I have recently had an epiphany. For those of you who have likewise experienced an epiphany, you know that it is “a moment of sudden and great revelation”. Now, I don’t want to turn you off at the outset of this article, making you think that I have swallowed the dictionary and have begun to spew forth “quarter” words that most people do not typically use in their everyday conversations. On the other hand, some of what I will share may be seen as a vocabulary lesson with attending definitions so that all of us will be challenged in our thinking.
The epiphany, specifically, had to with what has become the most important influence over our culture: “self-centeredness”. Indeed, we have labeled an entire birth group, the “Me-Generation”, because of this quality. However, in reality, this is but a reflection of a philosophy rooted in our mentality for the better part of over two hundred years. It started in society as an academic pursuit and then quickly permeated the realm of the Church in all Her branches. It moved Her object of focus from God to man. It made worship based on the pleasures and whims of men rather than the desires of God. The philosophy in question is narcissism.
In definition, narcissism is an excessive interest in oneself. This interest may or may not lead into arenas of sexual or physical obsession. Narcissism is at its heart pure self-focus. Everything involved in this system of thought is “personal”, centered around the individual as the primary one in view. Indeed, everyone, everything else is secondary to “me”. Within narcissism, it is the use of the personal pronouns, “I”, “me”, “my”, that are of utmost concern.
Now having stated the above, here was the epiphany I (no pun intended) experienced. As I continued my study in the book I mentioned last month, Ancient-Future Worship by Robert Webber, comparing his premise with the teachings of Scripture, I saw something that rocked my world. Though Jesus deals with us individually in terms of bringing us into His kingdom, our salvation is but part of His corporate salvation of His Church. Christ speaks of salvation, worship and the kingdom in corporate terms throughout the New Testament. We are the ones who have wrongly made it more individualized because we who have become so narcissistic. Let me explain.
When the angel reveals to Joseph the mission of the newly conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb, Gabriel says, “...and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” (rf. Matthew 1:21). Note the corporate “His people” and the use of the adjoining plural pronoun “their”. In reference to Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:18, Jesus states, “...and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it,” showing the single, corporate nature of the institution He was creating. In John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to the Church as His sheep (10:11,14-16, 25-29) and the disciples, both present and future (17:6-24). This is not an exhaustive treatment, but serves only to prove the point: when Jesus referred to His Church, He did so as a corporate body and He intended for us to view His Church in the same manner. Again, this does not negate the fact that He saves us individually and intends for us to pursue a deep personal, spiritual relationship with Him through prayer and meditation in the Word. That, however, is to be the extent of our individualism. The rest of what we do in Christ is for the sake of the Church, His Church.
Maybe what we need to do is to go back and re-view the perspective of Jesus Himself. As Paul says in Philippians 2:5-7: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who...emptied Himself...” It all begins by putting ourselves last as He did. Then He placed His Father first and foremost. Afterward, His Church, His Bride came next in His list of priorities. When we follow suit, it utterly transforms our perspective of worship, service, evangelism, etc., because no longer are we viewing Scripture as it applies to “me, myself and I”. Rather, we would be putting ourselves last in importance, Christ first in all things and His Church as the focus of all of Jesus’ attention and energies, with ourselves being Her supporters and defenders. Jesus gave His life for His Church (rf. Acts 20:28) and as believers in Christ we should have the same attitude of sacrificing ourselves for Him and for the Church as well.
As you can see, narcissism has no place in Biblical Christianity. Imagine what a radical change would take place if the Church in America and around the world were no longer filled with self-centered, self-focused professing Christians, but rather Christians who put Christ first in their lives and truly made Him the focal point and recipient of their worship! Isn’t this, after all, what Christ expects of us as His followers? What then is keeping us from meeting His expectations?
