The Cracked Mirror

You've known these kinds of people, I'm sure. Could be guys or girls; doesn't matter. You would say about them, "They've never passed up a mirror." They're vain. They have to check themselves out every chance they get. Well, okay, to be fair, not all of them are like that. Some are so concerned that they're afraid that something went wrong between now and the last mirror they passed, so they have to make sure they're okay. But in either case, mirrors are important.

One of the theological puzzles that Scripture doesn't answer for us is the origin of Satan. Oh, sure, we have the "fallen angel" thing, but why? Why did Satan rebel against God? I mean, there he was, the perfect created being in the presence of the Ultimate being. What caused him to fall? I think it's not that complicated. I think that all Satan really needed was ... a mirror. Okay, a metaphorical mirror, if you wish, but I think all that had to happen for Satan to fall was to get his eyes off his God and onto himself. The mirror effect.

It's interesting, then, that it was precisely the approach he used in the Garden. He started with "Did God really say ...?" (Gen 3:1) -- looking at God -- but moved immediately to "You will be like God" (Gen 3:5). At no point, in Eve's evaluation of Satan's suggestion, did she consider God. She only considered "the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise" (Gen 3:6). In a similar vein, James says, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?" (James 4:1). The same thing, isn't it? Conflicts don't occur if we are not concerned about our own pleasures. They only occur when we are our own prime concern. So Paul writes, "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves" (Php 2:3).

The truth is we are so ensconced in our self-centered perspective that we generally don't notice it nor are we able to imagine life without it. If someone were to suggest it, we'd likely consider the idea silly ... at best. We are told on every side, "You deserve ..." and "Be yourself" and understand the ultimate good to be "looking out for #1." We've taken up the mirror, cracked as it is, and we like it. We are vain. We will never pass up that mirror. And Jesus calls to us and says, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). We are to be "crucified with Christ" (Gal 2:20). "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). It would seem, then, that this fundamental self-centered form of living is antithetical to Christian living, isn't it? It would seem that our best option would be to look to Jesus (Heb 12:2 Php 2:5-8).