Friday, January 23, 2015
Naricssism
Thom Rainer in the Christian Post:
While these quotes are about Christan leaders, narcissism may be the most pervasive sin of our age, affecting not just our leadership, but all of us. We don't talk about sin anymore, we talk about how people feel bad about themselves and how God can fix that. I cannot help but that than within reason, God wants us to feel bad about ourselves, to be aware of our sin and too allow His love, not our own, to fill the void in our lives created by that sin.
It is so hard to decry narcissism because its existence makes such condemnation seem as if we are condemning the narcissist. We have worked to hard to find a way around this communication block and failed so miserably that I wonder if we are not simply to plow right through it?I wonder if people do not simply need to feel, deeply the pain of dying to self that comes along with this. Yes, it will turn many people off and send many people a way. But I Cannot help but wonder if the winsomeness of those that come out the other side will not compensate in a generation?
I know we have to do something different or we are doomed to be a zombie church.
church communication narcissism sin
Narcissism should not be said in the same breath as Christian. The former is love of self; the latter is love of God in Jesus Christ....Any person in leadership, even Christian leadership, can be tempted to love self and move into narcissism....Repent. Narcissism is a sin. Once we have an awareness of this sin, we must confess it to God.Self-esteem -- self-love -- narcissism it's a spectrum. I recall so vividly when I was told that all the emotional anguish of my adolescence stemmed from insecurity which stemmed from a lack of self-love. I won't pretend like I was a well-adjusted adolescent, but I will tell you that I am grateful for my insecurities. In the grand scheme of maturing in Christ I think I have an easier road than those of the current generation that have been so steeped in self-esteem that the act of repentance is viewed with fear and loathing.
While these quotes are about Christan leaders, narcissism may be the most pervasive sin of our age, affecting not just our leadership, but all of us. We don't talk about sin anymore, we talk about how people feel bad about themselves and how God can fix that. I cannot help but that than within reason, God wants us to feel bad about ourselves, to be aware of our sin and too allow His love, not our own, to fill the void in our lives created by that sin.
It is so hard to decry narcissism because its existence makes such condemnation seem as if we are condemning the narcissist. We have worked to hard to find a way around this communication block and failed so miserably that I wonder if we are not simply to plow right through it?I wonder if people do not simply need to feel, deeply the pain of dying to self that comes along with this. Yes, it will turn many people off and send many people a way. But I Cannot help but wonder if the winsomeness of those that come out the other side will not compensate in a generation?
I know we have to do something different or we are doomed to be a zombie church.
church communication narcissism sin
