Skip to main content

A Theology of Selfies


O.K.  I confess that I am an old guy and that I might be out of touch, out of date and just a wee bit cranky.  Maybe I am missing something in this whole selfie phenomenon because the technology to allow this process is relatively recent.  After all, in my day, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the person taking a picture was the one person guaranteed not to be in the picture.  Taking the picture meant that you had to be behind the camera rather than in front of it.  Therefore, all of the pictures I took were of other people or the sights that I saw.  I am sure that if it had been physically possible, there would have been those from my generation that would have been the star of their own photo-show - but it just wasn't.

Now the technology is available, and everyone is doing it.  In fact, some do it so much that their facebook page is festooned with nothing but self-portraits.  There they are taking a trip, trying new makeup, eating supper, going to bed, and so on and so on.  It seems so incredibly narcissistic.  Everything is about me. I am the star of all my pictures and my posts all scream "Look at me!"  I have to think that this also leads to a unhealthy concern with how I look in all those pictures.  After all, I am not going to put up the pictures that make me look bad - and I'm not even going to mention the growing tendency to photoshop the pictures that are posted.

Theologically this is a issue.  If I am the centre of my world and everything I post focuses on me, then I have a deep spiritual problem.  You see, it's not about me.  It's all about Jesus.  The more I place myself in the spotlight, the more off-track I am spiritually.  Our perspective must be the same as John the Baptist - Jesus must increase and I must decrease.

Comments

Chuck said…
I wholeheartedly AGREE! I just wish I had the guts to post this on my facebook page... Alas, I do not~ simply because I would alienate so many people, including my kids, my family, good friends, and those to whom I am sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. It would also make me look like a goody-two-shoes!! But thank you for reinforcing the Biblical principle of humility for me~ Your blog speaks volumes!
January 26, 2015 at 3:19 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Families' Fridays

Starting a Family Devotion Time by Michael Kelley I haven’t always been a family devotion guy. It’s not because I didn’t want or aspire to be, I honestly did. But we went a long time as a family before pulling the trigger and trying to integrate this practice into the regular rhythm of our family life.  We’ve been doing morning devotions together for about five years now – long enough to where our kids expect that we will. It’s a long road, as are most things with young children I’m finding out. Though revival doesn’t break out every morning over eggs and toast, our continued hope and prayer is that times like these build into the love and discipline our children will have in the future when it comes to God’s Word.  Through those five years, we’ve tried different things, failed at a bunch, and have learned some things along the way. So, as encouragement to those of you just starting out or maybe some affirmation for those of you already in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why is no one trying to be like John the Baptist?

This Sunday morning the sermon was taken from John 3:22-36.  In that passage, two of the disciples of John come to him with the report that Jesus was now baptizing more people than John.  John's response is one of the most humble in all of Scripture.  It was in reading that response that a thought occurred to me.  With all the leadership and ministry books out there, why do we not have people picking up on the ministry style of John the Baptist?  Maybe I am a little cynical, but I guy who gets his head chopped off might be a bit of a tough sell in our success-driven marketplace.  Can you imagine the title?  "Five Easy Steps to Losing Your Head." I can't imagine that book making it on the Christian bestsellers list. Yet John the Baptist is a great example to those of us in ministry.  His clarity about his own place and role in the ministry are worthy of emulation.  Here are some of the observations I made as I looked at his response to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Oops!

I can be a real klutz.  I have very few manual skills and I never grew out of the "tripping over my own feet" stage of life.  I have fumbled and dropped more than my fair share of balls. In other words, "oops" has been a regular part of my vocabulary. It is not only in the physical world that I have fumbled things.  I have messed up relationships.  I have prejudged people before ever getting to know them.  I have used and abused those who love me most in this world.  I have failed and sinned my way into more than one tight corner and created untold disasters.  Oops is not even sufficient for the ways that I have blown it. Perhaps that is why something Paul, our worship leader last Sunday, said resonated so deeply with me this week.  He said "Oops is never said in heaven."  Our God never is clumsy.  He never makes mistakes. His plans never go belly-up.  He never fails.  He never ever has to say oops - and that comforts me.
Post a Comment
Read more