Life Matters - June 7, 2023
That narcissism has become a form of god-worship may be argued by some, but what cannot be argued is God’s warning to us, in II Timothy, Chapter 3, that in the end times, in the waning days of this age, “Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…” This is strikingly relevant in our time and that relevance continues to increase. While what is meant by ”narcissist” may be hard to define, and indeed seems ambiguous at times, depending upon who is applying the label to whom, being “lovers of their own selves” is a simple and easy to understand warning. Jesus also made it quite clear in Matthew chapter 23 what He meant when He repeatedly called the Scribes and Pharisees “hypocrites” by pointedly pointing out their man-conscious self absorption in comparison to the God-conscious surrender of self they so desperately needed. A God-consciousness all of us desperately need as to be man-consciously self-absorbed is natural. To be God-conscious is only possible as we allow ourselves to be drawn into the goodness side of the supernatural. A supernatural in which Jesus Christ is central, not we ourselves, not anyone else. A supernatural in which we see ourselves by the light of God’s Word, repent, are redeemed, cleansed, and made whole. A wholeness no longer subject to the fickle admiration of others nor of any self-admiration that depends on the admiration of others for courage but a courage made whole, a completeness that closes the gaps in our desire to be accepted, to be loved and to love. God, through Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, is the only one able to fill that gaping void in us where only God fits. All any other god can do is to temporarily obscure, to ones further blindness and eventual consternation.
Narcissism, then, can be said to be a god as it is the nature of lower-case gods to replace (obscure) knowledge and connection with the upper-case God of the Bible. When admiration is turned in upon oneself one feels insecure and naturally seeks the admiration of others, often at the expense of Truth. When admiration is focused and resides in the person of Jesus Christ, when repentance and faith is complete, when one’s identity resides in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6), then and only then, is courage complete and is then the courage God’s Word exemplifies to us in its record of the scourgings, the killings, the blood which flowed upon the founding of the Christian church. And has flowed upon its sustenance from then even to this day. Truly the blood of the martyrs has been, and is, the seed of the church.
The flowing of blood, however, is not the only tools the powers of darkness has used and continues to use in its desperate attempt to undo the Christian faith and hence the church of Christ. According to a past KGB agent of persecution, Sergei Kourdakov, who escaped Russia with his life and went on to author a book titled The Persecutor, and Richard Wurmbrand, also from Russia, who authored Tortured for Christ then went on to found “The Voice of the Martyrs,” an organization drawing attention to Christian persecution across the globe, anti-Christian nations have learned that killing Christians only produces more Christians. And so these nations, dedicated to the extermination of Christianity, have resorted to other means, including but not limited to, physical harassment, breaking up Christian gatherings, emotional harassment by spreading accusations of nefarious immorality among members, especially pastors, and financial pressure by whatever covert means possible. The Communists and Nazis employed the use of government propaganda, a system now being “perfected” (not) in this country via social media. However, the blood still flows at times. Mr. Kourdakov, after writing his book and giving speeches across theCanada he came to call home, then died of a gunshot wound discharged from his own gun. He had warned his companions that, if Russia follows through with its threats they will make his demise look like suicide. Though controversial, it appears they did. In 1973, when Sergei was nearing his 22nd birthday.
May we be, and stay, God-conscious. The sneaky tentacles of persecution are connected to a heady hatred for Truth. But ... the more covert the lies, the more refreshing the Truth. Stay God-conscious for it.
Life Matters!