Becoming A Self-Centered Christian, Part Two

I was watching an info-mercial recently that was hawking a workout DVD. The clip featured a happy, middle-aged couple whose lives had been changed by following the aerobic dance moves recorded on the product. They were tanned, fit, and very Ultra-Bright of smile. But what I couldn’t take my eyes off of was the host of the program who was interviewing the happy couple. This person was enormous, pasty, and had a noticeable chin waddle when panning from camera to camera. It was disorienting and contradictory. If the product was so awesome, so affordable, and so easy – why had the host not benefitted? The whole thing seemed like a Mad TV parody.

I often wonder if that is the view people have of those who call themselves followers of Christ – people who have found “the way”, the place of abundance, and the hope that promises “joy unspeakable”. I can well imagine an objective outsider of the Christian faith saying something like this: “You claim to have a great product, but your life seems as empty, angry, depressed and stressed as mine. Why should I add the rigor of religious observance to an already overcommitted life?” Great question.

In the last post we talked about the necessity of narcissism in getting us down the road a little further in our spiritual journey – a sort of “save yourself first” mentality. That post received some spirited phone calls and chats with believers and non-believers alike. Let me say this...while I enjoyed the dialogue, I need no lectures about how narcissism is antithetical to the Christian ideal. Yes, yes…I get that. But, I think it is worth exploring the concept that, without a very self-centered, self-examined life, we really have nothing much to offer. Let’s look at a couple of “narcissistic” verses…

And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, “Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,” when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will be able to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. – Matthew 7:3-5

…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. - Philippians 2:12b-13

We could fill pages with verse after verse that urge us on toward a myopic self-centered journey, but these two passages will work just fine. How much more self-centered can you get than Jesus’ command to do your own eye exam? Or, how about Paul’s admonition to: “…work out your own salvation?” Where do these verses draw our attention? If I am reading them, they draw the attention to me. If you are reading them, they draw the attention to you. What is the point? It is simple. We can do precious little good in this world if we are blind to our own faults; and, that salvation is a very personal experience.

Now, is such self-examination really an example of narcissism? Maybe yes, maybe no. True narcissism has a different end in view than this Christian narcissism of which we have been speaking. Narcissism takes us down deep into ourselves and leaves us there; festering in our own isolated self-centeredness. Christian narcissism takes us deep into ourselves in order to free us to do and be just the opposite. With Christ at our side, we are called to explore the inky depths and crannies of everything we find within us that runs counter to His nature. And, in so doing, to emerge from that cave a person who is skilled to compassionately render aide to those suffering from eye-splinters. The dark explorations help us appreciate the light.

In the next post we will talk more about the importance of completing the full circle from darkness to light. In so doing, we will expose the nasty inhibitor known as false humility that thwarts the true purpose of Christian narcissism. As always…be well blessed. - CJ