Idolatry in the 21st Century Part III: Consecration and the 'selfie generation'

Idolatry in the 21^st Century: Part III

(* 2017 article is timely Idolatry on the rise )

Consecration and the “selfie generation”

Diana Washington Valdez/Faith Today Ministries

Wikipedia offered the best, most succinct definition of narcissism: “The pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes.” 

Taking a selfie photo. [Courtesy]

Narcissism is another form of idolatry, one that can linger on when we fail to consecrate ourselves to the Lord.

Consecration is not just for people who have a calling to full time ministry; it is the lifestyle of a committed Christian.

Attributes that humans most admire about themselves include physical beauty, athletic prowess, artistic abilities and a high intellectual capacity. All of these in themselves are not bad; they are gifts, and God intended for us to use one or more of these gifts to serve Him and others. They can open doors to professions that bless those who possess these attributes.

Another way to describe narcissism is that it is an exorbitant self-love that stems from a delusion about one’s self-worth. This is what happened to lucifer, an angel before he became known as Satan. The Books of Ezekiel and Isaiah narrate his fall.

Ezekiel 14:12-14 (NLT) 

¹² “How you are fallen from heaven,
    O shining star, son of the morning!
You have been thrown down to the earth,
    you who destroyed the nations of the world.
¹³ For you said to yourself,
    ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.
I will preside on the mountain of the gods
    far away in the north.
¹⁴ I will climb to the highest heavens
    and be like the Most High.’”

Ezekiel 28: 17 (KJV)

17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

 you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;

 I cast you to the ground,

I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. (KJV)

Satan’s self-idolatry led to a revolt against God, a rebellion that caused him to be expelled from heaven, along with the other angels that followed a lie. 

Jesus Christ Luke 10:17-18 (NIV)

^“17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said,

 “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”

¹⁸ He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

When Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, he suggested that she could become “like God” if she ate the fruit of the tree that God had forbidden to her and Adam. 

We can infer from the passage that Satan likely appealed to or provoked spiritual pride in Eve – to be like God – and thus, tempted her to sin. He also knew, from studying and observing the coupe - that he could probably get Adam to fall by causing Eve to sin first. 

Genesis 3:1-5 (NIV)

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

This is why we must walk in humility, always. (Proverbs 16:18 (NLT) “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”)

Narcissism also can infect entire cultures and even Christian ministries. * The ancient Greeks, who self-absorbed with their intellect and bodies, serve to illustrate an example of pervasive narcissism. 

In fact, the legend about Narcissus, with its symptoms and consequences, came to us from Greek mythology. He was a character who fell in love with himself after gazing his reflection in a pool of water.

Eventually, as the story goes, he was transformed into the flower known as narcissus. The Greeks were astute enough to recognize that excessive self-adulation was a real weakness but did not know how to apply the remedy: humility. For this, we need God’s help.

The “selfie” age

In our digital era, social media pushes people to promote themselves, sometimes as a way to compete with others for jobs or other kinds of positions.

For narcissists, social media platforms are tools to exploit. Digital audiences not knowing any better encourage them with constant flattery. (At the opposite end are people suffering from low-esteem who come to depend on digital “likes” from “followers” to boost their egos.)

Developing a healthy sense of self-worth is necessary for maturity. Our identity, however, must be based on what God says about our relationship to Him. It must be based on Biblical truth.

Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

“So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.”

We have to remember that in our fallen nature, we cannot love others correctly. The corruption that is inherent in our sinful natures renders us incapable of loving God and others as we ought to.

Salvation comes first, along with the ongoing renewal of our minds, which is the work of the Holy Spirt as we yield to the Lord in this process.

We can cooperate with the Lord to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

Galatians 5: 22-23 (NKJV)  

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Romans 8:13 (NIV)

³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

The Lord’s call on our lives is absolute

Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, lived in Ur and his father was an idol-maker when God called him to leave his father’s home and follow Him.

Genesis 12: 1-2 (NIV)

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country,

your people and your father’s household

 to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.^”

 

God calls us to a life of separation from the world.

II Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV)

“Therefore

Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”

Luke 14:26 (NKJV)

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Obviously, Jesus Christ did not call us to detest our friends and family. He made the point that He must come before all others. We cannot use our friends and families to avoid His call to salvation or discipleship.

e must b

God must occupy the throne of our hearts. As we learn more about God and His wonderful character, we will naturally want to do this. God is God, and there is no other like Him. To do otherwise, is to settle for mediocrity in our Christian walk.

If this is an area you are struggling with, and all of us to some extent have or are, then turn to the Lord: Repent and ask for healing. Ask other believers who are mature in the faith to pray with you.

John 8:36 (NIV)

 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

May your journey in the Lord be truly blessed and joyful. To God be the glory!

[Diana Washington Valdez, president of Faith Today Ministries,*** is an independent ordained Christian minister with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, based in the United States.]

 

* This is a link to an article in The Telegraph about concerns over narcissistic Christian ministers Narcissist ministers

Look up Bible passages online @ Online Bible