Selfishness…The
Current World Trend Killing Love Kelly Durant 8-28-13
1 John 3:17 But
whoso hath this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his
bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?
2., 3. (Picture
of the 2 tied horses trying to eat 2 piles of hay) Each one is pulling the rope
to his side but they cannot reach it to eat until finally they agree to eat
together on one side at a time, then they can eat both piles.
Selfishness
is placing concern with one’s self or one’s own self-interests above the
well-being or interests of others. Doesn’t that describe many people you and I
know! The goal of the Christian is to die to our own flesh and from the death
of our ego and self, allow Christ to live in you (and me!) As described by C.S.
Lewis, one of the greatest Christian apologists and former atheist of our
modern day, “Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness”. Our goal
is to have a love that is so sacrificial, so dedicated, that it has no limits
to what it will give for the good of others in our community.
To define
selfishness in psychological terms, it points to a lack of empathy. People who
don’t care for others well-being or feelings are capable of manipulation and
they might even be a psychopath who have no behavioral controls, empathy, or
remorse, and these anti-social behaviors are very damaging to family and social
relations.
I researched
in Wikipedia and found the “Game Theory” outcome of social interaction. “Given two actors, oneself and someone
else, there are four types of possible behavior directly impacting the welfare
of the actors: selfishness, altruism, spite, and cooperation. Selfishness is
harming someone else in order to help oneself; altruism is harming oneself in
order to help someone else; spite is harming oneself in order to harm someone
else; cooperation is helping someone else and also helping oneself.”
We conclude
in the cartoon picture that our horses learned cooperation, are we any smarter
than horses? Some people are, yet some are stubbornly selfish!
4. Today in the
entire world we in observe governments, religions, and authorities in community
clubs, sports teams, and all groups plagued by a small select group of callus
and calculating people who are prideful and corrupt. They are participating in
the group functions but not for the common good of all, which is the premise of
the existence of the group, but they are participating in the community entity
for their own personal selfish interests. In the press we hear about the
scandals daily!
The current unprecedented
corruption, which is pure selfishness, is at an all-time high in all sectors of
the community in all countries. Selfishness foments hate and division in communities
and in relationships of any kind. Selfishness is an abomination to God because
it is an indifference to the suffering and destruction of our fellow human
beings. It is in the end selfishness is the absence of love which is an absence
of God, for God is love! (I John 4: 8) We live in a world headed for the
apocalypse due to the absent of the knowledge of God!
5. The
attitude and trends today in the world are functioning on the worship of
materialism and greed within an essentially spiritually devoid social
environment. There is the increasing antichrist spirit out there that projects
itself through the main media, movies, popular music, and polished advertising.
The message is if one can’t get all of what one wants, then one is justified to
get it however means possible disregarding the abuse done to others. (sin,
obviously, is no issue)! What a nobody you are if you are not living the
romanced stereotypical high-life of the Hollywood role models, drugged, divorced
and in and out of rehab centers!
The current
abominable and accepted attitude is that somebody is going to have to pay for
the unmet selfish expectations! What sick self-serving-ness! Theft, perversion,
and abuse within family members is killing our previously so what healthy
society and Christians need to rise up and confront the self-serving evil
doers! Get involved! If not stopped, we will see more and more people joining
in the organized crime destroying our family members to get what they want!
The unrealistic
lifestyles of the extravagant few plant the seeds of selfishness and dissatisfaction
within the common populous. The lifestyles of the top 100 politicians, sports
and movie stars are offensive are unattainable by the 99.9999 % of us. This
dynamic of extremes seems to give some people the idea that they have the right
to disrespect those around them and use you for their ambitions; it’s the
callus idea that is okay to grab whatever they can from you or someone a little
better off than them because you have more than what they do and they deserve
what you have just for the taking. It started in Russian in 1917 and spread to a
dozen places like China, Cuba, Latin America, and now it’s in our society. Don’t
forget the commandment, Exodus 20:17
“You shall
not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or
his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your
neighbor.”
6. Extreme selfishness,
or narcissism, is increasing in our society and, like gas on the fire, the
media loves to provoke the class warfare, race warfare, the ‘fight for your own’
divisive message. This is Satan’s old plot is to divide and conquer! Jesus
describes our current day in Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of
wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
We are in
this terrible situation as a society due to a lack of love. God is love and
love is not an option: it is something you should just do because God commanded
it! Sadly, selfish unloving people of laugh and joke that they will party with
friends in hell, but the reality is hell is a place with the absence of God, or
anyone, and the fire of pure darkness of a soul in solitary confinement is a
perpetual torment I do not wish on any one! In Jude we read that it is in chains
in perpetual darkness, that the eternal soul will remain without love, only the
produce of the selfish self exists!
You have
heard the phrase ‘live and let live’, that is what love does with no self-
motivations. The highest law of God is to love Him and your neighbor yourself,
but few people, we deduct from observation, really learn in this life: how to
love another as much as they love their own self! Most people, sadly, are just
selfish!
7. I
recommend that you personally cry out to God and ask Him to give you more love
for others! If you love as he commanded, everyone around you will feel it,
people will see your authentic-ness and get a blessing from you, and you will
have good works to back up your proof of love. A Christian that does not love
is not a real Christian and is a person living in sin! People see others sins
but not their own. Selfish people are actually insane, blinded by their own
ambitions!
The people
in the world are without excuses today for their unloving, selfish behavior!
Before Jesus walked the earth, people might have said, well, no prophet or man
of God has given us an example of total love and sacrifice so I don’t have to
love and sacrifice. But when Jesus came and freely performed miraculous
healings, gave us life transforming teachings, and the example of laying down
his life and dying on the cross, no one can deny anymore that that was not pure
love!
Sadly, there
are too many people out there who are too quick to complain about sacrificing a
few hours, or a few dollars to help a needy cause or the church. It is up to us
as Christians to change this selfish attitude by being an example ourselves of
love and sacrifice. The selfish unloving people will eventually be ashamed and we,
in contempt, will observe the reaping of their consequences. God expects each
one of us to do our part to shine His love!
8. Remember
the rich young ruler that claimed he was perfect and obeyed God in every way?
Jesus challenged him to not be selfish and to give it all away to the poor. Matt
19: 20 The young man
saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast,
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and
follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful:
for he had great possessions.
Jesus on
purpose made an example of how not-to-be out of this young man who probably
lived out the rest of his life feeling guilty to prove that you cannot boast “I
am in good with God” for all my obedience without a total commitment which will
love until it hurts. Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he
will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. You can’t serve God and riches. Jesus made it clear that you
are either selfish, or selfless, and to prove you are identifying with His
love, He requires proof of it, proof of a life that you sacrifice for God’s use.
Jesus knew
that the world would always be plagued by successful & rich selfish ambitious
people who are good intentioned (but ineffective), un-sacrificial, and self-centered,
so he brought to light that God will not tolerate selfishness and a lack of
compassion on the suffering. Compassion is love and God requires it.
9. What has caused Christianity to be rejected
by some people today? Some of the disdain is from jealousy of the church’s
combined wealth, power and influence, some rejection comes from a clash of
worldviews from another religion’s belief system, and some rejection has some
justifiable roots because Christians have not been loving, sharing, and
compassionate with others.
Like it or
not, quite a few people have had a bad experience with the Christians; this is
due to someone being rude to them when they tried to connect, or someone was indifferent
when they were suffering needing help, or someone did some selfish act proving
to them that Christians are false and hypocrites. How sad! Never let yourself
be guilty of being a stumbling block for others!
The churches
of today should do what Gideon did when he chose his army of 300. Judges 7: 6
Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest
got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three
hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your
hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites
home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of
the others.
As
Christians maybe we should just count on the generous and dedicated few to get
things done! Often times you can accomplish more with less and we don’t need massive
mega-churches, mega-governments, or community groups that are infested with selfish
self-serving, unproductive, unloving, non-soul-winning people. Christianity
gets a bad rap over the prideful selfish unloving uncompassionate people who
boast their own goodness yet they refuse to surrender all to Jesus proving
their love and compassion. Expose it: change it!
10. Here is
what is making everyone fed up and sick with all the entities in society: the
deduction that selfish people are doing things not the right way, but in their own
comfortable and unproductive way being out-of-touch, with no accountability
rendered for what they do. God has entrusted each of us who are Christians with
talents and treasures and if we are selfish with them we will always be
spiritually immature, deficient, and without rewards in heaven.
This verse is
important in Proverbs 11:24 One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another
withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
Are you
sharing your love and your personal things when necessary?
Ask God if
you have been heeding the conviction of the Holy Spirit to give more of yourself,
sacrificing more for God and others as time goes on. The only way to change the
world is to be the change yourself!
When someone
hears about how you sacrificially served another in need with food, or something,
it brings conviction and then others want to get on board too! Selflessness
breeds more selflessness and this means simply catching the love of Jesus and
transmitting it on to others who will do the same! Are you a selfish
psychopathic condemned reject useful to no one not even God, or are you a
loving, serving, generous imitator of Jesus generous love and compassion?
