If you’re not up on your teenage slang, let me educate you. After all, I am GCC’s elected translator for this kind of thing (I jest). If you want to let everyone know that you are the coolest of the cool, the suavest of the suave, the best at your craft, or you just want to puff up your chest, you can now say, “I’m him” or “I’m her.” It’s usually accompanied by a banging on one's chest in the male variety or a hair flip to end all hair flips from the female side of things. This term was born out of the increasingly self-centered, self-glorifying culture our world seems to celebrate more and more.
Oddly enough, this behavior is not all that new when it comes to human history. Don’t believe me? Think we’re more self-centered than before? Well, let’s open up Scripture and see what it has to say on the matter.
Read Mark 10:35-45 and then come back here.
I want to point out a couple of things:
Look at how angry or “indignant” the other disciples became after they witnessed this self-centered behavior. Relatable, yeah? We know that feeling we get when someone else is selfish. But flip the script—do you feel the weight of the emotion someone feels toward you when you’re the one acting out of selfish desires? Do you need to apologize to someone for how you’ve been acting recently?
Jesus flips the whole world on its head in a couple of short verses. Our world boasts the “I’m him” or “I’m her” mentality and says you have to put yourself first if you want to get anywhere in life. On the contrary, Jesus explains that to be first, you must serve and be last. SERVE. Drop all your desires completely and do for others. Do what others need. The greatest thing you can do after giving your life to Christ is serve.
I’m not really pointing out anything you haven’t heard, and I don’t have any groundbreaking perspective to add either. I just wanted to place in front of you an opportunity to reflect on this biblical truth and how it’s so specifically practical to your life. Maybe I wanted to share because of just how helpful it has been in my life.
Peace and blessings,
Bryant Hart