Shalom, y'all! 💙

Have you ever stopped to ask:

Is my faith really centered on Jesus—or has it quietly become centered on me?

That's the question at the heart of this week's Rybickulous Faith conversation.

On Monday, September 28, I'm joined by Pastor Ryan Ford, senior pastor and author of The Church of Me: The Rise of Self in the House of God.

And before you hear that title and think we're about to spend an hour criticizing churches—that's not the heart of this conversation at all.

We're looking inward.

🎙️ This Week: Has Christianity Become Too Self-Centered?

Ryan's own faith story shows just how powerful the Church can be when believers genuinely live in community.

He didn't grow up regularly attending church. As a junior-high student, a girl invited him—and yes, that girl eventually became his wife! They recently celebrated 20 years of marriage. But that invitation also introduced Ryan to a church community that invested in him, showed up for him, and helped build the foundation of his faith.

Older volunteers went on youth trips, attended ball games, and poured into the lives of those kids instead of treating them like burdens. Ryan still points back to those relationships as influential in his walk with Jesus.

That's discipleship.

And it raises an important question for all of us:

Are we simply going to church—or are we actually being the Church?

💭 "Worship Isn't About You, It's About God."

That's one of the messages you'll hear throughout our conversation.

We talk about what happens when our preferences begin determining our worship.

Did I like the music?

Did I enjoy the sermon?

Did I feel something?

Did church meet my needs?

There's nothing wrong with having preferences. But there's a problem when we become the center of something that was always supposed to be about God.

Ryan and I talk honestly about:

✨ God-centered vs. self-centered worship
✨ Why Christian community matters
✨ The need for deeper discipleship
✨ Welcoming people while still teaching repentance
✨ The fear and reverence of the Lord
✨ Personal holiness and spiritual renewal
✨ Finding a spiritual mentor
✨ Moving beyond spiritually shallow Christianity
✨ Practical ways to draw closer to God

❤️ Peopling Is Hard. Community Still Matters.

We also had a little fun talking about something I think many of us understand:

Peopling is hard. 😂

But our faith wasn't designed to be lived completely alone.

Ryan believes we're seeing a "privatization of faith," where we put walls around our lives, attend church, and then go home rather than building the kind of community we see modeled in Acts.

Sometimes discipleship looks like Bible study.

Sometimes it looks like mentorship.

And sometimes it looks like showing up for a junior-high kid's ball game because you want them to know somebody from church cares about them.

You may never know what God does with that investment.

Ryan's story is proof of that.

🙏 This Week's Heart Check

As we head toward Monday's episode, I want to challenge you with the same question I've been sitting with:

How much "me" has worked its way into my Christianity?

Where have comfort, preference, recognition, or self-interest begun taking up space that belongs to Jesus?

Don't answer it for your pastor.

Don't answer it for another denomination.

Don't answer it for somebody you follow on social media.

Answer it for you.

And I'll answer it for me.

Because revival doesn't begin with identifying everything everyone else needs to fix.

Sometimes it begins with a simple prayer:

"Lord, show me what needs to change in me."

📺 NEW EPISODE MONDAY!

Has Christianity Become Too Self-Centered? | Ryan Ford, The Church of Me

📅 Monday, September 28, 2026
⏰ 6:00 AM EST
📺 Abundant TV + YouTube
🎧 Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Amazon Music • iHeartRadio & more

📖 Ryan's book: The Church of Me: The Rise of Self in the House of God

🌐 Learn more about Ryan:
https://thechurchofmebook.com

📖 Find the book:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Church+of+Me+Ryan+Ford

Until next time, remember: your story matters, your testimony has purpose, and you never know how God will use your willingness to show up in someone else's story.

Shalom, y'all!

💙 Sarah Rybicki
Host, Rybickulous Faith
🌐 https://www.rybickulous.com

Keep sharing your Rybickulous Faith.