By: Casey Zachary

Prior to Rene Descartes, the jumping off point for philosophical questions began with God. Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” shifted this dramatically (within the framework of Western thought) to beginning these questions with “self.” Cultural gravity has brought us to the place we now find ourselves.

One of my professors used to tell us that narcissism was the logical conclusion to the post modern culture. Seems he was right. The dictionary defines narcissism as “inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self love; vanity.” Sadly, Christians do not appear to be immune to this trend. I must admit, I often succumb to it myself. It is right and good to examine my heart. Scripture unequivocally demands that I examine and confess the sin in my heart.

But there comes a point when self examination turns in upon itself. There is a time when over analyzing the motives of my heart paralyzes me from doing anything productive for the Kingdom of God. There are instances when my best intentions of trying to figure out what is going on inside of me go awry. These occasions occur when “self” replaces “Christ” as my underlying passion and joy. They occur when I focus on my weaknesses rather than His strengths. They occur when I mistakenly look within myself to find the spiritual help I need instead of searching the Scriptures. When they occur, these times are characterized by ungratefulness and isolation.

My excessive introspection is done under the guise of trying to become a better Christian, but too often the reality is I have an “inordinate fascination with myself.” As I said before, Christian believers must turn inward to examine their hearts at times, but that is not an end to itself in seeking spiritual growth and maturity. If this is all we ever do, then we will get to the point where, whichever direction we look, all we will see is ourselves. This is not the way it is supposed to be. Our hearts are meant to be turned outward, and the Spirit of God works in us to this end.

These thoughts have been fresh on my mind in recent days as I’ve picked up the book Good News for Anxious Christians by Phillip Cary.

On page 33 he writes, “Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17), the gospel that comes to us from outside our own hearts. So we won’t find Christ by looking inside our hearts, even though Christ dwells within our hearts. And in the same way, we won’t find the Spirit by looking inside our own hearts, even though the Spirit is at work in our hearts. For the work of the Spirit in us, like the life of Christ in us, directs our attention outward, away from our hearts. Christ in me is not about me. The Spirit at work in me is not about me.”

I think that when I allow God to turn my heart outward and focus on others, focus on Christ revealed in Scripture, focus on the fact that the Spirit of God is alive and working in the world today, then I will worship God based on who He is rather than how I feel.