Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. (Ezek. 28:17) In yesterday's sermon, we discussed the domino that first fell which began the downfall and destruction of God's created order...Lucifer and his pride.
According to Ezekiel 28:17, a tragedy occurred: This highest ranking angel, a being of extreme beauty, power and wisdom; fell in love with himself and became a creature of conceit. Instead of reflecting God, he turned inward and became stuck on himself. Isn't this always the pattern with us? We are made to be image bearers, but we so easily forget about God because we are obsessed with ourselves. I am becoming more and more convinced that one of the most dangerous activities we could ever do is to "gaze" into the bathroom mirror for an extended length of time; or taking too many of those dreaded selfies and then posting it on Instagram so everyone else can gaze upon our beauty. When we start believing we are the star of this earthly show, Satan whispers sweet nothings in our ear and says, “Aren't you special, better and deserving? Isn't it fun to love yourself? There really is no one more enchanting than you.” The devil is the prime agent responsible for giving birth to narcissism: a psychological decay of the mind and a hollowing out of the soul. And look around, narcissism has infected an awful lot of people in our culture. I am sure many names come to mind of politicians, celebrities and athletes. Christianity has declared war against pride, and it is steadfastly working out the process of redemption on this broken world. Jesus wants to bring back to the life the created order that was originally intended. Restoring what was stolen. And the Holy Spirit is at work even today trying to save us from our poisoned-self and obsession with vanity. Vanity use to be a deadly sin; now it has become a marketable commodity, something everyone should be more than eager and encouraged to possess. Do you think people are dangerously addicted to themselves? If you do, then it is time for you to rise up and reclaim our humanity through humility! I have recently been taught a method to develop habits that could help us do just that. It is called the "B.L.E.S.S. Discipleship Method." I learned it through the Surge School of Spiritual Renewal in Phoenix, Arizona. It is what the new generation of Bible teachers are calling "intentional living." You need to be purposeful in your relationships and here is how the BLESS system works: B = Be a blessing to three people this week. Make one a fellow Christian, one a non-Christian, and one you believe to be in a lower station in life than yourself. A blessing can be anything from helping them with a service, writing them a letter or going out of your way to shower kindness upon them. L = Listen throughout the day to God (let his scriptures fill you through meditation) and listen to the world around you (listen to needs, joy, touches of God). Be aware of things outside of yourself first, instead of always worrying about your agenda and needs. E = Eat! (I like this one). Go to breakfast or lunch with a friend, a new person you never met, and a member of your family this week. (Maybe choose your spouse? "Naw, that is too hard!") And then be present in the moment. S = Speak to God and others. Speak to God in prayer, share your heart with him. And speak to others by encouraging, empathizing or exhorting them to live in truth. Yes, the gospel is our goal, but we don't always need to preach it with pounding fist; we can share it in action and words "fitly spoken in apples of gold in pictures of silver." S = Sabbath, rest one day a week where you don't need to succeed, produce, win, dominate, demand, or be noticed. This is a day to just enjoy and let God be in-charge for once. We are really good at criticizing a world gone mad, we can mock selfie takers without ceasing, and we are good at cynically distancing ourselves from other who irritate us. But we are called to "love our neighbor as ourselves." To combat narcissism try service. To kill your pride why not pour into someone else. My dad always would say you have two choices in life, "(1) You can complain about the darkness, or (2) you can light a candle for others to see." What's your choice?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
August 2018
|