Self: Selfish

Self: Selfish

Touching in Church
What is all this touching in church? It used to be a person could come to church and sit in the pew and not be bothered by all this friendliness and certainly not by touching.
I used to come to church and leave untouched. Now I have to be nervous about what is expected of me. I have to worry about responding to the person sitting next to me.
Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be; I could just ask the person next to me, "How are you?" And the person could answer, "Oh, just fine." And we would both go home...strangers who have known each other for 20 years.
But now the minister asks us to look at each other. I am worried about that hurt look I saw in that woman's eyes.
Now I am upset because the lady next to me cried and then apologized and said it was because I was so kind and that she needed a friend right now. Now I have to get involved. Now I have to suffer when this community suffers. Now I have to be more than a person coming to observe a service.
That man last week told me I had never known how much I had touched his life. All I did was smile and tell him I understood what it was to be lonely.
Lord, I am not big enough to touch and be touched. The stretching scares me. What if I disappoint somebody? What if I am too pushy? What if I cling too much? What if somebody ignores me?
O Lord, be here beside me. You touch me, Lord, so that I can touch and be touched. So that I can care and be cared for. So that I can share my life with all those others that belong to you. All this touching in church, Lord, it is changing me!

Life and Self
During a Peter, Paul and Mary concert, in the middle of a comic skit, Paul made an insightful and disturbing observation. In the 50s there was a magazine called Life. Then came People magazine. Now we have one called Us. What next? A magazine called Me? And now there actually is a magazine called Self. How indicative and indicting of a world infatuated and preoccupied with self. How contrary to the example and lifegiving principles of the Christ. He came to bring life. He revealed and demonstrated the principles of life. He clearly taught that life is not to be found in living for self, but rather in GIVING OF SELF in the service of God and others! He said in Luke 9:23-25
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?"
Happiness is not found in the pursuit of happiness. Life is not found in the pursuit of life. Both are found in a pursuit of God and His righteousness. As Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matthew 5:6). The end of our current emphasis on SELF is not life, but disappointment and ultimately death! If we would discover TRUE LIFE, then we must pursue the things of God and the spirit! "...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Rivalry in God's Family
Jay E. Adams writes that under the roof in his back yard hangs a hummingbird feeder that he keeps filled with sugar water. There are four openings in it from which birds may suck the nectar. Yet, day after day, from early morning until after dusk, the feeder is the source of their own private version of star wars. One bird chases all the others away.
"As I said," Adams writes, "there is room for four birds at a time, and fully that number attempt to feed. But the top dog (excuse my use of this metaphor for a hummingbird!), who now 'owns'the feeder, will not let them. All day long he sits on the branch of a nearby apricot tree guarding 'his'feeder and defying others to transgress on what he has established as 'his'territory.
"This ongoing slice of life confronts us throughout the day as green and red Annas hummers streak across the yard, the king hummer in hot pursuit of an intruder. While the chase is on, others sneak a sip or two, only to be driven off when he returns.
"The whole business has become a sort of parable for our family. Here is an example of grace: I bought the feeder; I supply the sugar water. The birds do not earn it; they receive it all gratis. Yet, day after day, they fight over who may enjoy it.
"How like the people of God! All we have or are that is worthwhile is the gift of God's pure grace. And yet we are proud, self-centered, envious, and quarrelsome. Often we fight over God's good gifts rather than expressing our gratitude in humility and sharing what we have been given with others. Just as I am confronted daily with rivalry in my yard, even so God is confronted daily with rivalry in His."

Taking and Receiving
"It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
There is an old story that goes like this:
An unusual tree grew outside the gates of a desert city in the Middle East. It was an old tree, a landmark as a matter of fact. It seemed to have been touched by the finger of God, for it bore fruit perpetually. Despite its old age, its limbs were constantly laden with fruit. Hundreds of passersby refreshed themselves from the tree as it never failed to give freely.
But then a greedy merchant purchased the property on which the tree grew. He saw hundreds of travelers "robbing" his tree, and he built a high fence around it. Travelers pleaded, "Share with us." The merchant quoted in return, "It is my tree, my fruit, bought with my money." And a strange thing happened: the old tree died! What had happened? The law of giving, as predictable as the law of gravity, had expressed its immutable principle: when a tree stops giving, it stops bearing, and it dies.
Yes, this story illustrates well the law of give-and-receive. And when I think of how much I take from God's world, I bow in guilt at how little I give to His work. "But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly" (2 Corinthians 9:6). The Bare Facts
One night two friends were camping out in the deep woods on a warm summer's night. Suddenly, their sleep was abruptly interrupted by a large furry visitor. A huge black bear began to tear through their camp, crushing supplies, throwing backpacks, and scaring the two men half to death. Thinking quickly, one of the men began to lace up his sneakers for a quick getaway. "You will never outrun that bear!" his friend yelled. To this he replied, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"
Jesus taught us to put others first. His very actions and dealings with the beggars, the lepers, and thieves showed that He had compassion for the lowly. So the next time you have trouble with your brother remember the following:
"The world measures a man's greatness by the number who serve him. Heaven's yardstick measures a man by the number who are served by him."

Ruined by Selfishness
A farmer inherited a rice field. The first year, the water covered his land so well that he had an abundant harvest. In fact, it even overflowed into his neighbor's field, making it fertile also. But he began to fret because his neighbor's field became as productive as his own. He decided that the water was part of his inheritance and belonged exclusively to him, so he cut it off from his neighbor's field the next year. The result? His own field was flooded and his crop ruined.

Refusal to Face Reality
When Marie Antoinette came to Paris as a bride, not a single ragged or starving person appeared on the streets along which the splendid procession passed. France was seething with discontent at the time, born of dire poverty-a discontent that was later to break out in the horrors of the Revolution-but Marie Antoinette was not to know anything about that. So the poor starving populace were swept into the side streets where they could not be seen and kept penned up there so that Marie Antoinette might think all was happy and prosperous in Paris. But an optimism based on ignorance is not optimism at all. An optimism gained by a refusal to face the facts is deliberate self-deception. Fear to face reality stems from fear of the sacrifice and labor of love that may be involved. Selfishness turns away its face from the sorrows, shames, and failures of others. But love dares to look at the head bowed with grief and the face paled with suffering.