If a picture paints a thousand words, what does the following paint? I was reading the great theological and philosophical discussions of our time this morning – the comics. The first frame of one comic pictures a teenage girl going crazy when she sees her friend with her in arm in a sling. In the second frame, she’s asking how her friend’s doing. The final frame reveals how it happened – way too many selfies. Her friend has “selfie elbow.” Her boyfriend then responds in typical teenager denial, “You never think it’s going to happen to someone you know.”
This comic would be funny, though I had to chuckle at the irony in it, if it weren’t such a sad commentary on our society that continues to glorify its main problem – ego, narcissism, self! Selfies might make us feel good in the moment, but taking them can reinforce one of the three big challenges that must be overcome if we want victory over our drugs of choice – the “I-problem” (self-justification/rationalizations and defense mechanisms being the other two – see 2 Cor. 10:3-6).
Creating memories is a good thing. Reinforcing self is not. More of Jesus and less of us is the only way to experience what we’re looking for in life, like peace and joy. The next time you want to take a selfie do it when you can catch yourself responding to life as Jesus would; and then, burn that picture into your memory. It will be a thousand words worth repeating.
S“E”t Free Nowww