This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.1
I have long held a theory about Christian Regeneration/Conversion, which basically states that it gives a person the ability too see what is right in front of their noses. Some credit for this conclusion must go to George Orwell who wrote “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”
And thus, when I heard about the lengths by which some persons sought to get on reality television, so that they could escape their anonymity; or Twitter and its use by our current age to publish every mundane motion of their bathroom endeavours to the globe, I knew that the age of narcissism had descended upon us.
However, it seems that God has sought to rub the obvious in our faces with the Selfie; the taking of an inordinate number of self-portraits from one’s iPAD etc and posting them on the Internet.
THE ULTIMATE FACE OF THE SELFIE
The selfie fulfills the prediction that men shall be lovers of their own selves in so literally and blatantly obvious a fashion, that few will pick up on it. It is not sufficiently profound to ruminate on its meaning.
Buzzreed, the Le Monde of modern Anglo-Saxon culture, had a piece about “24 Occasions That Don’t Call For A Selfie”. However, at ‘a family member’s funeral’ is the only list item worth mentioning.
There is this winner in David Lettermen’s Top Ten…
… I am sure that his follow up selfies would not be suitable for family viewing.
I actually anticipate seeing a picture of some yob, having a picture taken of him taking a selfie with his left hand of him taking a selfie of himself with his right hand; surrounded with a chorus of mirrors so that every angle of his Magnificence can be captured.
To some, the selfie has become the ultimate symbol of the narcissitic age. One can rely on the good old Guardian to perform “the first duty of intelligent men”.2 But of fulfillment of Scriptures, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not”3. This artifact is too trite, common and bland, even for Christians. It is better to ruminate on which part of the Tribulation, the Rapture is going to occur; a necessary belief, according to one ministry employment web site, seeking pastoral staff for its organization of Evangelical churches.
NOTES
- 2 Timothy 3:1-5
- Full George Orwell quote: “We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the the first duty of intelligent men.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:4
An Iconoclastic Orthodoxy 