No Place for Narcissism

I am meeting with the Lord in the Gospel of Mark these days, and as Jesus and I were having coffee this morning my attention was arrested by the words of one commentator regarding John the Baptist in the opening verses of Mark, chapter one:

"Most of us find it difficult to identify with John the Baptist. He cuts directly across the grain of self-interest and the glamor of being Number One that continues to plague us. Think of it. If you were asked to choose the dominant symbol of our generation, what would it be? A flag, a cross, a missile, a television antenna, a dollar sign, a test tube, an oil barrel, a bloated belly, a handgun, an automobile, a peace symbol? My choice would be the sight of a forefinger pointed into the air and accompanied by the chant, 'We're number one.' The symbol, of course, comes from the world of sports, where winning has come dangerously close to being everything. More than a game is at stake in the symbol. Number One has come to symbolize the personal and national self-interest of the 'me' generation. Christopher Lasch sees these tendencies as self-destructive in his book, The Cult of Narcissism."

Oh Beloved, let us not allow any hint of narcissism to worm its way into our lives or ministries. Let us ask God to give us His grace and His healing that we might be so whole and holy that like John the Baptist the only One we point people to is Jesus Christ. Let Jesus be the only One we draw attention to in the ARC and at The Master's Institute; and let us be courageous enough to acknowledge where we need God's healing touch in our lives so that we are free of any need to draw attention to ourselves whatsoever. Let us refuse to rationalize and justify with spiritual words, a hidden desire to be the one to whom others are drawn to. Where we have an unwholesome, unmet need for validation, affirmation, and significance, let us ask God to bring healing and freedom so we are whole and holy enough to point other people to the One who can truly set them free - Jesus Christ.

There is no room in the ARC or in The Master's Institute for anything less. So, Beloved, have the courage today to pray the prayer David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, and wherever God may show you some "grievous way" in you, find someone you trust, find someone who for you is a "safe place," find someone who will give you mature, godly counsel, not counsel that calms your itching ears, so that you can submit yourself to a work of God in you that brings healing, freedom and further maturity in your life.

In the end may it be said of the ARC and of The Master's Institute: They always pointed us toward Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

Keep on Praying and Don't Lose Heart

I'm in Orange, CA, having my coffeetime with Jesus in the home of good friend, Tom Brashears. Though the coffee I made in a coffee maker with which I'm not familiar was rather weak, Jesus was not offended.

In addition to Scripture, I am reading Pete Grieg's book, God on Mute, these days. In it this morning, I read a passage that took me back to God's word, to the opening lines of chapter 18 in the gospel of Luke: "And he (Jesus) told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."

Perhaps some of you, like me, are praying for family members or friends and have not yet seen the answers to our prayers. The words of Jesus and Grieg this morning encourage me to keep on praying. I hope they will encourage you to do the same. Grieg writes the following:

"Ultimately, it is the power of influence that shapes and changes lives. When we begin to see prayer-power as a model of relational influence within people's lives rather than an impersonal control-mechanism over them, we begin to sense the importance of perseverance in prayer and of allowing the Holy Spirit to guide the way we pray for a person or community over a protracted period of time.

Some of our prayers aren't yet answered because they are working gradually and not as an impersonal mechanism of forced control.

We can't change people's minds in prayer as if they were remote-control cars or computers waiting to be hacked. But maybe we can influence their circumstances so as to soften their hearts. In prayer, we appeal to the gentleness of Christ's nature as well as His power and engage with the complex free will of people He loves. That's why prayers for people generally work slowly, like water seeping silently into the tiny cracks of a vast boulder. For a long time, nothing may appear to have changed. Our prayers, resembling mere dribbles of water, appear to be of an entirely different nature than the substance of the rock. But then there comes the first great freeze of winter-some circumstance beyond human control-and overnight, as if by magic, as if struck by lightning, that vast boulder splits open.

In prayer, we may partner with God to influence a person's environment and experiences (and if the person's free will is already inclined toward God, our prayers will effect a change much more quickly than in those whose hearts are hard). However, we cannot make a person do anything that he or she doesn't want to do."