Why The AMCC Mentality Breaks The Heart of God

I’m going to close two lessons in this one blogpost. Last year (between January and April 2013) I did two lessons entitled “The AMCC” and “What Breaks The Heart of God.” I will respond to those who commented on some of those lessons which were actually attempting to attack me as being judgmental (especially The AMCC – Part 3: The Ostrich Syndrome) and add some closing remarks as to how the AMCC mentality breaks the heart of God.

For the benefit of those who don’t know what the AMCC stands for (which is an acronym I coined by the way) it stands for the American Middle Class Church. What makes this up? You see, in life, there are three classes of people and their economic state. You have the rich, the middle-class and the poor. I work in a system where the majority (if not all) would be classified as middle-class. There’s nothing wrong with that. Because of the pressures of the economy, what you find is that attitudes are based on what the economy is doing and not based on the word of God. In short: the middle-class in the workplace is simply, “what’s in it for me? And if it doesn’t involve me, my family, and clique, you will have to fend for yourself.” Now here’s the tragedy: we carry that same mentality over into the church world. If you have wealth, you’re frowned upon, and if you’re poor, you’re frowned upon as well. In the church world, you have many churches that you would probably call a middle class church. But because most of our demeanor has been protecting me, my family and my clique, that mentality carries over and we use that same principle when it comes to prayer, and if someone is in need. If you’re outside the circle, you’ll get help, but also be snickered behind your back (or they’ll internally gloat knowing that you need them). Heaven forbid someone outside a person’s circle is thinking about ending their life. The simple words “get over it” would be used. If they’re part of the clique, they’ll be showered with prayer and anything else that would show favoritism. If you speak out of this mentality or the schisms within the church that even look like this mentality, you’ll be called out as being cynical. Most people who cry “you are being cynical” are simply immune to it and are comfortable in this mentality. In this mentality, it’s real easy to become complacent and have your head stuck in the sand. It’s easy to identify someone in this church – example: you may have some that want to help others outside their AMCC wall (and that’s a good thing), but because they may feel trapped in the wall, they remain there and end up losing effectiveness because they don’t go down to their level. They’ll stay within those walls, and talk down to you when you don’t measure up to them. That’s not getting a full picture of where others outside your AMCC circle are.

Now, when I did the Ostrich Syndrome lesson, a comment was raised saying that I was being harsh with our church and was saying if he were to talk about the black church, that he was being prejudice (or something to that extent). Well, here’s my take on his response: yes, I am black but my blackness is not who I am. But yet and still, if it was a black church acting with an AMCC mentality, I would call it out as well (in fact, we’re worse when it comes to acting with that mentality to the point where we will sell each other out for $2 and a biscuit). The color of a church doesn’t matter to me. This is all about a mindset. When we’re selfish, we’re acting no different than the world. I believe many people have just gotten complacent in their comfortable seat in the pew (and their position in the church) and a lesson like the one we heard in church (and me agreeing with the lesson) just offended their personal beliefs. It’s as simple as that. So, because they were offended, they just took it out on me and not seeking the Lord to see if there is any validity to what I’m saying.

So, how does the AMCC mentality break the heart of God? Simply, we play favorites, we focus on people that are either of the same church, denomination, economic class, and not embracing everybody. When we excuse the sins of those in our circle and curse the sins of those outside the circle (whether it be denominational circle, clique, church circle, etc.), that shows we’re breaking the heart of God with our AMCC mentality. Another way the AMCC mentality breaks the heart of God: We keep secrets within the clique and refuse to share what’s public record to those outside the clique (example: I don’t like you so I won’t share, but you have to kiss up and get my favor in order for me to share what you’re supposed to know cause you’re part of the fellowship). That’s really partiality, and discriminatory. Now don’t get me wrong, I am just as guilty as the person sitting next to me in the pew. When we hear truth, but we close our minds to the validity because he’s outside of the clique; but we hear something that’s false or from an uncleansed vessel, but because he’s part of the clique, we embrace it. That’s having an AMCC mentality and it also breaks the heart of God.

I pray that you all were blessed by the series, I know this not a shouting type of lesson, but we’re in the last days and it’s time to reach a world that’s dying on our watch.