Striving to selflessly serve in a selfie society

A quick visit to dictionary.com leads to a quick, general definition of the word narcissism: an inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.

And I find myself drawn to this word over and over because it is the one personality trait that I struggle to comprehend and cope with in others. The narcissist is the person who is full of one oneself. Who thinks he is better than everyone else — more worthy of praise, time and consideration from others. He is more likely to be pompous, arrogant and self-righteous.

In a world that is increasingly dominated by a me-first mentality, narcissism is more prevalent now than ever. For Christians, especially, this trend is especially concerning.

That is because there is a fine line between narcissistic thinking and self-glorification. And God is very blunt about self-glorification through His words in the Bible.

In Matthew 23: 5-7, Jesus warns of the Pharisees as those who are worried about self-promotion and needing to be the center of attention. A few verses later, He warns: “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In the book of John, Jesus suggests that glorifying yourself means nothing — that the glory needs to come from God Himself. And, in return, God deserves the glory.

Looking to the Old Testament, it is written in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, that if you ever forget the Lord your God, follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, then you’ll surely be destroyed.

In fact, the Bible is full of warnings against those who worship false idols. It is one of the 10 Commandments. There are numerous examples of where people fall into that trap and suffer dire consequences in the process.

But what happens when things are taken to yet another level … when the false idol you are inexplicably worshiping is actually yourself?

My personal train of thought on all of this comes from the phenomenon known as the “selfie.” We have become a selfie society. Our social consciousness has become saturated with selfies.

It is a concept I’ve always struggled to understand. I’m usually the one taking pictures in my family so I can stay out of the photos. I’d much rather capture images of my children, family members and friends over myself. They are my blessings. They are my “God sightings.” And I love the outdoors and photographing the countless beautiful examples of God’s greatness that deserve promotion through pictures, social media and sharing with the masses.

Personally, the concept of selfies always seemed pretty egotistical at its core. Do my Facebook friends really want to see picture after picture of me — drinking coffee, reading the paper, taking the kids to a local restaurant? Why would I promote that sort of stuff unless I thought everyone cared exclusively about me all the time … or I was desperately seeking their attention and acceptance. You know … like posting a selfie with my children at the playground in hopes that everyone would say I was a great father for spending time with the kids. I’d much rather share images of my children having fun on their own. I really don’t need the credit.

Then, recently, my gut feelings about the selfie tsunami was verified. A study released earlier this year by the Ohio State University shows that men who posted more online photos of themselves than others scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy.

Also, men who were more likely to edit their selfies before posting scored higher in narcissism and self-objectification, which measures how much they prioritize their appearance.

From the release about this study: “It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” said Jesse Fox, lead author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University. “The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification.”

Which ties in closely with the general dictionary.com definition of narcissism that I shared earlier.

So, if people who take and share excessive amounts of selfies are more likely suffering with some form of narcissism than the general public … AND narcissists are more likely to cross that fine line between living an others-first Christian lifestyle and one of self-glorification … then is there a lesson to learn here?

Is posting a selfie or a “groupie” with the family on Facebook really an issue? Of course not. But I do find it interesting to see how many people have become excessive in their selfie streaming. Much like an overeater (myself included) sneaks snacks without thinking about it, I think a lot of people have just gotten into a pattern of doing this … some more extremely than others. In fact, there is one young pastor on my Facebook feed that has shared literally hundreds of images of himself. Some with family or friends — others alone. There are literally more photos of himself than of his kids, wife or others in his life.

And if pastors are falling into this trap — it is worth noting that we all have traps, addictions or things we should be working on — than anyone can, right?

What should someone do if they feel they are become a habitual selfie sharer?

One article that was posted at thegospelcoalition.org in late 2012 seemed like an especially good read … it is titled “5 signs you glorify self” by Pastor Paul Tripp. Check it out here.

And the simple, yet powerful, experience of praying for others — and serving them regularly — can also help build a better pattern of focusing on others over self. Remember, Jesus urges us all to love one another as He as loved us.

But at the moment, perhaps the most powerful example to combat a selfie addiction comes from our church’s Vacation Bible School program which is running this week.

Every year at VBS, the kids are encouraged to look for and share “God sightings” they have noticed in everyday life. So far this week, kids have talked about the impressive light show of a recent thunderstorm, an especially pretty flower, safety for a church family that was involved in an accident en route to the VBS program, a new puppy that a family recently adopted and support for another family that is going through an especially rough time lately.

What if we made a conscious effort to replace the self-centric images we promote to others through various social media platforms with God sightings and/or spiritual object lessons we observe every day?

Let’s make a true selfie to “God-ie” movement with the goal of glorifying God and His creation … and in the process, inspire others to join the cause!