In the middle of January, I began studying an ethic called Egoism. Egoism basically states that we as humans will ALWAYS do what is best for us. There is no such thing as doing good to, or for, others because, in theory, we want something back from them. Wanting something back can be anything from material goods, friendship, or even a hope that they might see the person doing good as a "good person." As I studied this a bit, I sat and observed those around me...and watched myself even closer.
Ever since I started observing, I noticed that the scariest thing about this theory is that I noticed myself and many other Christians thinking they can manipulate God. I started to realize that sometimes I would pray, alone or by myself, hoping that God would give me the comfort I need, make my engagement stay so amazing, etc. Now, I must say, God does do those things but I believe when we have the lenses on to look at ourselves and benefit ourselves instead of our eyes to God, then we are egoists manipulating God.
In a recent sermon, JR Vassar explains how we lie to ourselves and to God so often to try to look good for others. He explains a lot of this comes from our high view of self-importance. He gives an illustration about this. He said, "Everytime any of us bought a yearbook, what was the first thing we did? We flipped back to the index, found our name, and turned straight to our own picture." So true!!!
I believe our lives are still like this, I know mine is. This egoism theory really jacked me up because, as I watched myself closely, a lot of what I do is secretly for approval. I noticed we seek God's approval buy manipulating Him, we seek others approval by veiling our sin by pretending we have it all together while easily noticing others sin. A friend once told me, "if you can pinpoint a person's sin that they are trying to hide, you can be sure that you have done the same and that is why it upsets you so much at what they are doing.
I believe there is another type of egoism that I have noticed. People who deny serving others because they have an "excuse." As Christ followers, we are to love God and love others, not ourselves. This type of egoist, who serves himself/herself will work 8-12 hour days and believe serving others is not necessary because they worked a long day or something, that they have earned the right to be selfish as if their work earned them that. Christ has called us to deny ourselves DAILY. However, some believe that because they are doing so much of one thing, maybe comparing their life to another person, that they can leave the serving (whether it be praying with others, cleaning up after themselves and others, etc.) to the person who has "less going on." This is sad to see and I see it all the time in Christianity. We should consider ourselves less than the next person, no matter what the situation, social class, position, etc.
Here is the application I have got from all of my observing. If we have trusted in Christ, than it is no longer us who live but Christ who lives in us (Gal. 2:20). 1 Cor. 6:19-20 talks about our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit, we are not our own anymore, SO GLORIFY GOD with your body. This is not something, if you come to the realization that you ARE an egoist, that you will fix the second you are done reading this. However, we must observe ourselves and yield to glorify God. I have been praying Psalm 139:23-24 for a while now, and it is amazing how wicked the Spirit reveals me to be, but that forces me to depend on God and not myself.
I hope this does not come off as harsh, but a motivator to glorify God and serve others. This theory rattled me pretty hard, but might just be the best rattling I could have gotten.
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