First Baptist Church

Narcissus was a figure from Greek mythology who continually gazed at his reflection in a pool of water. Warren McWilliams, in his book Christ and Narcissus: Prayer in a Self-Centered World says, “Narcissism has become a convenient label for excessive self-love and preoccupation with self. Although narcissism may characterize humanity throughout all its history, many analysts of culture have noted an intensification of narcissism in our recent history.” Christians are not expected to live ascetic and miserable lives, hating themselves and purposely withholding any form of pleasure from their experience. Neither, on the opposite extreme, are they to live only for themselves and purse all things pleasurable. The reason the average person tends much more toward the pursuit of pleasure, rather than abstinence from pleasure, is because of an inherent self-love within.

When we read of the mythical character Narcissus, we can hardly keep from smiling as we consider the shear absurdity of one so vain as to stare continually at his own reflection in a pool of water, yet at the same time the ordering of our lives are more similar to this pattern of behavior than what we may care to admit.

In Luke 18 Jesus taught of two men who went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” (vs. 11-12) This highly religious man exuded pride as he mouthed these great swelling words about himself. Notice the specific wording of this verse – “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.” I thought prayer was supposed to be man talking to God? Clearly this man was only talking with himself and not with God; stroking his ego and in a sort of pitiful way staring at his reflection in a pool of water and admiring what he saw!

Jesus continues in verse 13 by pointing to the contrast between this Pharisee and a mere tax collector who has hated by all. “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breasts, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner!” Jesus affirms this man by saying in verse 14, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

We are quick to condemn the Pharisee who is the obvious villain and praise the tax collector, who is the obvious hero in this account however we may be shocked to learn that most of our prayers would be more akin to the prayer of the Pharisee! Many of our prayers are completely devoid of humility but are instead permeated with an heir of privilege which we somehow feel we deserve.

In the model prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples, there are certain portions which we readily identify with and other portions we sort of gloss over. The prayer begins, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Mat. 9b-10) If we were called upon to summarize prayer in one word, more than likely, that word would be “asking.” Yet, the model prayer beings with rich, full language about the transcendence of God, the hallowed or reverent nature of His name, His Kingdom objectives, and His will and purposes in both the heavenly and earthly realms. Only then is there a movement to “asking” on the part of man. And the pattern would seem to indicate that man asks not for the out-of-reach but rather the basics, knowing his very life and sustenance is wholly dependent upon God.

Next there is a plea for one to have the right heart regarding forgiving others, informed by the fact that we ourselves have been forgiven. Next there is a plea that we will be able to stand strong against certain temptations, and a plea that we might be protected from Satan (the evil one). The prayer closes with again bringing the focus back around to God when it says, “For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” (the latter part of vs. 13).

The prayers of mankind, in our present day, tend to be much more focused on ourselves than on God or His Kingdom. Are you able to honestly say that when you pray, you are truly seeking God’s will above all else, or is it that you are secretly hoping that what you already want is what God might confirm to you? Often, what we desire is God’s desire if we are living in right relationship to Him, however we must be careful here. Many lost persons have told me they thought they knew and understood God’s will concerning some matter. Their only real motive in believing this was due to the fact that they were clear on what they wanted and God, essentially was just along for the ride. It was/is a terrible twisting of God’s intent. God must be in the driver’s seat and we must ride where He takes us and not the other way around.

Human beings have an insatiable love for themselves which is often way more than it ought to be. To have self-esteem and a measure of pride is quite healthy, but all-too-often we are legends in our own minds and heroes that we believe God ought to be proud to have. Like Narcissus, we cannot take our eyes off ourselves long enough to even glance at God, much less focus upon Him. Surely our gracious Lord deserves more. When you pray, work at taking the focus off of yourself and just admire God for a while.

In Christ,

Pastor Allen Raynor