In a society that is told (sometimes rightfully so) that they are incredibly selfish, I think I’ve identified an area in which it would actually be beneficial to strive for greater selfishness.
It could change hearts, families, even culture. At this point, you probably think I’m crazy, so let me back up and explain.
Sinning is when we search for a god in the wrong things, searching for life in the wrong places. Or as Jeremiah puts it, when we drink from a broken cistern in an effort to quench our thirst.
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” – Jeremiah 2:13
Everything flows from the knowledge of God. For those of us who follow Him, we should realize how powerful drinking from the fountain of living water is!
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” – John 14:6
Indeed, if we believe that God is the only source for true life, we should be relentless in pursuing Him.
Hopefully now you’re starting to see where the “good selfishness” comes in.
This selfishness is a desire for life, a thirst to know the King and Creator of the universe.
As Christians, we should let nothing stand between our pursuit of Him. We should drink up every drop of water that we can from His cisterns, and not let anything get in the way of sharing that with others, nurturing them and pouring into their lives.
Let’s all strive to be selfish to the utmost degree when it comes to our walk with Christ.
Develop an insatiable thirst for abundant life – God’s truths. This type of selfishness would have an unbelievably positive impact on culture.
How much change could we initiate as a generation radically chasing after Christ, and refusing to settle for anything less?
How incredibly altered would the world be? We should all take the first step in evaluating where we stand.
Are we indeed selfish enough with our walk with Jesus?
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” – John 17:3
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Great point! Thanks for writing this.
“a generation radically chasing after Christ, and refusing to settle for anything less.” I love that. This generation would be like a city on a hill if we would just stop chasing after worthless things, start chasing after Christ, and adamantly refusing to settle for anything less then knowing “the excellence of the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Are we selfish enough to have to have more of Christ? Great article!
Wonderful article Moranos! “Develop an insatiable thirst for abundant life – God’s truths. This type of selfishness would have an unbelievably positive impact on culture.” This is so profound and convicting. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us. (:
Thanks so much, Haven! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Interesting perspective… 🙂
This is a very interesting point Moranos! I really loved your writing and the subject matter it has given me a lot to think about. Thank you! =)
Definitely, people are selfish about the wrong things and not “selfish” about the right things 😉 It comes down to having the right priorities — if God is not first in our lives, we’re always going to be searching for short-term fixes to structural gaps.
Wonderful perspective, @kmoranos:disqus! Great reminder to be selfish about the right things-such as pursuing a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus. Thanks for writing, I enjoyed it! 🙂
Thanks so much, Anne! I’m glad you found it helpful.
I so agree, but this is really hard to do. (I’m just so dang sinful!) Thank you for the encouragement though, it’s a huge help just to be reminded of the truth.
Awesome article. We need to be ” a generation radically chasing after Christ, and refusing to settle for anything less.” (Love that line, btw.)
Thank you for this!
Wow! That’s a really good point you made Kirkland! Thanks!
Well, I do like the fact that you desire to live fully for Christ, in a world today where people think that living for Him can be a secondary part of our life that’s a nice change. But I can’t say I care for the title too much, as the Bible decrees that we are not to be selfish, so why would it degree for us to be selfish for Him? That’s much like the Bible says we’re to honor our parents, but then turning around and saying we can dishonor them for Christ… See? It doesn’t make much sense.
I was talking to my mom about this and she said that this movement of being selfish for Christ was started by John Piper, it was meant to be used as a way to pull in the hip and trendy crowd, perhaps to make Christianity sound more agreeable and less “boring.” but it actually sounds more self-centered, instead of sounding like an encouragement to serve God more. Here’s what the Bible says about it Acts 20:35, , Philippians 2:3-8, James 3:16, Mark 12:31 etc.
But I don’t believe that Christians are meant to be hip and trendy, that we’re supposed to roll with what’s popular, or come up with things, as the Bible says we’re to be in the world and not of the world and I just feel that placating to what’s popular would be doing just that. But rather acting as Jesus would act, not allowing anyone or thing to take place of Him and applying what His Word says and most of all walking the narrow path no matter the problems we encounter along the way
I don’t mean to sound rude or like I think I know better than you, but I wanted to state my thoughts.
God bless,
Tatiana
Yeah, I totally agree. At first, the title just seemed to be an attention getter but I got a little concerned as I read the article. The Bible actually calls us to be unselfish with the things of heaven. In Matthew 13:52, Jesus calls us not to be selfish, but to share the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven: “And he said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.’“ (“Treasure” is referring to knowledge of the kingdom of heaven, btw.) Like was said in the article, I think we should radically chase after Christ, but I don’t think there’s a need to call that selfishness. =)
Wow! What an awesome thought. I don’t read my bible hardly at all:( but I need to be selfish for that time with Jesus and make it a habit in my daily life. Thank you, I’ve never thought about it that way:)