Equipping Eve: Selfie Righteousness

The Need to Equip Women with Biblical Truth

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus? Well, it's true there's no shortage of candy-coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women, No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies-only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Abendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benziger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Conviction, Sanctification, and the Comfort of God's Sovereignty

Well, hello ladies and welcome to Equipping Eve. I am Erin Benziger. I am your host, as always, and thanks for tuning in today. It's another beautiful day as I look out my window, which means, hey, I'm in the mood to record a show.

And I think today we're going to talk about a few things that might be a little bit convicting. And I say that not because I'm going to sit here and wag my finger at you. I'm going to be speaking to myself just as much as I'm speaking to you today.

And rest assured, ladies, that is always the case. All are searched by that double-edged sword that is the Word of God that cuts to the division of bone and marrow. But don't we love that? Don't you love sitting down and reading God's Word and feeling convicted?

Because you know that that means that the Holy Spirit is inside of you and that he has illumined the scripture so that you have clarity as to its meaning and that he is sanctifying you and growing you and conforming you to look more and more like his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, that is so amazing. And while conviction of sin and sanctification and spiritual growth, it's not easy and it goes totally against our fallen human nature. And so it's hard. We might resist certain things, but ultimately, ladies, don't we love to know that we are being made to look more like Christ?

Wow, what a privilege, what an honor that we don't deserve, and it's an assurance of our salvation and it's just a reminder of God's sovereignty, of his power and of his grace, his mercy and his goodness.

And doesn't that just make you want to praise and thank our Lord for that work of sanctification? You know, ladies, do you thank the Lord for sanctifying you? Do you thank the Lord for the trials that he that he has designed specifically for you?

He has handpicked each and every trial to grow you, to strengthen your faith, and to strengthen your witness for him. Because as you go through that trial, you are a living testimony to the power of God.

And so how are you handling that? Are you handling it in a godly fashion? And so those are all things to think on, ladies, and kind of took me on a short little tangent there that was completely not where I was going today.

We're not talking about trials necessarily today, but sometimes that topic just tends to pop up because in one way or another, we're all going through something, whether it's a big trial, a small trial, or we just came out of one, we're about to go into one.

And so really, it is always at the forefront of our mind or should be that we would desire to honor God in how we handle those difficult times. But anyway, today we're going to talk about something else.

False Humility and Narcissism in Christian Social Media

But before we jump into that, can we please have a moment of awesomeness? You know, you know the drill around here, ladies, if you've been listening for any period of time, you know that I have on my desk this little flip calendar based on the book, You're Already Amazing by Holly Girth.

And, you know, it tells us how awesome we are. These little sound bites from this calendar just remind us of how awesome we are. And so we can really thank Holly Girth for growing us in our self-love and conceit.

And if you ever go to Twitter and check out the hashtag Just Be Awesome, I don't think it's caught on globally yet, but maybe someday. But you will find some previous tweets there from me and others when we're kind of making light of this narcissism that seems to have infected Christianity.

Obviously, it's infected the world. It is worldly. And that's why it's so awful to see such narcissism in professing Christendom. But it's there. So anyway, our Just Be Awesome moment today comes from Holly Girth and this little flip calendar.

And she says, When you attack yourself, you side with the enemy. God is always for you. That means you can be too. Now, to be sure, the scripture does say, If God is for us, who can be against us? You know, we all know these things and we can always try to squeak out an element of truth in the narcissism.

That is my Just Be Awesome calendar. But, you know, what if you're not talking to a Christian? You know, a lot of false teachers say this, you know, God is for you. I've heard Joyce Meyer say it, Joel Osteen.

I don't think they actually know what that means. It's just a way to make people feel warm and fuzzy that, hey, God thinks I'm pretty amazing, which is fantastic because I think I'm amazing. So if God and I are on the same page, we're good to go.

And it's so deceiving. God is for you. Well, what if what if I'm unregenerate and lost and dead in my sin and trespasses? God's not for me. The wrath of God abides on me. That's a problem. And so this, you know, when you attack yourself, you side with the enemy.

So I guess we're just supposed to sit around and remind ourselves how awesome we are all the time. That's why we have the Flip calendar. Just Be Awesome. Oh, it's sad, isn't it, ladies? You know, we joke about it, but it's so sad because there are people who are wrapped up in this narcissistic Christianity.

They think they're amazing. They think God thinks they're amazing. So everything's so amazing. But it's they've never heard the gospel. All they have is this anemic gospel that cannot save. You know, Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Hey, that's great. So do I. That's good. Glad Jesus is on the same page. But we love ourselves and anything that feeds that self-love, well, we're going to embrace that if we're unregenerate. And hey, if it uses the name of Christ, well, then it must be Christian.

And so, hey, I'm good to go. You know, I got the heaven thing taken care of, but it's cool because I get to do my own thing down here on Earth. And Jesus thinks I'm way cool. So he's behind me all the way.

And so, you know, I don't want to be negative. So I'm just going to remind myself how amazing I am every single day. No, no, no, no. We are not amazing. I've said this before, but Christ is amazing. It's not about you.

It's not about me. It's not about us. It's about Jesus Christ. But there is a problem of narcissism in visible Christianity, and it's even in conservative circles, ladies. And so that's kind of where I'm going today.

The Purpose of Social Media and the Problem of Self-Celebration

I wrote an article a few weeks ago and posted it on my other blog, which is DoNotBeSurprised .com. And I called the article Selfie Righteousness. And let me tell you, ladies, I held on to this article for months before I published it.

I read and re-read it. I tweaked and edited. I cut things out. I added things. I cut more things out. I added more things. I really prayed and pondered whether I should even post the article. Let me just read a little bit of this article just so that you can kind of understand where it was coming from.

And I'll post a link to it as well so you can read it in its entirety. You know, I tried to make the point that, you know, we live in this world, but we're not of this world. We're citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

And yet we do not hide our faith. You know, we're outwardly Christian, obviously, because we need to proclaim the gospel. And so you can't pretend to not be a Christian. And so to do that in today's world, we have all of these tools that we have been given.

You know, we live in a very technologically advanced time, and that's by God's design. And that's amazing. And we should thank him for that. We have social media galore. We have television with telephones and everything at our fingertips.

And so we can use these tools for God's glory. And that's OK. That's OK to do. You know, when people only had stadiums to preach in or, you know, coliseums with good acoustics, then that's what they used.

I mean, we use what is available to us as long as we're not sinning while we're doing it. We can use these things and that's OK. But there are problems that can come up with that. And the primary problem that I have seen on social media is that we tend to visibly become enslaved to pride and idolatry that is characteristic of the world.

And that's a problem because we are not of the world. And I said in this post that when we succumb to the narcissism that defines the world, we ultimately bring shame upon our own Christian witness. We cast doubt upon the church.

And above all, we undermine the name of Christ. And I see this as a primary problem among social media, so we're talking blogs, which is why I say I'm preaching to myself today, ladies, we're talking blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, et cetera, et cetera.

Even Christians, even Bible believing Christians are using these tools to celebrate themselves. And this isn't a one off occasion. This is consistent. This is daily. This is hourly for some people. Hey, look at me.

Hey, look what my kid just did. Hey, my kid just ate breakfast. Look how cute she is. Hey, she's eating lunch. Here's another picture. Hey, look at my beautiful family. Aren't we perfect? Look at how I set up this.

This perfectly staged devotional photo, look, look out the window, the sun is shining through illuminating my steaming cup of coffee. There sits my open Bible, a few choice passages underlined. My journal sits beside that waiting.

To record all of the deep, spiritually profound thoughts that I am about to glean, there is my commentary, my Greek New Testament. My devotional book. This is what my devotional time looks like every day.

Oh, I promise you. Oh, yes, it's always this calm and peaceful and perfect. Isn't yours? Isn't yours like this? Oh, well, look at my picture. Hey, something went wrong today, but it's okay. I'm still hashtag blessed.

Do you know what I'm talking about, ladies? Do you understand the problem? Let's go to the one I just mentioned the hashtag this blessed hashtag is so popular Facebook and, and Twitter. And oftentimes, when I see this hashtag, it's, it's demonstrative of false humility.

Oh, yes. The hot water heater went out, the furnace broke. My car won't start, but I am blessed. Well, what's your point? I mean, I'm, I'm really glad to see that your, your fingers are still working and you're able to tweet that out.

I mean, it sounds to me like maybe you should be worried about a few other things right now than announcing to the world how blessed you are in the midst of your trial. Who are you bringing attention to in the midst of your trial?

I'm sorry, these things are happening. But just because you say you're blessed, is that really bringing attention to God? Or is this bringing attention to you and the alleged humility that you are displaying?

And what about all the photos I was talking about the family photos, the selfie photos, the selfie, who invented the selfie stick? Can we please put that person on a deserted island so that all they have is a mirror and they can just look at themselves all day long because apparently that's what they think everybody else wants to do.

Look, you know, there was a time when we couldn't record every waking moment of our child's day and share it with the world and we all managed to get along just fine. And just because I don't want to see a bazillion pictures of your child doesn't mean I don't like your child.

It doesn't mean I don't like you. It means that maybe I think and maybe you should ponder the fact that you should be watching your children grow up. Firsthand, instead of looking at them always through the lens of your camera, of your iPhone.

And what is with the selfie? How many pictures do I need to see of you? You, do you dominate your social media timeline in pictures or in words? I see this growing trend, ladies, among Christians, and I'm not guiltless in this.

So I'm not, like I said at the start, I'm not trying to point the finger. I'm trying to make us think biblically about our use of social media. Social media doesn't have to be sinful. Putting a picture of your family up on Facebook doesn't have to be sinful.

But what's your motivation for doing that? Why are you putting that staged devotional photo up? And trust me, we know it's staged, okay? We see past it. But what's our motivation? You know, I have to wonder, ladies, if there were no share buttons, if there were no like buttons or favorite buttons, would we post as many things as we do on social media?

Ask yourself. Before you hit post or publish or tweet, what is your motivation? What if there were no like button there for all of your 15 ,000 friends to hit? Would you still post it? Do you, before you post, ladies, consider who is actually seeing that?

Consider your audience. Consider who might be watching and what your behavior on social media might actually be saying to that person or persons. And consider, finally, ladies, who you are elevating. Who gets the glory in this post?

I'm not saying, you know, only send out scripture, although that wouldn't be a bad thing. I'm not saying you can never make a personal comment. I'm not saying these things, ladies. I'm not saying we all need to get off Facebook and Twitter, although, again, this might not be bad ideas.

I'm saying we just need to consider our motivation and start to think biblically. What does the Bible perhaps say about our use of social media? Consider Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 6.

You know, we see these staged devotional photos. And, oh, my quiet time was so amazing this morning. I spent 25 hours today with the Lord. Yeah, I know there's only 24 hours in a day. That's how ridiculous some of these posts are.

But I think of Matthew 6, verse 1, Jesus says, beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your father who is in heaven. And Jesus makes a point in this chapter as he preaches the Sermon on the Mount.

That God sees what is done in secret, and that. Is what matters. In verses five and six, he says, as one example, when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men.

Yeah, the hypocrites would love. To post their prayers out on Twitter and their amazing devotional time on Twitter, because they love to be seen by men. But truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

That's all they get. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Hmm. Think about that, ladies.

Think about the humility that we are called to demonstrate. As Christians, think earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew five, verse five, where Christ says, Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

You know, blessed are the meek. Are you humbled by your own sin? Or have you perhaps been puffed up by your own spiritual pride? We know how much the Lord hates pride and haughtiness. James four, six, James writes, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

He's quoting the Old Testament there. Ladies, if you've been listening for a while, you might remember the episode where we talked about the humility apron from small group. What happens at small group?

And we talked about what being humble means and what humility looks like. So ladies, if you turn to first Peter five, five, Peter writes, All of you, everyone I'm writing to, men, women, children, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.

For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The words here have an idea of a slave putting on clothes to serve. It has this idea of having a lowly-mindedness that we're not too good to serve.

But yet, are we exhibiting that mindset when we're elevating ourselves on Twitter, on Facebook? Or are we giving in to the same self-love, the same self-celebration that characterizes the world? Do we look just like the world?

Christ's Humility in John 13 and the Call to Serve

Ladies, think about John 13. You have the story of Christ washing the disciples' feet. You all remember that story. Ladies, turn there with me. John 13, verse three. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper and laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, he girded himself.

Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?

Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. But Jesus answered and said, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you.

For he knew the one who was betraying him. For this reason, he said, not all of you are clean. Verse 12. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you?

You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right. For so I am. If I then, the Lord and the teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Christ demonstrated what it is to be a servant his entire life.

Of course, demonstrated this. His sacrificial death on the cross is the ultimate gift, the ultimate demonstration of sacrifice. And ladies, think about this incident. At the Last Supper, Christ washes the disciples' feet.

Do you think if they had had Facebook, Jesus would have posted that up there? Maybe taken a selfie with the group? Just wash the gain's feet, they're all blessed, hashtag. I mean, maybe you think I'm sounding ridiculous, but honestly, think about it.

And if the answer is no, Jesus wouldn't have posted his deeds on Facebook like that, then why are we posting all the awesome things we do? Who are we really elevating? And are we doing it in a roundabout way?

Making it look like we're really being very Christian because you should enjoy this picture because you can see how blessed, how God has blessed me and it's about God. You can see how God blessed me today or how God used me to bless others today.

Are we kind of trying to veil it, trying to cloak it, make it look like we're pointing to God when we're really elevating ourselves? Are we exhibiting Christian character in our behavior on social media?

The Effects of Selfie Righteousness on Others and the Need for Contentment

I want you to think ladies, as we close about some of the side effects of this type of behavior. It's insincere at best, if not blatant lying at times. Your life is not that perfect. My life is not that perfect.

But what we put on Facebook is just what we want people to see. Now, what is that doing to the weaker sister? When all she sees is posts about how perfectly your homeschooling day went and all she sees are the pictures of your perfect house and your perfect family, we causing her to stumble and to fall into discontent with what she has.

When you talk about how amazing your husband is and her husband just doesn't do those things. When you talk about how perfect your children are and she's thinking, my kids aren't like that. My house isn't that clean or tidy.

Are we helping to create discontent in the hearts and minds of other women that very likely are really just based on someone else's careful staging of the truth. You know, they're not based on reality.

Or are we allowing ourselves to become discontent because we see these perfect pictures on Pinterest or are we allowing ourselves to become discontent to get our focus off of Christ and off of serving him in all that we do.

Whether it's a menial task what would be considered a menial task like cleaning the house or washing the dishes or whether it's something that seems loftier. Are we taking our eyes off of what should be our focus off of Christ?

Are we tempted to post an untrue insincere picture of ourselves on social media so everyone thinks everything is great. You know, this can go the other way too. When you post about all your struggles and oh, I'm doing this and this and this and no, but the Lord is keeping me strong.

That's boasting too. It's a false humility and it's a form of boasting as well. What is our motivation ladies? Does everything need to be aired before the world or should some of it just remain with us just remain with our family just remain between us and the Lord.

Who are we elevating? What is your motivation when you hit publish? When you hit post are you hoping you get a lot of likes on that? Are you disappointed if you get up the next morning and only 15 people liked it or worse only two?

Do you feel discontent when you didn't get a share on your post or picture? Where's your focus? How much of your time is spent worried about these things? Ladies, we need to do a heart check and a mind check.

We need to be actively thinking about these things because our emotions can take over even in our social media posts and so we need to be thinking rightly about these things. We need to go back to the scriptures.

Does the Bible speak directly about social media? Well, obviously not because it didn't exist but it speaks about humility. It speaks about what we should be characterized by and our online profiles are also illustrations of our character.

Do they demonstrate the gentle and quiet spirit or are they boastful? Are we parading our spiritual lives before men or are we content to know that our father who sees what is done in secret will reward us in his way, in his time and for his glory because it is about him.

Where is our focus? Where is our contentment found? Ladies, I hope you'll think on these things this week. Like I said, it was a very searching article for me when I wrote this and to consider posting it and it's something I hope that we'll all keep in mind as we use social media.

We can still stay involved on these things but ladies, let's make sure that we're glorifying the Lord even in these things. Let's just consider our motivation. Think rightly. Think biblically with Christ as your focus.

All right, ladies. Think on those things. Until next time, get in your Bibles, get on your knees and get equipped. Thanks for listening.

Closing Sign-Off and Contact Information

You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a no-compromise radio production. If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at equippingeve at gmail .com or you can check out one of our two websites, do notbesurprised .com or equippingeve .org.

Thanks for listening.