The Internet world we live in today is awash in narcissism and vanity, with some people taking their clothes off literally, because exposure gives them a rush, and others doing it spiritually--because the addicting power of talking about yourself, where anyone in the world can read it, is overpowering.--John Piper, 'The Pastor as Scholar,' in The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor: Reflections on Life and Ministry by John Piper and D. A. Carson (ed. Owen Strachan and David Mathis; Crossway, 2011), 24 (HT: JT)
I put Philippians 2:3 before me regularly with its piercing word kenodoxian (vainglory): 'Do nothing from rivalry or vainglory [kenodoxian], but in humility count others more significant than yourselves' (Phil. 2:3 AT). The love of human praise--human glory--is universal and deadly.
A blog is no place for spiritual stripping.
2 comments:
Can you give an example of what is meant by "spiritual stripping"? Thanks. I enjoy your blog.
Hi Chad.
Blogging in an effort to be alluring, drawing attention not mainly to solid content but to oneself; trying to get others to love you; seeking oohs and aahs over what you post; a focus on surface reality not depth; and so on. The psychology to both stripping and narcissistic blogging seem, to me, similar.
Blessings.
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