Moving Beyond Our Selfishness . . .

            Sometimes someone says something that sticks with you. There are many things spoken to us that we immediately forget, but there are times when you hear something that gets etched into your memory. Some years ago I heard a speaker challenge a very affluent crowd: “Can you say that you truly love God if you spend all of your money on yourself?”  This question is not difficult to answer. The answer is—no! But if one has the courage to take that question a step farther, we may find things become even more uncomfortable. For instance, can I say that I love God if I spend all my time pursuing my plans and agendas? Can I say that I love God if my primary focus is upon my own family and its needs?  If we are consumed by our own lives, we simply don’t have the time to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves.

            For centuries, the Christian community has wrestled with the idea of original sin. We can’t escape the idea of original sin because it is so very obvious that every human being is flawed. None of us are perfect, and every attempt to be perfect ends in failure. Whatever innocence may have accompanied us at birth is soon lost. This question of original sin was made even more complicated by Freud and the emergence of the field of psychology in the last century. It is frightening to realize that so much lies hidden from us in our unconscious mind. We don’t always know what motivates us to do the things we do. Also, through modern psychology, we have learned that the Biblical understanding that sins are passed from generation to generation is an undeniable reality.

            I have read many of the arguments for the idea of original sin by many of the more famous theologians of the Church. I am not capable of discussing the idea of original sin in theological terms, but, at its essence, I believe original sin is self-centeredness. For me, the most recognizable expression of original sin is our selfishness. Through our selfishness, we build small worlds with ourselves at the center. We attempt to avoid all distractions as we pursue our agendas for life. In fact, very selfish individuals discover that almost any other person who enters their small world—husband or wife, son or daughter, colleague or friend—makes their world too crowded and becomes a threat to the successful attainment of their dreams for life.

            From a Biblical perspective, our greatest challenge is to move out of our selfishness. Jesus calls us to forget ourselves. Jesus informs us that if we wish to save ourselves we must lose ourselves. These words are very difficult for us to hear. Why? Because we are always doing battle with that side of ourselves that demands that we look out for number 1—ourselves. When Jesus captured in words the essence of the law and the prophets, he said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and spirit, and your neighbor as yourself.” These are the greatest commandments, and they imply that we will love ourselves only when both God and our neighbor are placed in the proper perspective. Jesus calls us away from our selfishness to discover life.

            If you are still reading, I guess you are wondering why all this mumbo jumbo about original sin and selfishness. Quite honestly I am writing about these things in response to a meeting I attended this morning in which the pressing human needs of our city and community were discussed. I sat with people who spend every day seeking to help the forgotten people we don’t often see. These individuals are fighting an unending battle as they attempt to provide some relief for those who are hurting. They are attempting to light a candle of hope for people lost in the darkness of despair. They seek to lift children up and out of the situations in which they find themselves. These people are on the front lines and they need reinforcements.

            As I sat through that meeting this morning, I understood, in my gut, that to meet the pressing human needs of our community more of us will have to pull ourselves away from our families, our plans, our goals for life. We will have to rise above our selfish tendency for the sake of others.

            As people of faith, we sometimes forget the answers Jesus gave for our final exam. The correct answers will not be that we attended church or studied the Bible or dropped something in the offering plate. The correct answers will be—I sought to respond to Christ when I met him in strangers. I fed the hungry. I clothed the naked. I visited the imprisoned. I cared for the sick. I befriended the friendless. To do any one of these things, we are called out of our selfishness into encounters with other people—very often people very different from us.

            As I write these words to you, I fully understand what I am asking you to consider. I am asking you for the sake of our larger community to become involved in helping others. I am asking you to allow the faith you have received to lead you to places where you comfort the hurting, encourage the discouraged, and offer hope to the despairing. This will cost you something -- something you presently value greatly. But it may be that you will find something far more valuable than what you now possess.

            There are great needs in our community. As people of faith, we must do something and nothing is too small!  jamie