First, let me give a big shout-out (I’ve always wanted to say that) to the hundreds of people (or less) who shared thoughts about the spiritual application of adolescent egocentrism. I have included a few of the comments I received related to the spiritual parallels of personal fable and imaginary audience. Reminder: personal fable (“it will never happen to me”) and imaginary audience (“everybody is always watching me”).
My friend, Gina, from Portland, recalled the church experience of adolescence when it felt like everyone was noticing that she hadn’t been baptized yet (with accompanying pressure and judgment). Gina wrote: “Looking back, I wish I could have sat there knowing without a doubt in the world that I was God’s child and truly loved in the very state I was in.” My friend, Virda, (in an email from Hawaii) pointed out the immature focus on self that is often revealed in statements like, “This service didn’t do anything for me; they don’t meet my needs here, etc.”. Reflecting on a false sense of invincibility because we’re saved by grace, she noted, “These ideas may give a security that blinds one to temptation and the possibility of succumbing to sin and its consequences.”
My friend, Annette, (who is also my sister) from Kansas City, wrote about the false belief of the imaginary audience: “One of its strongest manifestations may be seen in Christians who put on their ‘church face’ and try to make others believe that all is well with them and theirs. Pride holds their masks in place like the too-tight rubber bands of a cheap plastic Halloween mask…Let us pray for the humility to share personal struggles with our church family so that they may be willing to reciprocate, and we can all encourage each other in the Body.” Preach it, Sister!
My friend, Ken, from San Francisco, approaching the topic from a different angle, noted: “The conclusions of adolescent egocentrism which are false in the physical world, are, in fact, true in the spiritual world…the eyes of Almighty God are on us, the Spirit of God is with us and in us at all times, and we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before. It’s unfortunate that after we grow out of adolescent egocentrism, we develop a new false perception that no one is paying attention to us at all. As far as the personal fable, we are, in a spiritual sense, unique and invincible. We are a royal priesthood, a chosen people, children of the King of the Universe. God is living in us. I never learned about adolescent egocentrism, but it seems to me that God might want us to develop a little adult egocentrism in our spiritual lives.”
Perhaps the lesson in all of this for all of us is Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 4 to “grow up” in Christ. Virda said it this way: “I think the Christian walk is a continual maturing…growing out of our self-centeredness and selfishness and growing in our realization of how vulnerable we are…and how much we need God.”
Thanks, friends.
Dennis Lynn
