Hi Friend,

When the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy to warn him about how bad things would be in the “end times,” he penned an accurate analysis of our day.  Paul wrote that “In the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves….” Following this description is a litany of the vilest human characteristics. (2 Timothy 3:1-2)

One can conclude that the worst of human sins is founded in self-love.  When a person loves himself too much, he becomes deluded about his own goodness.  He thinks of himself so highly that he becomes blind to his own flaws and is not able to repent.  Paul says that the person who does not examine himself has come in conflict with the fundamental meaning of the Passover service.  If a person does not judge himself, he will take the Passover “in an unworthy manner [and] will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11:27)

At the heart of my relationship with my Savior is the need to be forgiven of sin.  The recognition of sin is at conflict with my self-image that I am a good person.

The narcissistic person is inevitably at conflict with Passover because he sees no need to repent or be forgiven of sin because he doesn’t see his sin.  For him the solution is changing the eternal world rather than changing his heart. His self-deceit leads inevitably to mental illness.

“In an age of universal deceit,” said George Orwell, “telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” The most obvious evidence of this suicidal narcissism is the universal glorification of the LBGT transgender movement.   Take the case of a man who grew up in the Christian faith, took a wife and fathered two children.  He became dissatisfied that life had not fulfilled his desires, and he saw others getting more.  He didn’t see his dilemma as a result of his own sin because he was incapable of seeing himself as he is.  He envied what he perceived others as having so he sought a way to become someone else.  He thought that changing his sexual identity would make him another person.

In a futile attempt to “find his inner self” he betrayed the wife who trusted him, abandoned his children and mutilated his body to become a woman.  The wife was devastated and the world of two little girls was turned upside down.  The children became uncontrollable in their attempt to make sense of life.  The man who had been the only god they had known as small girls, had become another person—a different sex—but still father to them.  It was as if the stars had disintegrated, night had become day and earth had become a bitter enemy.  The absolutes needed for a sane life were eliminated and the girls drifted into unknown territory which they were not capable of navigating.

Was it worth it?  Was the father’s search to find his inner self worth the destruction of the children he had fathered?

In his epic work, Men and Marriage, George Gilder wrote that in the history of the world there is no culture that has ever survived when it confused the sexual roles.  America is truly on a suicidal path.  Either we overcome the insane obsession with self-love or we will cease to exist.

I am drawn to the words of Jesus, “I am the good shepherd—I lay down my life for the sheep.”  (John 10:11-14)  But Jesus didn’t stop there.  “My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”  (John 15:13-14)

The command of Jesus is the solution to our problems—and it is embodied in the Passover Service.  The time has come for Christians to examine themselves and root out the offending elements.  It is imperative that we forsake the narcissistic nature of self-gratification that is natural to man and commit to service for the greater good.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien