Is God a Narcissist?
The church is no stranger to narcissism. In our celebrity-saturated culture, the cult of personality wields extraordinary power. And like Boromir in The Lord of the Rings, it seems the church has asked that dangerous question about these powers: “Why should we not use it?”
Henri Nouwen looked across the landscape of ministry leaders and saw that many, including himself, were drawn to ministry to satiate a longing for significance. Chuck DeGroat wrote an entire book about this phenomenon in When Narcissism Comes to Church. Satan, being aware of man’s desire for applause, even tempted Jesus with the attainment of worldly power and universal praise if Jesus would only bow down to him. He was offering Jesus a path to fame that wouldn’t require a single drop of his blood.
Scripture consistently reminds us that only God is worthy of our worship. This is for our own good. When the Gentile nations worshipped lifeless idols, God warned that they too would become lifeless (Psalm 135:15–18). In this way, the psalmist warns us that we become like what we worship. This begs the question: if narcissism is so prevalent in the church, are we self-obsessed because we worship a narcissistic God?
There’s no doubt that God’s glory is a significant theme throughout Scripture. The Psalms frequently praise God’s name and long for God’s glory to be revealed throughout the earth. The oft-cited Westminster Confession states that the purpose of humanity is to “glorify God and enjoy him forever.” When the apostle John describes God’s throne room, we see heavenly creatures worshipping God without ceasing, and we are promised that one day God’s people will join this never-ending chorus of praise.
When skeptics question what kind of God could be so self-absorbed, the prevailing apologetic that I’ve heard has been to point to God’s matchless worth. How could the all-powerful creator of the universe not call forth praise from his creation? Who among us doesn’t stand in awe of the new images from NASA’s Webb telescope?
I don’t disagree with this apologetic. I just think it’s incomplete. It does not fully capture the scandal of a God who comes to be with us in Jesus Christ. Muslims would agree that we worship God because he is great—“Allahu akbar,” as they say. But what if we also worship God because he is humble?
In a fast-paced, over-stimulated world, Matthew 11:28 has become a favorite of many: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (NIV). Every time I read it, I feel some weight lifted from my shoulders. But a couple of years ago when I read it, I found myself captivated by the next verse: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29 NIV).
This verse isn’t as popular because yoked obedience to Christ doesn’t have quite the same appeal as finding rest in Christ, never mind that they are two sides of the same coin (see John 15:9–11). What stood out to me, reading this familiar passage as if for the first time, was Jesus proclaiming that he is gentle and humble in heart.
How could this be? How could Jesus, God incarnate, be humble in heart? What does Jesus have to be humble about? He angered the Pharisees by declaring, “before Abraham was, I am,” thereby affirming he was and is the God of Israel who has existed eternally (John 8:58). How does the God-man have room for humility?
I am indebted to Darrell Johnson for helping me begin to understand this paradox in his sermon on Philippians 2:1–11 (“He Did Not Consider,” Worship Central Conference, Vancouver 2016). Many scholars believe that this hymn Paul shares is one of the first hymns used by the church. And what a hymn it is! This song describes a God who, in Jesus, does not take advantage of his divinity but instead pours himself out in love for fallen humanity. It describes a God who, in Jesus, humbles himself to the point of death, even the shameful death of a cross. As a result, God exalts Jesus so that one day every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.
In Scripture, the term “name” often can be understood as one’s character or nature. So, when people bow to the name of Jesus, they are bowing to him as the one who humbles himself to save us! He is lifted up as the one who brought himself low. We worship him as the one who reveals the very heart of God to us as the rightful king who chooses a crown of thorns.
Our Savior did not act in a way previously foreign to God’s character, as though redemption demanded it. God always acts in line with his character. As mindblowing as it is that Jesus chose the cross, we shouldn’t be surprised by it because humble, sacrificial love is at the core of who God is. I believe we tend to think the cross was some type of exception to God’s core character because of our own experience. We tend to serve others not because it naturally flows from our character but because we see the need and learn to deny our instincts in order to do what mercy demands of us. Plenty of selfish people can be moved to financially support a community recently hit by a natural disaster. Jesus served others because it’s who God is and has always been.
Theologian T. F. Torrance once said that God is like Jesus all the way to the bottom. In Jesus, we see the heart of God on display, a mystery revealed through Christ in a way that was previously hidden (2 Cor. 4:6, Eph 3:8–11). Jesus shows us that God’s love for us has always been soaked in humility. He wants us to glorify him for how much he pours himself out completely in love for his wayward creation. We praise him, in part, for his humility!
Trinitarian theologians help us further. They talk about the dance of the Trinity wherein each person of God is constantly honoring the other two without concern for their own rights. God did not have to learn how to serve and love with humility once humans came along. God’s character has always been the same as that revealed to us in Jesus Christ—for it is the character of our Trinitarian God from before the dawn of time.
God isn’t bashful. He invites, enjoys, and yes, even commands our praise. But he does so as one who wants to be praised for his humble love. He longs for the whole world to know him as the God who stoops low to meet us where we are. He wants his name—the Humble Lord of the Universe—to be on our lips forever because he knows that worshipping him will be for our good. And our good is what he’s been after from the dawn of creation. His jealousy for his glory can’t be separated from his humiliating commitment to our redemption.
In the gospel of Luke, after Jesus resists Satan’s three temptations to use his power for his own gain and notoriety, Satan leaves “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). On the cross we see Jesus told three times to save himself “if [he is] the Son of God” (Matt. 27:40) Here Satan once again attacks Jesus’s significance, tempting him to defend the fame of his name. Yet “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isa. 53:7). How does the Son of God remain silent, shamefully enduring this ridicule and torture when he has every right to come down from the cross and make his enemies tremble? Apart from Jesus, the world has no category for this expression of humility from an eternal God.
We must understand this humility at the core of God if we are to repent of our narcissism and that of the church. We can only point others to the God that we know. And praise God that the glorious, humble God that we serve knows not an ounce of narcissism. For the Lion of Judah who has triumphed is forever the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:6).
Adam Salloum has served on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for over ten years and currently serves as the Area Director for South Carolina. He’s a graduate of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. You can follow him on Twitter.