City Light Church Sermons
The Connected Life: Pursuit of Selflessness - Audio
"So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:1-11 How do we remain rooted to Christ and to one another in today's age, which presents itself as offering connection, but actually offers disconnection? You must resist the allure of the digital world to make everything about you. Social media preys on our most vulnerable aspect: our ego. Self centeredness is addictive. But what we should be practicing is self-forgetfulness.We should count others more significant than ourselves. The temptation to make life into a competition--and find pleasure in comparing ourselves to others and judging ourselves as better than others--is deeply rooted in pride. To walk in unity, as we should, we must practice humility. We are told to let nothing we do be done from conceit, or empty glory. The dopamine we get from likes and comments on social media are nothing more than this empty glory. Chasing those likes is exemplary of sinful pride. We need to evaluate how we are using tools like social media. The Bible instructs us to resists our natural, unhealthy desire for validation and to be humble. Humility is the desire to see others centered before we want to see ourselves at the center. Note that pride is not merely thinking too highly of yourself...it is thinking of yourself too much, in any direction. Gospel humility is to spend less time thinking of oneself in order to leave room for others. We should look to Jesus as our perfect example: the God of the universe who made himself of low reputation. The God of the universe who consistently looked to the needs of others. The God of the universe who was consumed with living a life that poured out rather than taking in. Jesus has put to death our need for validation in his own death. We have no need for pride, as our God has already given us our worth. Three final notes: 1. Promise over posts. The only place we can get validation is through God's promise. 2. Presence over posts. Cultivate presence with God or physical presence with others rather than blasting your curated life out to everyone via social media. 3. People over posts. We are called to share the gospel, feed the hungry, and support the poor. And the only way to create the space to do that is to empty ourselves of the focus on ourselves.
