I Wanna Talk About Me

 

The late Toby Keith had a creative and funny tongue-in-cheek song dedicated to our insatiable appetite for self-recognition. In the 2001 hit country tune Keith croons,

I wanna talk about me,
I wanna talk about I,
I wanna talk about number one,
oh my me my,
what I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see. I like, talking about you, you, you, you, usually, but occasionally,
I wanna talk about me.
I wanna talk about me.

The song is a pointed and self-effacing tune that pokes fun at our inexorable grasping to be number one. Every time I hear it, I smile. 

 

These days we’re surrounded by me-ism. At every corner social media feed into our voracious appetite for recognition. Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, they all appeal to our baser nature in feeding of the self. We love the clicks and likes that feed our craving for recognition and attention. Somehow, we have connected our self-worth to our insatiable hunger for acknowledgement. Our identity has become intrinsically linked to our Facebook friends list or to the number that subscribe to our X (Twitter) feed.  

 

Incurvatus in se is a fancy Latin phrase that describes a phenomenon of the self-obsessed life…a life that curves in on oneself. When a person endeavors to make themself supremely important their universe begins to bend inward and ultimately finds that same person as its gravitational center. Before long that self-obsessed universe begins to look like a relational black hole.

 

Here's how my favorite Lutheran put it,

 

 “Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin being so deeply curved in on itself (incurvatus in se) that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them, as is plain in the works-righteous and hypocrites, or rather even uses God himself in order to attain these gifts, but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake.”

-       Martin Luther, Lectures on Romans

 

I, me, my becomes the three-fold mantra of the self-obsessed, and needless to say, a universe with ourself at the center is a tendentious and lonely place. At the end of the day, we don’t need to be crowned king or queen; we need to be dethroned from our position of self-importance. We need one worthy to be enthroned as King.

 

The Apostle Paul wrote about this very thing to the church at Philippi in the first century. He encouraged them, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Christian folks are not immune from self-promotion. Churches, pastors, ministries, and everyday Christians are often vying for position and acknowledgment, and truthfully, self-promotion is almost always a bad look. Whether we are first century Christians, or twenty-first century Christians the message remains the same.

 

As a corrective I think it needs to be said that as Christians our aim is not total self-disinterest, but rather kingdom parity…an interest that includes others. There was an early church heresy that remains to this day. These folks would twist the good news of Jesus in such a way that expressed an annihilation of self. They endorsed the complete destruction of self and anything that clings to self. They said personality and physicality and material things were to be cast away in favor of pure “spirituality.” The Bible teaches this is patently false. Authentic Christianity has rightfully eschewed “anti-flesh” Gnosticism as an old error that often dresses up in new clothes. 

 

Notice Paul’s language again from Philippians 2, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (v. 4). Paul’s point is not the obliteration of self-interest, but rather the pursuit of the interests of others as well as our own. The Christian faith is not the destruction of self. The Christian faith is the reorientation via rebirth of self. With Jesus as Lord, rather than self-absorption, the Christian looks out for the needs and interests of others, as well as his own. This reorientation, under the Lordship of Christ puts self in its rightful place. Self, once enthroned, is now submitted to Christ as Lord. Instead of curving in on one’s self, it reaches out in love to serve others.

 

Here’s the simple math of it - Less of me and more of Christ and more of others. Less self-promotion and more others-promotion. In fact, the next time we’re together let’s talk about the  indescribable majesty and worth of Jesus as Lord, and then let’s talk about you. 

- DJM

June 2024

 

The Silence of the Lambs

Controversy…the truth is...very few of us enjoy it. We would much rather fly under the radar than become a target. And yet somehow along the way we have convinced ourselves that silence is better than speaking. We’ve persuaded ourselves that many Christians are brash and unwise in what they say, while at the same time we’ve convinced ourselves that it is best to say nothing at all. In our minds, to speak about any number of moral matters in a public venue may appear uncharitable and un-Christian and certainly not 'grace-filled.' After all, to speak is to voice an opinion, and to voice an opinion…well, these days...in many folks’ mind, it’s just not the 'Christian' thing to do.

 

I’m particularly intrigued by the Apostle Paul’s approach. I find it curious that his ‘I’m not ashamed…’ of Romans 1:16 is followed by a list of behaviors that God condemns in Romans 1:18 and following. Perhaps Paul knew something about the correlation of shame and not speaking up...both for the power of the gospel to save, and for a world at odds against God himself. This is a strange environment we live in where we’ve somehow decided that we want to be faithful to give the good news of the gospel without telling anyone why they need it. 

 

Our forerunners in the faith had a bit to say about this as well. Zacharias Ursinus, one of the primary contributors of The Heidelberg Catechism, made this pithy statement in the sixteenth century regarding the importance of speaking up. He said, ‘Undue reservedness is to dissemble the truth....’ In other words, not saying something when we should say something is akin to telling a lie. 

 

In some instances, silence may be golden, but silence is not the gospel way, nor is silence Christ’s way. Jesus could have adopted a ‘go along to get along’ mantra and saved himself much grief, and he likely could have saved himself the cross. However, declaration and proclamation are to be part and parcel of the Christian life. When the authorities, both religious and political, attempted to shut down the courageous proclamation of the newly formed Christian gatherings in the Book of Acts, it’s interesting that of all they could have prayed for, they prayed for boldness to speak.

 

As Christians it is incumbent upon us to say something. We are to declare that a real Jesus saves from real sins and in this declaration we must not be ashamed. We must be willing to speak because the future depends not only upon the efficacy of God’s Lamb, but also the unashamed words of our testimony (Rev. 12:11). Christian friends, someone needs to hear what you have to say. Someone needs to hear your story and to hear about God’s power to save, and it’s both your privilege and your duty to speak up. 

- DJM

June 4, 2024