The Perils of Self

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, (Philippians 3:03, NKJV).

Separation from the world (a circumcised heart holding on lightly to the things of this life), devotion to God from the inside out (worshiping God in spirit and truth), joy in the Lord (rejoicing in Christ Jesus), and sincere humility born of an accurate view of self (having no confidence in the flesh); that is what it means to be Christian. Its opposite is entanglement in the world, devotion to self, dedication to self, and self-confidence. Do you sense a pattern?

I think pretty highly of my self when I don't look too closely at what goes on in my will, brain and heart. Why, I can't understand why some people just don't seem to be perceptive enough to see how all my excellent qualities far outweigh my minuscule imperfections. What's up with that?

The truth is, It is impossible to really know and love Jesus without eventually obtaining a clearer picture of who you really are underneath all the trappings and casual self-deception. You can't look at Him in all His goodness, mercy and love, and then back at yourself, without doing what every other human in history has done when directly confronted with the Lord's glory: fall on your face in shame at yourself and awe of Him. If you aren't responding in that fashion, you aren't really looking. It's as simple and pathetic as that.

That's where the perils of self come into play. If you're self-absorbed, self-centered, self-justifying, and chock full of self-esteem, you are blinded to the truth of God. You are ignorant of the fact that for God to even be able to look at you, let alone allow you into His presence for all eternity, He had to send is Son, the most honorable, honest, loving, pure, brilliant, just and excellent Person to ever exist, to DIE in your place. There was no other remedy. You were/are that bad.

We humans generally pay a lot of lip service to the tragic and untimely death of good people, but we do not have a clue of what we're talking about. The single most unjust act in all the Universe was Christ's death on the Cross. He who knew no sin, became sin for us. He who was sinless and utterly innocent, died in the place of the utterly guilty: you and me. The fact that this obtained eternal life and forgiveness for those who believe does not mitigate the inherent injustice of the murder of Jesus in the slightest. That infinite good resulted was only because God ordained it so from before the foundation of the world. Otherwise, it is a wonder that the cataclysmic earthquakes, darkness and upheaval that occurred at the moment Christ laid down His life did shatter the very fabric of all space, time and matter. That, too, is God's goodness.

Self-focus blinds you to the profound nature of God becoming Man, to become you on the Cross, so that you could become like Him through faith. Self-absorption is deadly, like a man walking blithely over a cliff thinking he can float, or not even being aware of the cliff in the first place. Self-centeredness as a way of life is akin to the educated elite in the Dark Ages living as if the earth were the gravitational center of the cosmos. Once the initial premise is so egregiously wrong, everything else that follows can't possibly be right. Just look at the convoluted orbital diagrams invented from that period to explain the so-called perturbations in the various planetary orbits. Yet, once the sun was properly placed at the center, all that misunderstanding and willful misperception vanished, replaced by the elegant brilliance of modern orbital dynamics.

So it is with God's Son. When He becomes the center, everything in your life, and about your life, falls precisely into place. The light of His word illuminates your path, and causes your true helplessness and hopeless to be accurately perceived so that you come to Him, your Savior, in utmost gratitude and love, because you now know He loved you so much that He laid down His life for your sake. And in so doing, purchased you from an eternity of darkness and pain, far exceeding the shock and destruction of falling unawares from a great height.

Self-esteem is an obstacle to the proper esteem of God, your Creator and Redeemer. And of course, the temporary ruler of this world, the very Enemy of each and every unsaved soul, has influenced the world to believe that the very thing that will ensure your eternal destruction is what you most lack. There is a reason he is described as diabolical.

The cure for self-esteem, and all other perils of self, is to pursue the apostle's brief exhortation in the verse above, by becoming the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Christian: A Succinct Definition

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, (Philippians 3:3, NKJV).

This is one of the most succinct definitions of what it means to live as a Christian in the New Testament. In 22 English words it summarizes how we are to be, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Each comma-separated phrase provides a springboard into a wealth of profound revelation, and hearkens back to the beginning of redemptive history and forward into the future consummation of all things.

First, circumcision was the unmistakable outward sign given by God to the male descendants of Abraham that would set them apart in the flesh from all the rest of humanity. For Jewish newborns, it was to happen on the eighth day of life. It was the means by which God physically set apart His Chosen People, but which also pictured a far more fundamental setting apart of all Abraham's descendants by faith, male or female, Jew or Gentile. It represented the voluntary cutting away of all that attached a human heart to a fallen world, allowing it to be captivated by God, Himself.

"For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God." (Romans 2:28, 29, NKJV).

Secondly, Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well something which had been hidden from mankind since Creation. It is remarkable that He chose to reveal this transformative truth to an immoral outcast, a relational failure, a desperate sinner. He told her this revelation in response to a heart-felt question she asked, and I find it significant that in many interactions between Jesus and those who sought answers from Him, He often, very often, ignored their spoken questions, and answered instead, the deeper issue of their hearts. Not so this woman. In repose to her every query, he gave her a direct reply, so when she asked Him where was the right place to worship, He told her simply:

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:20-24, NKJV).

Thirdly, from the beginning of Time, the command went forth from the throne of Heaven to rejoice in the Lord (Ps 33:1; 97:12; Isa 41:16; 61:10; Joe 2:23; Hab 3:18; Zec 10:7; Php 3:1; 4:4, to list just a few). It is an exhortation given for no other reason than to point us, His creatures, toward the source of all true joy. There is no other satisfaction anywhere. Everything that is even remotely joyous originates from Him. The very capacity to experience joy is His gift to us, As Christians, we recognize that our Creator is also our Savior, and our exceedingly great reward. There is nothing good apart from Him, There is no true enjoyment apart from Him. Our ultimate goal is to enter into His joy, for it is our strength, and our song, and His ages-old intention for us.

Ne 8:10* Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Job 33:26* He shall pray to God, and He will delight in him, He shall see His face with joy, For He restores to man His righteousness.
Ps 5:11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.
Ps 16:11* You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Ps 30:5* For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Ps 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And on the harp I will praise You, O God, my God.
Ps 67:4* Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You shall judge the people righteously, And govern the nations on earth. Selah
Ps 126:5 Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.
Isa 35:10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isa 65:18* But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
Jer 15:16* Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.
Hab 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Mt 2:10* When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
Mt 25:21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Mt 28:8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
Joh 15:11* “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
Joh 16:22* “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Joh 16:24* “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Joh 17:13* “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.

Finally, we can do nothing pleasing to God in our own strength. What the world sees as valuable, is detestable to God. Followers of Jesus know that whatever good we do is from Him and not from ourselves; whatever gifts we have are nothing that we can boast about for how can we boast about something we have been given. Self-confidence in the worldly sense is an affront to Him who made us and sustains us. Not that we are to be falsely humble, or denigrate those things He has made us capable of doing, but rather than glory in ourselves we are to glory in Him. This is hard. It's easy enough to blame others for our faults, but giving credit to our Maker for what we are good at flies in the face of our most cherished sin: pride.