In Greek mythology there is a story of a young man named Narcissus. By a divine union (the river god trapping his nymph mother) came an incredibly beautiful boy. In fact, his handsome physique quickly became talk of the town. And like most of humanity: we like being friends with beautiful people. Narcissus was no exception – people flocked to know him, befriend him, seduce him, etc. However, the vanity of this young guy grew into disdain. He stiff-armed any that would seek him in relationship.
One day, a smitten nymph named Echo followed him out on a hunt. After a time following him into the woods, she finally expressed her feelings, only to be rejected like everyone else in Narcissus’ life. Seeing her devastation, the mischievous god Nemesis punished Narcissus as retribution for his cruelty.
His punishment came as he walked by a stream and noticed his own reflection. Captivated by seeing his own beauty, myth says he couldn’t pull himself away from the sight and there he sat until he wasted away.
From this story we get the word “narcissism” and “narcissistic” which literally means “to fall in love with oneself.” Now I’m pretty sure if I polled the audience here, no one would outrightly confess to being in some kind of creepy love relationship with themselves (I think we have medical terms for that kind of insanity).
But as it so happens, we are all narcissistic. Call it “self-preservation” if you want, but we are born with an innate sense of protecting and promoting ourselves above anything in our lives. Even the most selfless humanitarian gets some intrinsic satisfaction from helping those in pain. Think about every decision you’ve made today. Maybe you can justify 50% of your actions as “necessary” (waking up, brushing your teeth, eating a meal, etc.) but if you were to catalog every move you’ve made today, how many of them would be self-serving in some capacity? (deciding to pass a slower driver, getting Starbucks, wearing an attractive article of clothing, stopping by a friend’s desk just to say “hi”)
We can be disgusted with the thought of wasting away at the sight of our own reflection, but are we truly any better? Philippians 2 says “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God did not consider his equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant.”
How many decisions today will be “narcissistic”? You want to see the character of a man, watch what he does not what he says. What is your money spent on? Who do you talk to? How do you make your decisions?
Pay attention! There are an incredible number of needs, hurts, and realities out there. They’re not going away just because we get to captivated by our own lives and ignore them. I want to edit that last sentence, and maybe I’m just overwhelmed by how much there is to do in the world today (hunger, thirst, trafficking, orphans, AIDS, lost, hurting, dying, etc. etc. etc.), but we have to talk about it!
What was the last altruistic decision you made? When will be the next one? I’m not condemning, I’m challenging you to consider how you live and what’s truly important. If this describes your life, then I applaud you. If not, would you consider a change?
