. A tool. A spiritual supplement to her self-help gospel.
The Real Tragedy
What grieved me most wasn’t her sincerity—it was how sincerely misaligned she was. Her joy was rooted in how well things were going in the world for her. Her self-worth was the altar. Her mission was to coach others into happiness.
But here’s the truth:
God didn’t create this world to be your reward.
He created this world to be your proving ground. A place where souls would be given a choice: to live for themselves, or to return to Him.
From the beginning, He knew it would fall. So He embedded a plan of salvation into the fabric of creation. A Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. And yet we keep treating the world as the point, as if a better mood, a healthier body, and a high-vibration lifestyle is what Jesus died to give us.
He didn’t.
He died to free us from sin, not validate our self-esteem. He rose to give us eternal life, not temporary alignment. This world is not the prize. God is.
The World Is Not Our Home
This place—as beautiful and broken as it is—is not the end game. It’s the stage. The wilderness before the Promise. The classroom before graduation. And when people treat it like it is the goal, they miss the very reason it exists.
If God had created us as floating spirits in perfection, with no need to grow, suffer, or choose, then yes, we might have sung songs of praise. But we wouldn’t have loved Him. Not freely. Not fully.
This is why the world is as it is. It’s designed for decision. And love that isn’t chosen is just programming.
But love that is chosen? Through fire, through tears, through surrender? That is what brings glory to God.
A Grief Worth Carrying
So yes, I grieve when I see people like Jennifer. I grieve when I see others chasing spiritual highs and personal clarity and emotional victories, all while keeping God at arm’s length—close enough to reference, but not close enough to surrender to.
It hurts. Because once you’ve seen the light of Christ, you recognize every counterfeit glow. And they are everywhere.
This grief is not the same as judgment. It is something heavier and quieter — the sorrow of watching someone stand at the edge of something real and turn back toward the comfortable shadow of themselves. You cannot force them through the gate. You can only grieve that they haven’t yet chosen it, and keep the lamp lit.
But I also believe this grief isn’t wasted. It’s part of the burden God shares with those who walk closely with Him. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Paul said he had great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the lost. The closer you walk with the Lord, the more you’ll carry His heartbreak for a world that refuses Him.
Let it drive you to prayer. Let it drive you to speak. Let it drive you to tell the truth—even if they don’t listen.
Because the goal isn’t this world. The goal is God. And we must point to Him with everything we have, until He calls us home.
“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” —Hebrews 13:14