Why is it so easy to make fun of people taking selfies? Why are people holding selfie-sticks, trying to get the right lighting and the perfect angle, such easy targets? I think because we all understand that selfies are – in some way – a worship of self.
Not always. You can take a selfie with your family at the holidays to let everyone know how much you love grandma’s house! You can take a selfie with your significant other to celebrate an anniversary, take a selfie at work to talk about how much you love your job, or take a selfie at church to tell the world how great your pastor is. If that’s the case, then selfies are always allowed at Northbrook.
But there is a feeling that when you take a selfie, you’re consumed with self. How you look, how others see you, what others think about you. And that obsession with self is really worship. We worship ourselves, whether we’re clicking the camera on our phones or not.
In Exodus 32 we find some people worshiping. First of all, Moses is worshiping. He’s been on the mountain top for 40 days. Just him and God. And his worship experience has changed him.
But when he comes down the mountain he finds some other worshipers. Instead of godly worship it’s selfish worship. In a word, it’s idolatry. They’ve taken their gold jewelry, cast it into a fire, and formed it into a calf. A cow. They worshiped a cow? Holy cow!
But what they were really worshiping was themselves. We reflect what we worship. Moses was reflecting God, but the Israelites were reflecting themselves. And it led to some very self-indulging and self-destructive behavior.
But when we worship God, we have the opportunity to reflect his glory.
2 Corinthians 3:18
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
When we worship God, we are gazing into his presence and connecting with his essence, his glory. We are being transformed into his image. It’s not through careful living and following all his rules. It’s not by erasing as much of our past as we can. It’s about throwing all of ourselves into him and letting him establish and strengthen us in Christ.
I know that not every selfie is self-worship. But how often do we allow what others think of us affect how we live our lives? Instead, let’s allow what God thinks about us to change us, transform us. When God roots us in his love and faith, we don’t have to find fulfillment in how many likes our next selfie gets.
Great message Mike..