You're So Vain, bet You think This Post Is About You....

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.


In Greek mythology, Narcissus was hunter, known for his beauty.  Filled with pride, he loved himself so much that he was unable to love others.  Eventually, he was led to a body of water, where he glanced his reflection- unbeknownst to him- and fell in love with himself.  He was unable to leave the beauty of his very own reflection. 

And there he would spend the rest of his days, alone with himself...until the day that he died... 

As hard as it is to admit, there's a little bit of narcissus in all of us, isn't there?  A part of us that is afraid to take our eyes off of ourselves.  A voice inside of us that lures us in, keeping us fixated on self, preventing us from focusing on others.  Sometimes this voice comes with the sound of praise- reminding you of your accomplishments, stroking your ego, and giving you glory for all that you have done and all that you are.  Other times, this inability to take our eyes off of ourselves comes in a discouraging way.  Causing you to obsesses over yourself...if only I could have done better.  If only I could do more, be more, have more...

No matter which voice, whether positive or negative, we become the center of our attention. 

When we are consumed with ourselves, we are inhibited from loving others the way we were intended to love them.  When we are the focus we miss the opportunity of connecting with others. 

Pride and selfishness are some of the most isolating characteristics a human can possess....and whether the focus is positive or negative...fixation on self is just that.   

For those of us who cannot stop looking at ourselves...we will find, like Narcissus, a life filled nothing but self.  We will find everyone else around us fading away, washed up in the waves of our selfishness.  Consumed by the appetite of our ego.  And ultimately...desperately, and utterly alone.

C.S. Lewis declares that humility is not thinking less of yourself, but learning to think of your self less....

To allow your focus to fall on the people around you, and the God inside of you.  The God that is calling your name, asking you to love Him because He has already loved you.

The ironic thing is that the God who loves us so much is the only One who has the authority to focus on Himself...but He chose, in fact, to focus on You instead.  To give His heart to you.  To give His life for you.  To think of you in His last dying moment...instead of thinking of Himself. 

The only way to be freed from the snares of ego and pride is to do just that.  The only way to unlock the prison of selfishness and be freed from the obsession of insecurity, is to fix your eyes on others.  To allow others to be loved and valued just as much as you love and value yourself. 

Because no matter how hard we try to save ourselves... turning our eyes away from this self is the one and only place where true salvation can be found.   

How Pride Can Send you to Hell:

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

It seems to me that the greatest obstacle in having a relationship with Jesus is that of pride.  Pride is, in a sense, the antithesis of grace. 


Grace proclaims that there is a need.
Pride denies the need exists.  

Grace asks for help.
Pride looks to help itself.

Grace requires relationship with others.
Pride requires nothing but self.


John Piper wrote an entire sermon based on the principle of pride, and how it got in the way of really getting to know Jesus.  According to Piper, pride is the common root for many who did not believe.  Pride cannot stand the idea of confessing there is a need...and acknowledging that help must come from the outside in. 

One author put it this way with regards to Jesus and the people surrounding him: "Those who didn't go to church loved him.  He met their needs.  Those who were in the church hated him.  He exposed their needs"

And that is the root with the problem of pride- it never likes to be exposed.  


Jesus came to do just that.  He came to expose our sins and our weaknesses.  He came to expose to us the very need inside of us that He came to fill.  The need for Himself.

It's no coincidence that as Jesus was giving His life on the cross he was placed between two men- one on His right, and one on His left.   Both with great need.  Both paying the debts of their sins.  Both would determine their eternal destinations by the last words spoken to the Messiah, dying in between them.

Pride questioned Him.  Pride hurled insults at Him.  Pride was afraid to see the needs, even while hanging on a cross, bleeding to death on account of his sinful state.


Humility asked for only one thing, "Remember me, Jesus..."


Remember me, Jesus.  Put me back together.  Save me from this mess I have made for myself. 


Humility is the only way in which we can be lifted up.  Humility is the only way to Jesus.

Contentment Day 5: Considering Others (Hyu-mi-le-te)

Philippians 2:3-4
"...but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of other.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..."

Yesterday we took a look at the Messiah complex, and the dangers of conceit which robs us of our ability to love and serve and strips us of our contentment.  The thing is, it doesn't end there.  Once we are free of conceit we are able to move into the next step of contentment: considering others.

Paul takes it one step further as he talks to the church in Philippi about joy and contentment.  He challenges them to put some walk to their talk by not just saying they are selfless- but by showing it.  The thing about true humility is that it is only proved in a persons life by their actions.  You can't proclaim that you are a humble person.  That doesn't work.  In fact, the ironic thing about humility is that by proclaiming it, you are acting out the very antithesis of humility.  *"One of the hardest things in the world is to stop being the prodigal son without turning into the elder brother"

And Paul calls us to do just that.  To live a life of love, service, and compassion as we exist with those around us.  Considering others.  In my opinion, this is the fifth step to contentment. 

There is truly something about considering the needs of others that draws us miraculously outside of ourselves.  There is something freeing about stepping out of our selfishness and stepping into the role of a servant.  Just like our Lord, who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant...just for the sake of love.  *"When Jesus came in the form of a servant, He was not disguising who God is....He was REVEALING Him...."

And this is what we are called to do.  To reveal God to the world around us. 

Paul is calling us to this kind of life because he knows that it is only through service that we will truly find the way to contentment.  Only by stepping out of ourselves will we be able to find the joy that we were looking for.  *"The reason we help others is not because we are strong and they need us; it is because if we don't help them, we will end up a hopeless relic".  We will end up selfish, cold-hearted, and blind to those around us.  Spiritually, we will end up dead. 

May God give us the strength to take our eyes off of ourselves for just a second, and look around to the needs of those around us.  May He free us from the addictions of self and usher us into the humility of our Lord.  



*Appropriate Smallness: The Practice of Servanthood.  The Life You've Always Wanted, by John Ortberg.

Day 4 of Contentment: Conceit- The Messiah Complex

Philippians 2:1-3

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…

One of my favorite stories is cited by John Ortberg in his book “The Life You’ve Always Wanted”.  In this book he exposes the story of three chronic psychiatric patients at a hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan. 

Each one of these men had the steadfast belief that they were truly the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.  They all maintained the fact that this world revolved around them.  

Ortberg discusses the research and treatment that went into these men, with a so called “Messiah Complex” .  In an attempt to bring them back to reality, Dr. Rokeach confined them all within the limits of the same walls and watched them as they ate together, slept together, and communed together.  These findings were recorded in his book “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti”.

Crazy, isn’t it?  To think that humans could live with such a delusion.  To think that people could actually believe that the world revolves around them.  To think that there could be someone who actually carries selfishness and conceit everywhere they go.  To think that the bitter root of pride could find its way into their hearts and slowly begin to seep into their lives.  

Well…when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so crazy after all, does it?  I think that’s one of the reasons I love this story, and the commentary by John Ortberg.  It is an incredible reminder that we are all victims at some level of The Messiah Complex.  

God knows this about His people…and this issue is addressed time and time again in Scriptures.  We are challenged as children of God to run from pride and conceit, to consider others better than ourselves, and to put others first in our lives.  Paul reiterates in Chapter 2 of Philippians by calling us to do NOTHING out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Nothing…

And this is why I believe that the fourth step to contentment is truly that: striving to live a life free of conceit.  A life where, as Ortberg puts it, we learn to be “appropriately small”:

“The bitter irony is, the very delusion they clung to so tenaciously is what cut them off from life.  To stop being the messiah sounded terrifying, but it would have been their salvation if they had only tried.  If Leon, Joseph, and Clyde could have stopped competing to see who gets to be the messiah, they could have become Leon, and Joseph, and Clyde…

Your world could grow infinitely bigger if you were only willing to become ‘appropriately small’”.  

The danger of pride is that it inhibits our ability to love, to serve, and to give.  It sets us up as “greater than” and eventually sets us apart from both God and man.  We find ourselves alone…isolated…and inaccessible to those around us.  And at the end of that lonely road we find that we are starved of contentment.  

"God's great, holy joke about the Messiah complex is this: Every human being who has ever lived has suffered from it- except one.  And He was the Messiah"

May God save us from the prison of conceit.  May He open our eyes to the pride in our hearts and teach us to live a life of humility.  May He show us Himself in such a powerful way that we cannot be confused as to who the true Messiah really is.  

Lord, save us from ourselves. 

Circumcision...(seriously): On Religion vs. Relationship

Galatians 2:3; 6b
Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even through he was a Greek...


God does not judge by external appearance.

I'm starting this post was a massive disclaimer.  I understand that this passage in Galatians has a tremendous amount of theological implications, and I am in no way a theological scholar.  With that said, there is a part of Galatians 2 that has had tremendous effect on my life and has brought me conviction.  I share with this heart in mind. 

In Galatians 2, Paul is speaking to the Galatians regarding his ministry.  He is reporting the evidence of God at work in order to gain credibility from them.  With all the important parts of his letter, he takes time to focus on one major thing: freedom in Christ.  In fact, that small word is the foundation of the entire book of Galatians proclaiming that, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free". 

Paul was concerned that there were a group of believers who he called "false brothers" who were trying to take that freedom away by focusing their salvation on external acts rather than the heart.  So much so, that they tried to convince Titus, a Greek missionary who was traveling with Paul, to be circumcised. 

Paul was enraged by this, and saw this as a form of slavery.  Christ had set us free from the rituals and rules of religion, yet they were trying to impose the bondage of religion-based acts.  They were more focused on Titus becoming externally religious, than they were focused on his internal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sounds sadly familiar in a way, doesn't it?  How many times have we as Christians judged or ranked people based on their external appearances?  How many times have we let religion take precedence over true relationship with Jesus Christ?  How many times have we asked people to change their clothes, their piercings, their hair...their habits, their hang-ups, their addictions, their struggles....before allowing Christ to work in their lives?  We lead them into religion before leading them into relationship. 

I think many times we are the ones who get hung up on these things.  I think many times we usher people into the bondage of religion because it makes us, in some way, feel a little better or look a little more holy.  It's nice to have a little bit of "proof" that someone is changing, and so we look to external things for that proof. 

The sobering reality is, God doesn't.  He goes straight to the heart...and friends, that is exactly where we should go too, if we have any hopes of becoming like Jesus Christ.  Let's not allow ourselves for even a moment to fall into the traps of religion, or usher others into that same trap.  Let us rejoice in the freedom we have in Christ, and let us rejoice in the freedom others have in Christ. 

It is up to Christ to do the saving work.  It is up to Him to change hearts and lives.  It is up to him to change in us what he sees fit.  So...let's be careful to let Him make those calls, not us. 

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."




 

Prejudice, Pride...and a little Prada:

Matthew 7:1
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

[To judge: to make estimates as to worth, quality, or fitness.  To form an opinion or evaluation.]


I’m sitting at a window seat in a Border’s this morning, high above the city of Chicago, looking out into the busy streets, sipping on my ice-blended peppermint mocha.  The streets below are in a hustle.  Everyone is going somewhere, or at least they pretend.  So many different shapes and shades of people.   It’s fun to watch. 

Every now and again someone will walk by breaking the monotony of human clones….every now and again, someone that stands out in the crowd.  From the underdressed woman, to the overdressed and disheveled homeless man, and everything in between.  My eyes are always drawn to him or her, and so are the eyes of those around them.  I watch, and wonder what their human peers are thinking…whether said out loud, spoken quietly under our breaths, or silently through the sharp gaze of our eyes, we’re always thinking something, aren’t we?

And then, the Voice of reason came.  The Voice that always shatters the bubble of my poisonous thoughts, that always saves me from myself.  It said, “I love them all…each and every one. I love them with a love that rivals the love I have for my Son.  I love them enough to give the world for them, and I did.  I love them, but do you?”

I’m left with that abrasive question ringing in my ears, bruising me down to the core of my pride.  It stings me, and maybe it stings you too, because if we are really honest with ourselves, we will find that we are all guilty…guilty of playing judge. 

I guess I never really understood the severity of judging until recently.  Just by looking at the very definition of judging, one can infer some very dangerous things.  Those of us who have allowed our minds to make room for that level of prejudice have somehow convinced our poor selves that we have been given the authority to make statements of value and worth on fellow human beings.  Human beings who are just as guilty as we.  Human beings who are loved by God.  Human beings who are deemed worthy, valued, and fit.  Those of us who have elevated ourselves to that type of authority have essentially lifted ourselves up to the authority of God himself.  That, my friends, is a terrifying thing.  It’s no wonder that for that very reason- we have called judgment upon ourselves.

More dangerous than those who judge, are those who believe they are free of it.  It’s easy to live in denial, isn’t it?  But a candid look into our hearts and we will realize that we are all guilty.  Maybe for you it’s the black homeless man, sitting on the corner with a cup in his hand.  Maybe it’s the Prada-wearing, Coach-carrying woman walking the streets of Chicago.  Maybe it’s the Bible-toating conservative-gloating Jerry Falwell’s.  Maybe it’s the shy veiled Muslim woman that comes into your store every day.  Maybe it’s the gay couple, holding hands as they cross the street.  Maybe it’s the tattooed youngster, pants hanging below his waist.  Maybe it’s the church…filled with it’s sinners and saints.

For each of us, we will find that we have succumbed to this false authority, allowing ourselves to be the determiners of value and worth.  Today, may we take an honest look at prideful selves and fall desperately on our knees in repentance.

Lord, you alone are the worthy judge.  Forgive us, again…and again.