Me, Myself, and I

One scene from a mall included a pet shop window and a new litter of puppies. The crowds stood viewing the precious little creatures as they huddled together. One lady remarked, "What a delightful picture of brotherhood! They're keeping each other warm!" The man next to her replied, "No ma'am, they're not keep eaching other warm -- they are keeping themselves warm." ~ Today in the Word, February, 1991, p. 20.

The twenty-first century is the age of "Me." So much so that you have atheletes famous for statements like, "I love me some me!" You have couples divorcing because they are first and their partner is not likely even second. You have churches splitting because it is more popular to have an opinion that it is to be obedient. You have a nation crumbling from the foundation because it is no longer about sacrifice, but rather, individual rights.

Someone has said that the problem with most self-made men is that they worship their creator. How often, then, does it appear to us that we are helping others when we are really just helping ourselves. Like the puppies, it may seem to some less observant that our activity is beneficial to others. But if we are self-centered, warming ourselves, we may only being helping others by accident.

Resources tells the following story:
When Roy DeLamotte was chaplain at Paine College in Georgia, he preached the shortest sermon in the college's history. However, he had a rather long topic: "What does Christ Answer When We Ask, 'Lord, What's in Religion for Me?"' The complete content of his sermon was in one word: "Nothing." He later explained that the one-word sermon was meant for people brought up on the 'gimme-gimme' gospel. When asked how long it took him to prepare the message, he said, "Twenty years."

Julian Huxley, an evolutionary humanist, said this in his own work, Religion without Revelation, pg. 194: "Man's most sacred duty and at the same time his most glorious opportunity, is to promote the maximum fulfillment of the evolutionary process on this earth; and this includes the fullest realization of his own inherent possibilities." He managed to do it, didn't he? He was able to come up with a theory that is perhaps the furthest possible distance from the attitude of Jesus Christ.

When we promote ourselves we need to realize what else we are promoting. Our Savior has already shown us that true happiness and contentment can only be found in self-denial and sacrifice.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.'" ~ Matthew 16:24