The Quicksand of Selfishness

He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? – Luke 12: 54-56

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12: 32-59

Whoa… enter gangsta Jesus!

This is the same Jesus who went to the temple and caused a ruckus. He is NOT to be messed with.

But as I reread this passage I couldn’t help but to feel his frustration.

Most of us are grounded in our five senses. If we can see, smell, touch, taste or hear something we generally have a decent sense of what is going on. We run these sensory experiences by our memory of the past and accumulated knowledge and form hypotheses for the future.

When we see gray storm clouds we know that rain is coming.

But what about this next level that he is talking about? Can we see beyond our senses? How can we understand what is going on beneath the surface? Well here’s the key as I understand it:

We must stop focusing solely on ourselves.

Here’s an example.

Have you ever “hooked up” with someone that you knew liked you more than you liked them?

Yep… don’t front.

Here’s how these situations usually go… You meet or know someone and it becomes clear that they really like you. You may like them too but you aren’t smitten… however they are attractive for some reason. They have a nice smile or a big booty or broad shoulders or something or other that tickles your fancy.

What do you do?

Do you engage in some sort of relationship with them? Do you hook up with them? They’re grown just like you are right? Grown folks should know what they are getting themselves into. It’s not your responsibility to be the custodian of someone else’s feelings…

WRONG.

Well you can do that if you want to, but you know it ain’t right. By virtue of the fact that you knew they cared more for you than you care for them; you have a responsibility. You can see storm clouds on the horizon that they cannot see.

But acting with this kind of sensitivity requires stepping out of yourself, stepping out of the lure of your own desires and focusing on what is right.

Plus, you really wouldn’t want someone to do this to you right?

This is where we get back to the great commandments. Love God first and love your neighbor as yourself. The idea here is that if you put God first then you won’t get stuck in the quicksand of selfishness.

With this freedom you will be better equipped to love your neighbor.

This won’t just help you to avoid hurting people as outlined above… it will also help you step outside of your fears, your judgments, and anything else that is holding you back from your purpose.

It helps us get out of our own way so that we can be the best that we can be...