Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

This verse seems more contemporary all the time, with people talking about “finding themselves” and having “me time.” The Japanese translation of this verse is helpful here. It says, “Whoever considers his life his own will lose it.” Narcissism has been around a long time, even if it is remarkably in evidence these days. It’s not that we aren’t to take care of ourselves, physically and emotionally, but that we are using borrowed property. Japanese has completely different words for “life” as in the way we live, lifestyle, and “life” in a biological sense. Here, it is biological life. Jesus isn’t talking about a change in your schedule, He’s talking about martyrdom! Very few Americans are faced with that sort of choice today, but the pace of people being killed simply because they claim Jesus as Lord is picking up around the world, so this is not some casual issue. Even in America the examples are increasing almost daily of people losing their livelihood or even their freedom because of their refusal to abandon Biblical principles. When we are focused on “ME,” after a while we discover we have nothing left. Jesus is saying that when we keep Him as Lord indeed, first in value, first in priority, first in obedience, then we lay firm hold on the eternal life that He has prepared for us, the life that is ours indeed and can never be taken from us.

As a child I knew about martyrs, but had the image of that being mostly in the early church. However, during my lifetime, which is to say, since WWII, the graph of people being martyred for their faith has looked rather like a ski jump, and courtesy of the Internet, I am more aware of it than I ever could have been before. That awareness should protect me from narcissism! However, society seems to teach us we should be narcissistic, and I deal with many who have been infected. Sometimes I even want to slap them and tell them to “get a life,” but that would be counterproductive, not to mention hardly Christlike. I am to speak the truth in love, which will sometimes mean speaking very strongly, and leave the results to God. I have had people leave this church because of my refusal to feed their narcissism. I am to teach people that they are indeed enormously valuable in God’s eyes, but that at the same time it’s not about them, but about God. I know from experience that I don’t have the wisdom to get that across by myself, so I’ve got to stay yielded and obedient to the Holy Spirit for Him to do it through me.

Father, Your timing is amazing! Thank you for the call that came in even as I was writing this, about someone who is in just such a self-centered trap. I ask for Your wisdom, for clear guidance as I minister to them, that they may stop trying to run their own life, since they obviously are making a mess of it, and genuinely yield it to You so that You may give them back the life they need, instead of the life they imagine, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!