This week is ‘Beat Selfishness Week’ at White Stone. I launched this (slightly New Labour sounding?) campaign last Saturday. The idea is that we take a week to quite deliberately focus on what it means practically to ‘lay down our lives for our brothers’, to ‘deny ourselves’ and ‘lose our lives in order to find them’, to ‘look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others’ (and so on and on and on – the New Testament is full of beating selfishness...)
On Saturday night, we explored a few areas of life in which we have the choice to serve our own ends or serve others. Washing up – do we leave cups about thoughtlessly or wash them lovingly? Noise – do we announce our presence with metaphorical trumpets or are we content to go unnoticed? Awareness – do we know where others are at or does our universe go no further than the end of our nose? Words – are we bitches or builders? Emotions – do we use them to justify our worst behaviour or to have compassion on others? Mess – is a room tidier or messier when we leave it?
We spent almost an hour talking these things through on Saturday. There’s been quite a bit of selfishness around our house; despite the fact that we claim to follow the Jesus, central to whom’s teaching was the command to ‘lose your life’. (It’s all too easy to sing songs decorating Him with titles and ignore what He said.)
So – down with selfishness! Long live brotherhood love! Long live the kingdom of Jesus...
I’ll let you know how it goes.
7 comments:
it's a shame that many people think offering to do something once means they aren't being selfish...like with the washing up. How about returning 5 mins later to offer again rather than sitting down for half an hour feeling unselfish! When there is a house full of 30 people why do the same four people end up doing most of it??? We have quite a way to go still with unselfishness and the washing up.
Yes, sure. A word of caution though Anon: don't forget that self-righteousness is one of the worst forms of selfishness. Keep giving others the benefit of the doubt. And keep forgiving.
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Jesus said we should take the plank out of our own eye before offering to help our brother with the speck in his. But He didn't suggest that we forget about helping our brother altogether...
'Man with the mop' Ha! sounds like it could have been my blog title a few months ago when I still carried one on my head
I thought it was a good week and enjoyed serving, even if I wasn't allowed to do the washing up one time...
I was thinking the same about if saying someone else is self righteous is being self righteous in itself.
Don't know though. I don't suppose it is although it may sound it...so maybe it is...
Raised the profile of love around the place, I reckon. A success, I would say.
I guess that's the answer to the self-righteous dilemma, too: love.
Yeah!
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