Tag Archives: Church

The Christian Selfie – As followers of the Christ, what are we to say about selfies?

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The Christian Selfie

sel·fie /ˈselfē/ noun INFORMAL a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.

I Love Me!  Look at Me!

As followers of the Christ, what are we to say about selfies?

Jesus tells us “Happy are people who are humble, because they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5

So what about Selfies?  Why do we do it?  Is it a way we share, or is it a way to get attention?  Is it a way for us to boast about ‘us?’  What could possibly be wrong with them?  Selfies bring people together right! It’s a way to stay in touch.    What did Christ do when the attention was on him?  In Mark 10, when someone called Christ ‘good,’ Jesus responded that no one is good except God his Father.  When someone calls us good, do we point to God?   Do we say, we have no ability to boast, and give God credit for us? Like most social behavior, the Christ-follower is to resemble the life of Christ.

So what about selfies?

“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
-Matthew 23:2-12

Matthew 6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Beyond the Selfie

What is behind the selfie? Are selfies an expression of pride?  Maybe.  Is the rest of our life self-centered as well? Or do we think about other’s more than ourselves as Christ directs us to in Matthew 23?  Do we act with pride in other areas of our lives?   Or does our speech and actions express Christian humility?  If our social media is full of self-pride instead, then our selfies are a continuation of a self-serving life and serve only to boast about us.

None of us are superhuman.  If we are ‘awesome’ ‘great’ ‘successful’, we are only because God lets us be.  Psalm 144:4 says that man is like a breath on this earth.  Our life is temporal.

So are selfies bad?   I venture that all depends on our motive and to whom we genually are boasting about not only online, but in real life as well.

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Steven Davis is a recovering social worker, well-done preacher’s kid, musician, and media producer.

 

It is God who adds to the church, not church marketing

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I recently received an invitation to a church in our area.  It was a very nice postcard that told me a lot of info about the church.  It even had a little map of where the church is located. And then I saw it, the part that read, ‘Bring this card for a free gift.’  It was the one piece of info that didn’t fit.  I really liked the card, and may even swing by there, but not because I want a free gift.   And not to belabor the point or beat it to death, but shouldn’t it be Christ and his message, the one sustaining Hope for our lives that draws people to church?  I have no idea what the free gift is, but I can only imagine it’s a welcome packet.   But my mind instantly goes to the proverbial used car salesman that sends out a coupon for a hundred bucks off a car that is already a hundred dollars too much – gimmick.  Is it the consumer mentality of church folk that requires church meetings to give out gifts so we’ll show up. Since I’m not a non-believer, I can’t really know what a free gift would impress on me. No idea.

 

The Standard

“Acts 2:47 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

In the book of Acts, when the church family met from house to house, breaking bread, people were saved and this is how God added numbers to His church. What’s interesting about this scripture is the ‘method’ if you will that Acts presents. It was a fellowship of people in their own houses that connected the church to new folk and increased the numbers in the church. This is more of a humble approach that is people-to-people and not one person to many.

As the church flock, we think it’s only the pastor’s job to get more people in the church. We interact as consumers of church stuff.

In large part, this is a by-product of the spectator church. Folk go to church once or twice a week, pay something in the offering plate (or not) and then go on about their week knowing they’ve paid their dues. Just like traffic court (not confessing I have any experience with traffic court), people go because they feel they have to go, they spend an hour or more a week, then they go on about their week. We think the pastor is a superhero with multiple selves that can do it all. So we don’t invite anyone to church, because after all, the pastor is getting paid, that’s his job eh? Our job is to attend. Or at least that’s what the spectator church is all about. And when the pastor asks for help, we immediately catalog all the things we have to do every week, and we just don’t have time for midweek church stuff. We are super busy.

The world is searching for one thing, Hope. And it’s more than fellowship because the bars have fellowship covered. There’s little in terms of entertainment or fellowship the church meeting can compete with. The difference in the church meeting fellowship is Message. A message of Jesus Christ and his salvation. That is the only difference between church meeting fellowship and let’s say a Moose Lodge.

So what should the church look like? If we take away from Acts that it is regular folk to connect other folks with the message of Jesus, then a humble fellowship where we realize that we are willing to help each other is closer to the church in Acts than a bunch of people sitting in seats once a week.

 

 

About the author: Steven Davis is well-done preacher’s kid, recovering social worker, musician, and media producer.