Near the middle of the word “selfishness” is the letter “i.” Selfishness caused Satan to fall from Heaven. “How you have fallen from Heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth” (Isaiah 14:12). Five times in the two verses that follow we find the incriminating word “I.”

“I will ascend to Heaven.”

“I will raise my throne above the stars of God.”

“I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly.”

“I will ascend above the tops of the clouds.”

“I will make myself like the Most High.”

Selfishness was part of the ploy Satan used to entice Eve in the Garden of Eden: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).

Eve took a closer look at the forbidden fruit. She felt a thrill of pleasure when she bit into it. Satisfaction flooded her soul. Adam went for it too, like a lamb led to the slaughter, sinking his teeth—and their chances for remaining in the beautiful garden—into the fruit that had “selfishness” stamped all over it.

There are 11 personal pronouns (“I,” “my,” “myself”) in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:16-21). The self-absorbed man talks to himself throughout the parable. God interrupted the self-occupied man’s conversation with himself: “‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20, 21). “Me, Myself, and I” are the unholy trinity and come under divine indictment in this parable of Jesus.

Selfishness (love and concern for only oneself) is condemned in Scripture. “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain” (Psalm 119:36). “An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment” (Proverbs 18:1). The entire nation of Moab was indicted for its “self-exaltation” (Jeremiah 48:29 New American Standard Bible). One of the seven “woes” Jesus pronounced upon the Pharisees was for its “greed and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25, New International Version). Sorry Hollywood, greed is not good! The next time you are tempted to “indulge” yourself, you might want to reconsider.

In my search of Scripture on this topic, I could not find one positive statement about self or selfishness. “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Romans 2:6-8, emphasis added). “Selfish ambition” is listed as a work of the flesh in Galatians 5:20 and is repeatedly condemned in other places (Philippians 1:17, 2:3; James 3:14, 16). Church leaders must not be “self-willed” (Titus 1:7, NASB). Dr. James Dobson said, “The philosophy of ‘me first’ has the power to blow our world to pieces, whether applied to marriage, business, or international politics.” And the “me first” attitude has blown up many a church as well. Diotrephes loved to “be first” in the church and was censured by the apostle John for his selfish behavior (3 John 9, 10).

A quote attributed to Henry Van Dyke states, “One year of self-surrender will bring larger blessings than fourscore years of selfishness.” “That man who lives for self alone,” said Joaquin Miller, “lives for the meanest mortal known.” “Self” is the proud prefix of many words in the English language: self-admiration, self-advancement, self-applause, self-centered, self-devotion, self-flattering, self-glorification, self-importance, self-interest, self-love, self-seeking, self-worship. Those who dare to put self on the throne will sooner or later be dethroned. One day Herod put on his royal robes and gave a stirring speech that made the citizens swoon. “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” they shouted. “Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died” (Acts 12:21-23).

An old Jewish proverb says, “There is no room for God in the man who is full of himself.”

Today is different than yesterday. Take magazine titles as an example. We have gone from Time to Life and from Life to People and from People to Us and from Us to Self and from Self to Me. We’re just one step from I. No doubt it will be self-published! But a man who lived in the first century, Publilius Syrus, had it right the first time around: “He who lives only for himself is truly dead to others.”

Today, however, we are being told selfishness is a virtue. Go to Amazon.com and you will find book titles such as The Virtue of Selfishness, The Art of Selfishness, Sacred Selfishness, Healthy Selfishness, and The Selfish Gene. Selfishness has been turned on its head. No longer is it a vice. It is a virtue!

The mother of this amazing movement is Russian-born author Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and other works). Rand rejected altruism (selflessness) and championed selfishness as a virtue in her books, and especially in her book of essays, The Virtue of Selfishness (Penguin, 1976). Rand defined selfishness as “concern with one’s own interest.” Now a whole cult has arisen that believes and practices the “virtue” of selfishness. Selfishness, we are told, is not bad; rather, it is good and it is good for you. Try it! Indulge yourself. Pamper yourself. Of course, Madison Avenue has been telling us this for years—from the clothes we wear and the cars we drive to the food we eat and the wine we drink (or not).

This not-so-new “eat, drink, and be merry” philosophy takes us back full circle to the parable of the rich fool. Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message has the self-absorbed man speaking to himself: “Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!”

“Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?” (Luke 12:20, 21).

“That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

Can selfishness really be a virtue? I don’t think so. Charles G. Finney defined selfishness as “the preference of self-gratification to benevolence.” Somehow I can’t see self-gratification as a virtue, can you?

The Greatest Commandment and the one like unto it have stood the test of time. God wants us to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind. He also wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Notice the divine order for where we place our love, care, and devotion: God first, others next, self last—dead last.

Jesus Christ set the example for the virtue of selflessness. He lived a selfless life. He did not even have a place to lay his head. Never once did he ponder building an empire by fleecing the flock as so many have done in his name today. The only thing he owned was a seamless robe—and the soldiers took that from him the day he was to die. But neither Roman soldiers nor the Jewish hierarchy took his life. “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). This was in keeping with his selfless, sacrificial life. Never a man lived (or died) like this man.

How can a selfish person be a bona fide disciple of Christ? Our Lord draws a line in the sand and dares us to cross over it and join him on the other side. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever wants to lose his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:23, 24). Men and women alike from the first century on have left all to follow him, even to a cross or an executioner’s block. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is filled with their names. The Lamb’s Book of Life lists them all.

“Self-control” is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). The Holy Spirit will take the selfish thoughts and deeds out of our lives and will replace them with selfless thoughts and deeds, if we give him first place in our hearts. He will make Good Samaritans of us all if we yield to his timely prompting. No longer will we “pass by on the other side” when we see someone in need of our bandages, oil, or donkey. The love of Christ will constrain us to think and act selflessly because true love does not seek its own (1 Corinthians 13:5).

Is selfishness a vice or virtue? I think you know the answer. |L