by Stephen Harper<\/p>\n
I have been reading, when time allows, “The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement,” and it is eye-opening and also something that has validated many of my own observations over the last couple of decades. I am sharing with you a paragraph regarding its effect on churches and religion in general:<\/p>\n
“Originally, religions could enforce narcissism-reducing practices because they didn’t have to compete for adherents: if you were born into a religion, you usually stayed. Now, however, people can select the religion that works for them – often the one that offers the most benefits with the least pain. To complete, religions have to give people what they want. Because reducing narcissism is not always pleasant, most people are not going to attend churches that demand humility.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
First, yes, following what your parents did is not faith but merely habit or tradition. Second, “competing” for members or adherents sounds more like a business than a soul-saving organization. But the lines about giving the people what they want and no one wanting a church that demands humility is, unfortunately, the sad state of our American society.<\/p>\n
We who are disciples\/believers\/Christians must <\/b>be distinctly different from society, and the true church must not change its message to please the audience or society.<\/p>\n
God’s word says plainly, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble<\/em>” (James 4:6) and, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up<\/em>” (James 4:10). Jesus also demands of His people, “love one another as I have loved you<\/em>” (John 15:12), and revealed to us that it is “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another<\/em>” (John 13:34-35).<\/p>\n
Love and humility are, to God, far more significant than egotism and an attitude of entitlement.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Stephen Harper I have been reading, when time allows, “The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement,” and it is eye-opening and also something that has validated many of my own observations over the last couple of decades. I am sharing with you a paragraph regarding its effect on churches and religion in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[463,1709,126,1363],"class_list":["post-69952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-humility","tag-narcissism","tag-pride","tag-selfishness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60068,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-narcissist-make-it-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":0},"title":"Can a narcissist make it to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a narcissist make it to heaven after they die? I read that they lack the empathy and love that God expects from us. It's also proven to be a mental illness for which there is no cure, therefore no true repentance can take place. But God says all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90030,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mistaking-cowardliness-for-humility\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":1},"title":"Mistaking Cowardliness for Humility","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Eric Lyons In 2006, Baylor University published the results of a survey indicating more Americans claim affiliation with Christianity than with any other religion. In fact, the report claimed that \"82 percent of Americans are Christians\" (see Tooley, 2006). Sadly, the vast majority claiming Christianity as their religion have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4338,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cafeteria-style-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":2},"title":"Cafeteria-Style Religion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry An investigation of the local bookstore or magazine rack or a quick search on the Internet shows how Americans today are very interested in \"spirituality.\" Plenty of books abound across the whole spectrum -- \"Christian inspiration,\" \"New Age,\" and many books describing elements of Eastern religions.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":59222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/religion-and-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":3},"title":"Religion and War","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"If religion is so great, why are religions responsible for so much war?\" First, this type of statement assumes that all religions are essentially the same. They aren't. Some religions actively teach peace. Biblical Christianity (not the perverted forms) is one of them. Second, this assumes that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/war.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62163,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/curing-a-headache\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":4},"title":"Curing a Headache","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 1:21-27 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When you see a problem, how do you solve it? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you have a headache, how do you get rid of it? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I suppose one could get a guillotine. After all no head, no headache \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Instead, we find a reliever to lessen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83915,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-religions-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":69952,"position":5},"title":"Are All Religions Right?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Perry Hall I needed another car, so I did a test drive. Somehow, I managed to turn the discussion to the religious. He grew up as a Christian, married a Muslim, and said they are all the same because everyone worships the same God and are good people. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69952\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}