I Am Not An "Important Person"

In the 1950's, thousands of teenagers were asked if their reaction to the statement, "I am an important person." 12% agreed. In the 1980's thousands of teenager were given the same statement. This time roughly 80% agreed. (Read an excerpt of the study HERE.)

Should we call this a boost in self-esteem or the rise of narcissism?

We are valuable because we are made in the image of God. When we are in Christ, we are part of God's single, sovereign, saving plan for the whole world...and that gives meaning and significance to our individual moments. The BIG story gives importance to our little stories. 

BUT...does that mean we should "think more highly of ourselves than we ought"?

Why do so many Christian leaders dismiss criticism by claiming that they've "got to stay true to their call"? Is that confidence or arrogance? When we ignore our critics it's often because we are defending our crown; when Jesus remained silent before His accusers He was embracing the cross. When you face criticism, it's not a chance to display your self-assurance; it's an opportunity to embrace self-denial. 

The only way to resurrection is death. The only way to become fully alive in the image of God is to die to our self-made image of importance.

I am not an important person in and of myself. My value comes from the imago dei, and from being in Christ, and because by God's grace I am caught up in an important Story. But the Main Character in that Story-- indeed, the Writer, the Director, and the Main Actor-- is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The greatness, the importance, the significance is "from God and not from us." (2 Cor. 4:7)

Comments

[David Works]

Looking at the cultural history of the USA from 1963 to 1975 is interesting and revealing. November 1963 was the assassination of JFK which started a lot of Americans wondering what path we were on. We then had the unpopular war in Vietnam which spawned the Peace Movement and the Generation Gap. Toss in the emergence of the Pill with the ensuing Sexual Revolution. Add in Watergate which culminated in the resignation of a President in 1974. Lastly, Saigon fell in April, 1975. No longer could one trust the government, their parents, the church was silent (or more worried about rock n' roll than any of the above), the "Establishment", or any other authority figures. They all let us down. Remember the bumper sticker - "Question Authority"? They gave us what we felt were good reasons to distrust them. If you can't trust them, who you gonna trust?

No surprise then that by the end of the 70s one of the most popular books was "Looking Out For #1".

Former dissidents discovered Wall Street, one segment of the church became ingrown with concern over spiritual gifts and prosperity, after a swing to the left, the country swung greatly to the right because we wanted the government off the backs of the people so we could be more "free" - to pursue what we wanted to do.

So, we need to blame the government, our parents, the universities, the "system", Wall Street and the church, don't we? No, because those are excuses and smokescreens. It is simply the human condition, what we used to call "original sin" or the fall of man.

[Mary Morin]

It is really sad how many people have embraced a persona of being okay, cool and important, to hide their smallness, selfishness, and fear. Such great insecurity fills the soul of humanity, and the hearts of many, many people in the Church. Avoidance of more pain, terror of being exposed all cause people to act like dufuses - from the prez and kings to the smallest of the small - and again, the Church is full of people who try to love God, but have not connected with His love for them, which is where it all starts. And as they are trained through relationship/encounter/intimacy/surrender/obedience/beholding/experience with Him, they loose their little death grip on their fragile ego, and all their idols and props and masks, the walls come down. Through that and other suffering, the stony heart is pummeled into one of flesh, and He drills down deep to bring out rivers of living water. Beautiful system. And then, we see that we really were His desire all along - His lover, His favorite, created and designed to sit with Him and rule, to be His wife, and now to serve the people of Earth on the planet He has given as a bridal-gift - until He returns. In the intimate union of ourselves with Him, we come to see that He made us to share (John 17) glory with Him all along, and it is no longer about us being King - because we are Queen! Hahahahahahahahahaha!

[Daniel T.]

Glenn,
Enjoyed your post. I would agree that most of us have a tendancy to see ourselves with an overinflated or at least misplaced sense of our "role in the play". Wouldn't you also say though that with this phenomenon of the "important population" we also have a much larger pool of critics? These days it seems that so many want to give advice or suggest how things should or shouldn't be run when, at times, it's not our role or even close to being within our realm of influence. Just seems that we should also focus on looking for critics that are looking to challenge and encourage rather than lecture and condemn.

[Cameron Schaefer]

Maybe it's the dreary weather, but I feel like a lot of the Northwest church folk (could be Acts 29 network influence) don't struggle with this as much, at least not to the same extent that I've seen in other geographies of America. In our church it's very common for the leadership to confess their sins to the congregation, not Michael Scott-style either, ie "I love too much, work too hard, etc."

I think there is a dose of humility and a celebration of human frailty up in the PNW, at least in certain circles, that isn't found in too many other places. It makes the Gospel even more sweet because as we realize how rotten we are the grace of Jesus becomes all the more sharp in contrast...hi-def?

[Cameron Schaefer]

Of course now that I've said we don't struggle with it as much I now feel the need to be more on guard against my own narcissism, hah! I confess to readers of Glenn's blog I'm a selfish, sarcastic, greedy jerk who is constantly amazed that Christ wants anything to do with me. There, much better.

[Collin]

Haha, Cameron, nice save!

[John Crist]

well said glenn.