Friday, September 19, 2008
What I Want!
Jollyblogger recently reprinted a large introductory section to a book, introducing it with these words:
We are created to be first God-centric and then other-centric. When we are self-centric we are denying our very created nature. No wonder we are unhappy.
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I don't want to be an uncompassionate jerk, nor do I want to overstate my case. But I think Jabay is basically right when he locates the majority of our problems in egoism, in god-playing, in our sworn allegiance to the kingdom of self.I would take this much farther - I would say "our sworn allegiance to the kingdom of self" is in fact a pretty good definition of sin, and I hope any good Christian would identify sin as the root of our problems.
Gen 3:1-5 - Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"The very definition of sin is putting ourselves in God's place, in our minds, in our lives, and in the world. Consider the example given to us:
And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.'"
And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (NAS) [emphasis added]
Phil 2:3-8 - Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.One of the reasons I spent so much time on this blog discussing the church's efforts to near-pander to the demands of the culture to attract people is that our message is precisely the opposite. Our message is one of self-sacrifice and self-denial.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (NAS)
We are created to be first God-centric and then other-centric. When we are self-centric we are denying our very created nature. No wonder we are unhappy.
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