Death To "Selfie"

Romans 6:11 -- "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

image: inewmedia.org

It is often entertaining to sit and watch the "trending now" ticker on my Yahoo home page. Some of the stuff that makes the "most popular" list is down right funny. On the other hand, I think the topics that roll by me in succinct snipits are a telling portrait of our social society.

One thing in particular caught my eye this morning - with all sincerity and seriousness there was written a tiny little article about how to take a great "selfie". Really? That made the "news"? Forget about stock market progress, global warming, or tensions with Russia .... the important thing is that you understand how to take a great "selfie". [a selfie, for those of you who are wondering, is a photo of yourself - taken by yourself  with your cel phone.]

Doesn't that just speak volumes?

How so very often do we put ourselves down as the most important item on our list - on our personal news ticker? I know I'm certainly guilty of this behavior.

The thing is - the whole "selfie" mentality is exactly counterproductive to our mission here on earth as followers of Christ. Now, of course I'm not saying that taking a selfie for social media is evil or is somehow a sin against Jesus - I'm simply pointing out that we can often entangle ourselves deeply in things that have no true function in our goal of sharing Christ with others. In fact, we often entangle ourselves in things that are detrimental to our service for Jesus.

So, why is it so important that we learn how to take a great self-photo using our smart phones? And wouldn't is be TRULY great if when we went to take a selfie and reviewed the snapshot - we saw the face of Jesus instead of our own? Now THAT would be a great selfie!

Paul reminds us that when we accepted the saving Grace of our Lord, Jesus - we died to ourselves, to sin, to our old passions and ways of life. Instead we are vibrant, living, clean, and thriving souls with a purpose. ONE purpose. To share this vibrant life with others. Let's point our cameras outward into the world and focus on the picture that really matters.