The War on Selfie

Last week, we finished Matthew 9;

Matthew 10 is about Jesus’ commissioning of the 12 apostles.

In two weeks, God willing, I will teach on this entire chapter.

Today, I want to focus on one particular section, verses 37-39.

Matthew 10:37–39 ESV

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

As we have moved throughout Matthew, we have talked about the Kingdom of God and what it means to live as people of His Kingdom.

When we come to Jesus in faith, we move from the Kingdom of this world, into the Kingdom of God. We follow King Jesus and in submission to His reign. As Kingdom people, we are to live for the Glory of God.

‘Glory’ is simply ‘magnificence’ or ‘splendor.’ So, when we talk about the glory of God, we are talking about His magnificence— His attributes, his wonder, His beauty, His infinite worth.

Because we are still in the world, living for the Glory of God is a daily battle, because their are many other things in life that are vying for our allegiance, our worship, and our adoration.

Pastor and Author Paul Tripp, writes about this topic in his book titled, ’Sex and Money’ in which he says, (Quote) “Life this side of eternity really is one big, unceasing glory battle.” (End Quote)

God has hard-wired us for glory, to be awestruck, to love having our minds blown, to appreciate the beauty and the wonders of life.

For instance, when we first moved to Greeley, CO, I’ll never forget driving west on one of our main roads for the first time, and getting a glimpse of the beautiful, snow-capped rocky

mountains; the wonder of that view brought tears my eyes.

My animals couldn’t have cared less about the view of the mountains, but human beings are hardwired for glory. Several times, we made the hour trip to Estes-Park, and then on up to Rocky Mountain National Park… and our breath was taken away when we saw views like this: (show pic)…

The Rocky Mountains are an example of what we call: created glory:

We were never meant to worship created things. Created glories were never meant to fully satisfy us. Instead, created glories are meant to point us to something much greater… namely, the Glory of God.

* when I saw the beauty of the Rocky mountains, I did not bow down and worship them. Instead, I glorified God… as I realized again, His power, His might, and His majesty.. as Creator.

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Here is the problem: sometimes, we look to created glories, to give us, what can be found only in the Glory of God.. We tend, at times, to get enamored with created glories, and we run after them, believing that they could satisfy us.

But they will never will— created glories will never satisfy us. They will never bring us fulfillment or lasting joy. Created glory, again, is meant to drive us to the Creator and His glory. The One Who offers lasting peace, and joy; the One who can satisfy us.

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There are many created glories that compete for our allegiance to God:

Money

Power

Sex

Relationships

Education

The Created World, etc.

But, perhaps the idol we have to fight off the most is the idol of self.

To follow Jesus and to move into His Kingdom, is to deny self.

It is to live wholly and fully for the Glory of God.

Matthew 10:38–39 ESV

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Paradoxically—it is only when we surrender our lives to Jesus in this way, that we actually start truly living.

I want to entitle this message “The War on Selfie”

In 2013, the word “selfie” became the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year.

- Google reported in mid-2019 that its Android devices take 93 million selfies per day

- New studies show that the average person takes more than 450 selfies per year.

I am not suggesting that we never take pictures of ourselves. But I do think the obsession with taking self photos, is a signpost that points to our obsessions with self indulgence.

We like people to see us, recognize us, and applaud us. We like glory.

You and I were made for Glory. Not our own glory… but the glory of God.

Genesis 1:27 tells us that… we were created in the image of God.

We are created to reflect the Glory of God… to bear his image.

Adam and Eve sinned, because they focused on their own desires—their own glory—rather than the Lord.

So that God-bearing image has been tainted.

But Jesus has saved us, so that we could again bear God images. He has saved us for the Glory of God.

Ephesians 1:3–6 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

As Kingdom people, you and I are to live for the glory of God.

Most of us understand, theologically at least, how detrimental it is to seek self-glory. Many of us, though, don’t recognize self-glory, creeping into our lives And so, I want to give you five facets of self-glory, so that we might better recognize it, and thus deal with it in a way that is pleasing to God.

So, how can we recognize this idol of self glory?

Five Signs of Self-Glory

I. Following God’s Will Only When It Is Convenient

There are many people who say they want to follow the Lord… they want to be Real Followers of Jesus, but they still want the freedom to do their own thing.

Their attitude is something like this: I will yield myself to Christ, inasmuch as it doesn’t interfere with my lifestyle, my comfort, my hope and dreams.

THIS DOESN’T WORK: To REALLY Follow Christ, is to lay everything down AND and to wholeheartedly yield to Jesus.

Matthew 10 Makes this very clear:

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. What are the implications of this statement?:

A real follower of Jesus, must deny himself, and embrace God’s will at all cost

And this is reiterated in the next verse. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Through these verses we see that self-denial is a must. We must live, as REAL Followers of Jesus, for the Glory of God— NOT THE GLORY OF SELF.

When self glory is an issue, there might be areas in your life that you are untouchable; areas that you are unwilling to yield to the Lord.

Maybe it is a relationship he’s asking you to give up… you know it’s not pleasing to him Maybe it’s offerings… Lord I’ll go to church, but don’t touch my money… that’s self glory.

When I base my decisions on what I want rather than what God wants, I am choosing my glory (my comfort, my temporary pleasure), over God’s Glory and His will.

(I only follow God’s will when it’s convenient for me)

II. Doing the Right Things for the Wrong Reasons (2nd sign of self glory)

Just because you do religious things, does not mean that you are living for the glory of God.

In Matthew 6, we saw a great example of what it looks like to do the right things for the wrong reasons. Jesus gave three examples of how hypocrites do religious things for their own glory rather than the glory of God.

A.) Giving for the Wrong Reasons

Matthew 6:1–3 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

When we give— rather of our resources or time— we must really pray and check our motives. It can feel good to be recognized. Don’t announce it on Facebook, don’t call and tell everyone what you are doing Just do it— to the Glory of God. You can do it for self-glory. And you can get the applause of men. But, then you’ve received your reward in full.

This is tough. We all, in the flesh, want recognition.

B.) Praying for the Wrong Reasons

Matthew 6:5–7 ESV

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

There is nothing wrong with corporate prayer; however, don’t do in public what you aren’t willing to in private. We can pray for the wrong reasons…

To look spiritual in front of others Even our private prayers are for our own glory…

Lord, give me, give me, give… Instead of Hallowed Be Thy Name Thy Will Be Done.

C.) Fasting for the Wrong Reasons

Matthew 6:16-17

Matthew 6:16–17 ESV

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Again, fasting is a great discipline… but if other people know you are doing it… you’ve received your reward. And you have gone hungry for nothing.

So, one of the signs of self glory is wanting others to see how spiritual we are.

III. Inability to see God’s Ongoing Work of Grace (a third sign of self glory)

1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

* When self-glory creeps into our lives, we tend to forget, we are where we are by the grace of God.

*We began to take credit for our gifts, our talents, our positions, how many people we’ve led to the Lord… and there is just arrogance that accompanies us.

The apostle Paul wrote much of what we call the new testament. He was an apostle, a church planter, a missionary… and walked closely closely with the Lord.

In one letter he reminds believers that he was the worst of sinners… And here he reminds us that he is where he is ALL because of God’s grace.

God’s choosing to use me in ministry is unmerited. (I was probably the most unlikely candidate in my youth group to be used in this vocation)/

IV.) An Inability to See My Own Shortcomings (The fourth sign of self-Glory)

People who desire self glory cannot stand to be wrong. They blame everyone else for their shortcomings… and because of pride they can’t see any wrong in themselves.

In 2 Samuel we read the story of King David, who loved God, but struggled with this battle of self Glory from time to time. In one instance, he took a married woman named Bathsheba for himself, slept with her, got her pregnant, and then had her husband, Uriah killed to cover all of this up.

David was so entrenched in his own glory, his own pleasure, his reputation, that he was blind to the wretchedness of his own sin.

It took the prophet Nathan, coming to David, for him to realize the depths of what he had done.

Our desire for self-glory, the need to feel good about ourselves, the need to protect our reputation, will cause to miss our shortcomings and our need for repentance.

James 5:16 ESV

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

* You don’t see this much in church… the confession of sins one to another… and I believe self-glory is one of the key reasons we don’t. We care too much about how people will look at us, and thus it stops us from following the will of God in this area.

5) Refusal to Receive Correction  (fifth Sign of self glory)

People who are after self-glory, will not accept correction. They are defensive, they are easily offended. Not only will they fail to see imperfection in themselves; they still won’t admit them when brought to their attention by someone else.

Proverbs 12:1 ESV

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

People leave the church when confronted.

None of us love correction… But someone living for the Glory of God, sees its necessary place.

Closing

When I live for the glory of self, when I am all about me… I am only hurting me. Here is what I am saying when I live for self glory: momentary pleasure, is more valuable— more satisfying, more beneficial—than the lasting, eternal satisfaction and rewards that God gives.

I am looking to created things for something that only the Creator Himself can give me.

Do you see any of these facets of self-glory in your life?

Do you have trouble obeying God’s Word when it affects your momentary pleasure an comfort? If so, self-glory is a problem.

Do you do religious things (pray, read your bible, give to others, serve) so that others will see how spiritual you are? If so, self-glory is a problem.

Do you have trouble seeing the continuing work of God’ s Grace in your life? Does this cause you to think more highly of yourself than you ought? If so, self-glory is a problem.

Do you have trouble seeing your own shortcomings? If so, self-glory is a problem.

Do you have trouble receiving correction from other Christians? If so, self-glory is a problem.

How to Fight Self Glory:

(1) Honest Reflection. Be willing to take an honest look at ourselves and recognize our own proclivity towards self-glory.

(2) Accountability. Live life in Christian community. (Some level of vulnerability).

(3) The Word. Saturate ourselves in the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

(4) Prayer