FREEDOM FROM BONDAGE: It’s all about me 8-25-24
INTRODUCTION
If it feels good, do it.
All roads lead to Rome.
Do what is right for you.
It’s all about me.
Esquire, written by Robert George, editorial page writer of
the New York Post, entitled, “The Worst Generation.” George wrote: “The Baby
Boomers are the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self
absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history.
Guy McGraw,
Sermon Central, January 30, 2008.
Narcissism -
Narcissism is one of those psychological terms that tends
to be overused. You may have heard it used to describe anyone who exhibits
selfish or self-important tendencies, or even someone who takes a lot of
selfies. But narcissism can really be characterized by a more specific cluster
of behaviors: an inflated sense of self-importance, an ongoing need for
admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.
What is
narcissism?, GreatLakesPsychologyGroup.com, April 4, 2022.
What the world needs is less self-centeredness and more
personal emphasis on gratitude,
work ethic, accomplishment, moral standards, character, and helpfulness to
others.
Selfishness is our god. We worship ourselves. It causes
suffering for everyone, including the narcissists.
William R.
Klemm, PhD, Our Narcissistic Culture, Psychology Today, May 26, 2021.
Psychologists have a test for selfishness – it's called the
narcissism test – they read people statements like these:
“I like to be the center of attention”
“I show off if I get the chance because I’m extraordinary”
“Somebody should write a biography about me.”
The median score on this test has risen 30% in the last 2
decades!
Dr. Fred W.
Penney, Sermon Central, November 6, 2019.
I. IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU
Someone in our day who has a prideful self-centeredness we
say has the disease of Narcissism. The name comes from Greek mythology and
refers to a handsome young man name Narcissus who fell in love with himself.
Whenever he would come along a pool of clear water, he would look at his
reflection for hours admiring the view.
One day he said to himself, "You are handsome,
Narcissus! There’s nobody so handsome in the whole world!" He stooped down
to kiss his reflection, fell into the water, and drowned.
Richard
Burkey, Sermon Central, June 15, 2005.
A.
The world’s perspective
“You are the center of your
universe.”
Celebrities tend to misbehave in tiresome and predictable
ways--tantrums, affairs, addictions--and we tend to think they’re spoiled. But
one psychiatrist, Cornell’s Robert B. Millman, says they’re not spoiled,
they’re sick. The affliction is Acquired Situational Narcissism.
ASN develops when once-ordinary people achieve
extra-ordinary success, such as winning an Oscar or being named rookie of the
year. This double-dose of adulation loosens people’s grip on reality and they
become (according to Millman) “unbelievably self-involved because of the
attention from us. We make it so.” [From Reader’s Digest April 2002]
Now, there’s a unique twist: It’s OUR fault celebrities act
that way! Even though most of us will never be at risk of getting Acquired
Situational Narcissism--our lives are far too ordinary--we all struggle with
the temptation of becoming overly self-focused.
Sermon
Central, June 11, 2002.
B.
The Bible’s perspective
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do
not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself
with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each
of you.”
Romans 12:3 NIV
C.
Jesus’ perspective
“For even
the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as
a ransom for many.””
Mark 10:45 NIV
There is nothing quite so dead as a self-centered man a man
who holds himself up as a self-made success, and measures himself by himself
and is pleased with the result.
Wesley G.
Huber, D.D.
II. IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
John Koessler pastored for years before becoming a
professor in the pastoral studies department at Moody Bible Institute. In 2007
he wrote, A Stranger In The House of God, chronicling his experience in various
churches. "Most of the Christians I know are disappointed with their
church, finding it either too traditional or too modern. The sermon is either
too theological or not theological enough. The people, too cold to one another
or too cliquish. In the end, the root problem is always the same. It is the
people."
In the Winter 2009 issue of Leadership, Mike Lueken wrote:
"We are a culture of Christ-followers who pay far too much attention to
whether or not our needs are being satisfied. And we have become a culture of
leaders who spend far too much time orienting our ministries around the
ever-changing preferences of our people. As we mature in Christ, might the goal
be to develop a gut-level instinct to give less attention to what we are not
getting from our church? Perhaps a step on the way to growing more Christ-centered
is to accept our dissatisfactions instead of assuming they have to be resolved.
Churches that spend too much time alleviating their people's dissatisfactions
may be nurturing a self-absorbed attitude of the heart that needs to be nailed
to the cross.... To authentically lead people into deeper apprenticeship with
Jesus, we must graciously and rigorously confront the raging selfishness that
is alive and well in all of us."
Glenn
Durham, Sermon Central, Order in the Church! 10/26/2010.
A.
It’s not you.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own
interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships
with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own
advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Philippians 2:3-8 NIV
“The cost of true greatness is humble, selfless,
sacrificial service. The Christian who desires to be great and first in the
kingdom is the one who is willing to serve in the hard place, the demanding
place, the place where he is not appreciated and may even be persecuted.
Knowing that time is short and eternity is long, he is willing to spend and be
spent. He is willing to work for excellence without becoming proud, to
withstand criticism without becoming bitter, to be misjudged without becoming
defensive, to withstand suffering without succumbing to self-pity.”
The
MacArthur NT Commentary, MT. 16-23. Chicago: Moody, 1988, p. 243.
B.
It’s us.
“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
1 Corinthians 12:14 NIV
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a
part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27 NIV
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Ephesians 5:21 NIV
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance
against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues
put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to
peace. And be thankful.”
Colossians 3:12-15 NIV
C.
It’s them.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down
his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and
sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in
need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear
children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:16-18 NIV
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is
good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the
Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Romans 12:9-13 NIV
III. IT’S ACTUALLY ALL ABOUT HIM
THE BIBLE IS ABOUT GOD, NOT YOU!
"I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must
confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is
irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most
dominant figure in all history."
H.G. Wells
A.
Our lives as Christ-centered humans
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Philippians 1:21 NIV
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced
that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those
who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and
was raised again.”
2
Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV
B.
Our lives as servants of God
“For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as
Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
2
Corinthians 4:5 NIV
C.
Our lives as the life of Christ
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NIV
CONCLUSION
The Bible defines worldliness by centering morality where
we intuitively know it should be. Worldliness is the lust of the flesh (a
passion for sensual satisfaction), the lust of the eyes (an inordinate desire
for the finer things of life), and the pride of life (self-satisfaction in who
we are, what we have, and what we have done). Worldliness, then, is a
preoccupation with ease and affluence. It elevates creature comfort to the
point of idolatry; large salaries and comfortable life-styles become necessities
of life.
Worldliness is reading magazines about people who live
hedonistic lives and spend too much money on themselves and wanting to be like
them. But more importantly, worldliness is simply pride and selfishness in
disguises. It’s being resentful when someone snubs us or patronizes us or shows
off. It means smarting under every slight, challenging every word spoken
against us, cringing when another is preferred before us. Worldliness is
harboring grudges, nursing grievance, and wallowing in self-pity. These are the
ways in which we are most like the world.
Dave Roper,
The Strength of a Man, quoted in Family Survival in the American
Jungle, Steve Farrar, 1991, Multnomah Press, p. 68.
It’s all about you. It’s not about you. It’s
actually all about Him.
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an "invitation"
following the preaching of the Word. You may want to follow Jesus.
You may want to proclaim your faith. You may want to repent (stop doing
ungodly things and start doing Godly things). Perhaps you want to be
baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in
these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church. If you
have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can
come forward now. If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you
following the service about what God is doing in your life.
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