Chris Matyszczyk wrote an interesting article in the CNET website. He makes some comments about a photo of Hilary Clinton waving at a crowd of women. What makes the photo unique is that every person in the crowd has her back facing Clinton, one hand raised and holding a smartphone, taking a selfie with Clinton.
The article is written in the form of a letter to a “famous person.” I believe Matyszczyk’s insights are spot on regarding the mindset of today’s culture. He starts by saying, “If we want to be seen with you, we’ll turn our backs on you…. It’s just that your fame isn’t enough for us anymore. We need to attach ourselves to your fame, so that we can post the resulting picture to Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.” Later on he comments, “Increasingly we prefer to be seen with each other, instead of looking at each other. We live not to be there, but to be seen to be there.” He closes with these words: “So, dear famous person, please understand that it’s all a show now. All of it.”
Come to think of it, the prominent subject in most selfie photos is the one taking the photo. The photo is not really about the supposed important person (or striking scenery) but the person taking the selfie. It may be more about letting everyone else know, “I was there,” or “I got to be with this famous person.” I guess what we call such a photograph is quite appropriate: a SELF-ie.
Just to be clear: I’m not making a claim here that taking a selfie is some evil or grievous sin that must be avoided at all costs. But it surely must be meaningful to reflect on what drives us to do what we do.
It might be worthwhile to ask ourselves—who claim to be followers of Christ—how much of this self-focus mindset stealthily affects our spiritual practices and ministries. Christ ought to be the central focus of our life and ministry. But if the selfie mindset creeps in, we may become content in simply being “seen” with Christ and actually “turn our backs” on him. We may be involved in so much Christian activity, doing things for Christ, yet somehow not really “looking at” Christ for motivation and direction (Hebrews 12.2; Colossians 3.1-2). In other words, Christ may end up just being the background instead of the main focus and primary actor.
There is nothing wrong about being seen with Jesus. Just make sure it remains clear that Jesus is the central focus in all that we are and all that we do.
—Keith Y. Jainga