Focus: The Shrine of Self

Text: Jh.3:30

"He MUST increase, but I MUST decrease."

At the shrine of self you'll find:

'I'

'Me'

'My'

'Mine'

'Myself'

At this shrine, life is all about me and mine. It's me first before anyone else. Man sees self-preservation as the first law of the universe.

The shrine of self is not new. It has existed since the fall of man in the garden of Eden. All cults and cultures worship at this shrine. Except for the man, Christ Jesus, all men bow at this very shrine. It is a false altar where we keep sacrificing others on daily basis to satisfy ourselves and remain relevant.

Every era is indeed a new era for self. Even in the present era, we live in gross selfishness. At this shrine, self is all that matters. In the 'me' era, no one likes being told what to do. We hate it when God or anyone else makes demands of us. Paul tells his congregation about Timothy, "For I have NO MAN likeminded, who will NATURALLY care for your state. For ALL SEEK THEIR OWN, not the things which are Jesus Christ's" (Phil.2:20-21). This shrine is all about self-projection, self-assertiveness, self-centeredness, self-focused, self-engrossed, self-pursuit, self-interest, self-love, self-deification, which is tantamount to self-desecration, selfishness, and the list goes on ad infinitum.

Truly, man is suffering from the sickness of self. We are poisoned and diseased by self. The idol of self is the problem of all humanity.

Let me give you some Scriptures that reveal self as the root of our issues.

The Lord Jesus Christ says, "For THEY bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themSELVES will not move them with one of their fingers" (Mt.23:4). That means laws are for others to keep, not us.

Again, "But they held their peace: for by the way THEY had DISPUTED among themSELVES, who should be the greatest" (Mk.9:34). That means that if anyone should be number one, it should be 'me.' We live in the 'me' era.

Luke reports, "And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before THEY were at enmity between themSELVES" (Lk.23:12). That is to say that when it is convenient and it suits anyone's interests, you could be sacrificed for some enemies to become friends. At the shrine of self, everything is about self-interest.

Luke reports again, "And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themSELVES, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live" (Act.28:4). Man is self-complicated. Before now, Paul was a good man. He survived a life-threatening storm in which all properties and the ship itself were destroyed, except the people in the ship. In the island of Malta, Luke reports that "the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness…" But the moment they saw the snake bite on Paul's hand, they quickly changed their attitude toward him. Just for one incident, they judged him wrongly and condemned him as evil. They said his past deeds have caught up with him. A good man is labeled a bad person by people in his life who misinterpret an appearance, or misrepresent an occurrence. People are too quick to arrive at conclusions about other people.

Paul wrote that "men shall be LOVERS OF THEIR OWN SELVES… LOVERS OF PLEASURES MORE THAN LOVERS of God" (2Tim.3:2,4). Paul continues, "Professing themSELVES to be wise…oppose themSELVES… defile themSELVES with mankind…abusers of themSELVES with mankind" (Rom.1:22; 2Tim.2:25; 1Tim.1:10; 1Cor.6:9). Paul says that they "pierced themSELVES through with many sorrows… denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themSELVES swift destruction… they corrupt themSELVES…" (1Tim.6:10; 2Tim.2:1; Jude 1:10). Then Paul brings us into the arena of competition and rivalry, and there we see that the virus of self has saturated our system. Paul says, "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, compare ourSELVES with some that commend themSELVES: but they measuring themSELVES by themSELVES, and comparing themSELVES among themSELVES, are not wise" (2Cor.10:12). And it is for this sickness of self that Christ "died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2Cor.5:15). 

In Christ a new self is born that does not bow at shrine of humanism and materialism. Make Christ the center of the new self and stop bowing and worshiping at this shrine of self. Put away your idols and stop shopping for more. Let self decrease for the Christ in you to increase. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter