A Crash of Selfishness

 

“The DNA of sin is selfishness. Sin inserts me into the middle of my universe; the one place reserved for God and God alone. Sin reduces my field of concern down to my wants, my needs, and my feelings. Sin really does make it all about me.”  Paul Tripp

 
  It’s a scene so shocking that you may want to Google it to see it for yourself. As this year’s bicyclists in the Tour de France started off, a self-absorbed fan attempting to pose for the TV cameras caused a horrible crash that plunged the first stage of the Tour de France into chaos.
  The disastrous crash was caused by a woman standing on the roadside of the Tour’s opening stage. To make sure that she was on TV, she stepped in front of the racing pack holding a cardboard sign, displaying a message for the cameras. With one foot on the road and her cardboard sign encouraging riders to “Go!” hanging out onto the course, the spectator’s head was turned in the opposite direction of the cyclists when disaster struck.
  Her sign was in the direct path of the first cyclist, German rider, Tony Martin, who was cycling near the head of the pack. He fell, which led to the subsequent crash of dozens of riders behind him. Cyclists then began to fall en masse as the crash left bikes and bodies tangled in the road. The crash held the race up for several minutes. Multiple bikes were damaged as a result of the crash but the injury toll to riders wasn’t immediately clear.
  Later a bloodied Tony Martin returned to the race but Jasha Sutterlin of Germany reportedly withdrew because of the crash. All because one spectator wanted her 15 seconds of fame – the high price of selfishness.
  Behind nearly every marital fight is selfishness. Why do children squabble? Selfishness. At the root of every church split, you’ll find selfishness. The cancer that steals our joy is selfishness. Yet, selfishness is encouraged and applauded in a selfie world. It hides behind phrases like, “I need me time” or “I’ve got to take care of myself.”
  Our sin-contaminated world applauds self-idolization. We pose for selfies, edit our images, and self-promote the best parts of our lives. We post selfies to get “likes” and admiration, while the time we spend thinking of ourselves grows like an out-of-control noxious weed. Our selfies scream, “Look at me! Look at what I’m doing! Look at what I have!”
  Our sin nature feeds our selfish passions. We improve our looks. We do more document-worthy stuff. We acquire more things to “snap” and “share.” While we may not be famous on Instagram, most of us think of ourselves far too much. Scrolling through or actively posting to social media adds to such overthinking. The less we guard ourselves in a selfie world, the more we turn the lens of our hearts inward. It’s our story that matters – our needs, wants, and desires. Yet, the selfish person struggles with insecurity and is often overwhelmed with doubt. Selfishness starves our souls, contaminates our lives with unhappiness and even anger, when “I” don’t have my needs met.
  Apart from the power of the Gospel, it’s difficult to be selfless. Even when we’re caring for others, there’s a voice inside whispering, “I hope others are watching to see how much I care.” It’s only when we know the sacrificial Savior that we can truly have victory over being self-absorbed.
  How can we have victory over selfishness? The answer is love. The greatest commandments are the foundation for all Christian ethics and for the Christian life: “And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matt. 22:37-40).
  As we devote ourselves to loving God and loving our neighbors, we turn our attention away from inside of ourselves. This call to love is fundamental, demanding, and only possible for those who have been born again by the Spirit of God because God is love. Love requires selflessness. Though it seems counterintuitive, it’s only as we love God and others that we have joy, peace and contentment. Those are never found in self-love. How do we demonstrate the distinctiveness of Christian love?
  Love values the other person. Each person we meet is Imago Dei, thus we don’t confuse love with the counterfeits of lust, sentimentality, or self-gratification. While love includes wonderful, warm feelings, it’s much more than a feeling. Love is a decision. We choose to love. God loved us not because we had something to offer Him, but rather because He had something to offer us. “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God chose to love us so that He could demonstrate His mercy to us in the person of His Son.
  Love is vulnerable to the other. Love opens up its life to another person. It breaks down barriers and exposes the heart. Selfless love is the most costly investment you will ever make.
  C. S. Lewis, in The Four Loves, describes the vulnerable nature of love, “To love is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries. Avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket - safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken. Instead, it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
  Love is costly. It takes risks and goes out on a limb. Love makes a statement and leaves a legacy. It does the unexpected, surprising, and stirring. It performs acts that steal the heart and leaves an impression on the soul. Often these acts are never forgotten.
  A little girl named Liz was suffering from a rare life-threatening disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had somehow survived the same disease but had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother and asked the little boy if he’d be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes, I’ll do it if it will save her.”
  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then, his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away?” The little boy had misunderstood the doctor. He thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her. That’s love. Love is selfless and sacrificial. As someone insightfully wrote: “Nothing is more a contradiction than to profess to be a Christian and live for oneself.”

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