I have been reading a book by Donald Miller called "Searching for God knows What" (I highly recommend) and he introduced me to a new idea I hadn't though of before. Miller claimed that our entire lives are centered around the need to impress others. I would agree. Pretty much everything we say or do is aimed at impressing, often leading us to never really be who we were created to be.
Ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, we have somehow got in our head the idea that some things and some people are better than some other things and other people. This is reflected in the clothes we wear, the way we talk, the cars we drive, etc. If you really think about it like I have, we see that our entire existence is shallow, superficial, and aimed at impressing.
Even our best of intentions often end up tainted. Take for example this morning in my own life. I was supposed to teach a class for someone who was out of town and I completely spaced this off and was not there. When I finally realized my blunder, I was TICKED! I was throwing my hat and storming around my office and making a huge scene (luckily no one else was around). And then this thought floated through my mind: "It would have been great for the people in that class to see how good I teach." It wasn't, "I could have really helped them get closer to God." It was selfish. It was aimed to impress. Even with the best intentions in mind, we can still have a screwed up way of thinking.
So how do we fix this problem, you might be asking? The first step is to recognize there is a problem and start catching yourself in the act. Start recognizing when you are being selfish and wanting attention through what you are doing or saying or wearing. When you start realizing there is a problem, then start cutting down the number of times in a day when this selfishness surfaces. Be okay with who you are. Let me tell you what I do know: God loves each of His creations equally and loves you enough as an individual to send His son to die on a cross. LOVE YOURSELF!! GOD DOES!!
Let me know what you think about this problem we have and let's work to improve ourselves together as a team.
Jason "Glory Hog" Bowker
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