The Telegraph Newspaper
has wondered is this generation is the most narcissistic ever. We are the Selfie-Generation. The phone has changed the way that we take
photos. We used to put our eye behind a
lens and look out on others. Now we turn
the lens around and make ourselves the centre of the photo.
Please don’t get me
wrong. I am not really worried about you
taking the odd selfie. Selfies can be a
fun way to celebrate time with friends and travel. However, our selfies, our Facebook profile, our
pride in our children’s achievements, our attendance at church, our clothes,
the education we pursue, our manners and our possessions can all be things that
we use to create the carefully created image of ourselves that we desire others
to admire.
We need to be reminded
that, while people look at the outward
appearance [literally ‘the face’] the
Lord looks at the heart. Let me
paraphrase. ‘You may be obsessed with
your selfie, but God cares more for your character.’ Jesus can rescue you from your from being
overly worried about your selfie-smile!
Saul—a
king who was obsessed with appearance
The people of Israel
had become image-conscious. They wanted
a king so that they could be like other nations. The Philistines, the Moabites and the
Jebusites all had kings, ‘so why can’t we?’
God gave them the sort of king they were looking for. His name was Saul. He was superficially impressive. He was
as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head
taller than anyone else (9:2). They
believed that a man like Saul could make Israel great again! He was the sort of king who reflected their
aspirations.
While Saul began
humbly, he soon turned out to have a real character deficit. He was selfish, angry, hateful, jealous and
mean-spirited. When he was caught red-handed
in disobedience he said to the prophet Samuel, ‘I have sinned. But please
honour me before the elders of my people and before Israel, come back with me,
so that I may worship the Lord your God’ (15:30). He had displayed wicked rebellion against
God, but he was more concerned about saving face than allowing God change him
from within. ‘My life may be a mess,’ we
think, ‘but could you take a selfie with me to show people that I’ve got things
together?’
A few years ago a major
sports-star was caught in a very embarrassing situation. It seemed obvious that he was cheating on his
wife. What would the public think? What would his sponsors do? So who is the first person he rings? He rings his lawyer. You see his lawyer could help him come up
with a good story that would enable him to save face. That’s a Saul-like response.
Before we look down on
such people, ask yourself this, when was the last time you opened up to a
fellow-Christian about a besetting sin that you struggle with? When did you last tell them about specific
temptations you battle? When did you
last follow the Biblical injunction to confess your sins to one another? Over the last year I have been meeting with a
person once a week for the sake of accountability and prayer. I initiated this relationship because I could
see that this person was not-judgemental, willing to be vulnerable and was full
of grace. Meeting with him has been
life-transforming. But I can’t be smug
with you about this, for when I was applying to theological college I failed a
physiological test that revealed that I was I was unwilling to be open with my
interviewers about who I really was. It
doesn’t come naturally for us to let our guard down.
King
David—a king after God’s own heart
God could have let the
people suffer under the awful rule of the kind of king they deserved. However, our God delights to come to the
rescue of the underserving. So he sends
the prophet Samuel to the village of Bethlehem, to a man called Jesse. One of Jesse’s sons will be the next king!
Even Samuel fell into
the trap of judging by superficial appearances—when he saw Eliab, Jesse’s
eldest son, he thought that this must be God’s choice, but the Lord said to
Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance
or his height, for I have rejected him.
The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but
the Lord looks at the heart’ (9).
Not even David’s father
was paying attention to David’s heart.
Having being introduced to all David’s brothers, Samuel has to ask
Jesse, ‘are these all your sons?’ While
David may have been glowing in health, with a fine appearance and handsome
features’ (12b), he was only a teenage lad tending the flock. The Lord says to Samuel, ‘Rise and anoint him; for this is the one’ (12c). From
that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David (13).
Earlier in this book
Samuel tells Saul, the Lord has sought
out a man after his own heart … because you have not kept the Lord’s command
(13:14). Saul’s disobedience
demonstrated that he was not a person after God’s own heart. Many centuries later the apostle Paul
explained that David’s obedience was related to the fact that he was a person
after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Good
and evil flow from the heart. What do
our actions, loves and passions say about the state of ours?
Over the summer I read
a book by Paul Tripp, in which one of the chapters is entitled,
‘Transgression.’ He writes, ‘Obedience
is deeply more than begrudging duty. It
is a response of joyful willingness ignited by, and continued by a heart that
has been captured by God’s glory, goodness, and grace. Thus, you cannot threaten, manipulate, or
guilt a person into obedience. Only
grace can produce this joyful submission in me.
Only grace can open my eyes to the awesome glory of God … Only grace can
free me from being a worshipper of self to a worshipper of God. Only grace can motivate me to gaze upon the
beauty of the Lord until I have exited my little government of one and given
myself to the work of something vastly bigger than me.’ Only grace can change my heart from one that
is self-absorbed and disobedience, to one that is God-intoxicated and delights
in doing his will.
King
Jesus—the heart-changing king
I think there is a
mistake that we can make at this point.
We can forget the order of things!
Yes, it is true that God was looking for a man with a good heart. But it was God who had made David’s heart
good in the first place. Many years
later, after a hideous series of sins, David would pray, surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother
conceived me’ (Psalm 51:5). All of
us are born with a heart problem, but Jesus is the heart changing king!
Like David, King Jesus,
did not satisfy the aspirations of those who wanted to live under a superficial
leader. Isaiah tells us that Jesus had
no beauty or majesty that would attract people to him (Isaiah 53:2). His face in your selfie wouldn’t have
enhanced your image. Indeed, it may
cause us to lose face to become one of his subjects. But to paraphrase Jesus, ‘I pity you, if you
manage to keep your image and yet lose your soul.’
Like David, Jesus was a
shepherd-king. He alone is the good
shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep.
So when I read this book of the Bible and see a lot of Saul-like vanity
in me I thank God that Jesus took the punishment for my sin. In Jesus I am forgiven for my people-pleasing
tendencies and my self-absorption. The
good news doesn’t stop there. The
shepherd king leads me by changing my heart.
He is the one who can free us from our preoccupation with ourselves.
Conclusion:
People look at the outward
appearance, but God looks at the heart.
Where do you look?
If you are a parent, do
you shepherd you child’s heart, or do you simply push them to improve manners
and grades? Are you keeping up
appearances or are you willing to be vulnerable? Do you define yourself by your achievements
and possessions or is your delight in your relationship with God?
One of the worst things
we teach our children in school is the art of writing a resume (C. V.). It teaches us to boast about our achievements
and hide our failings. The Bible tells
us to boast about our weaknesses. That
is one way to put our image-consciousness to death. I would also suggest that you learn to be
transparent about your failings, and so bring glory to the God of grace who
loves and goes on forgiving his sinful people.
Find someone you can learn to be vulnerable with, and let them pray
about specific areas where your heart needs to change. Be transparent, so that your church becomes a
safe place that is soaked in grace. Pray
to the God who desires truth in the inner parts that he would cleanse you, wash
you and create a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit within you (Psalm
51:6-10).
To a narcissistic
generation God speaks the good news that while you may be obsessed with your
image, God cares more for your character, and Jesus can free you from your
slavery to self-obsession.
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