For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3
Many people think that the God of the Bible is egotistical. But if we take into consideration the above passage we can see that the definition the Bible gives to arrogance that God isn’t egotistical. Being egotistical is having a false and inflated view of oneself. And yes psychology agrees with this.
God is the greatest being in existence and He thinks of Himself as such. If God is all-knowing and is the most glorious being in existence then He knows He is the greatest and most glorious being. God doesn’t have a false and inflated view of Himself. He doesn’t think of Himself more highly than He ought to. His loving and thinking of Himself is true and accurate. Again, He is the most glorious and perfect being there is. People always try to bring God down on their level. Granted, there are ways we are like God but there are also ways we are not like God. There is a Creator creature distinction. For example: God is infinitely beautiful, all-knowing, self-sufficient, all-powerful, infinite in wisdom, morally pure, etc. while we are none of these. If we were to try to be like God in every way it would lead to grandiose megalomania. But we aren’t God. God’s loving and thinking of Himself is in direct proportion to who He is - the most glorious and greatest of all beings. Therefore, He’s not egotistical. The Bible tells us that Jesus worshipped the Father. It also tells us that Jesus is God.
Jesus is God
Father is God
Jesus worships Father
God worships God
God loves His own image so much that He is transforming everybody into that very image. God is love. Therefore God is in love with love. He’s transforming us into love. Indeed, Christ dwells within the body that is the temple. It’s called the new self created after the likeness of God. He lives within us. We are one with Christ. We fall in love with our true selves like a mother falls in love with her baby. I have been crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I who lives but Christ lives within me (Col. 3:3). I put on the new self having been created according to God in righteousness and holiness of truth. (Eph. 4:24). There’s nothing narcissistic about loving and taking care of yourself first. Like we learned in A.A. we take care of ourselves first. This is what I mean by worship. It’s being in love with Christ. God is love so we fall in love with love or come into union with love. It’s our core essence. As Bill Wilson tells us in “As Bill Sees it”:
“Selfish”?
I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, A.A. is a selfish program. The word selfish ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others. Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits.
What do these speakers mean? Well, any theologian will tell you that the salvation of his own soul is the highest vocation that a man can have. Without salvation - however we might define this - he will have little or nothing. For us of A.A., there is even more urgency.
If we cannot or will not achieve sobriety, then we become truly lost, right in the here and now. We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol. Therefore, our own recovery and spiritual growth have to come first - a right and necessary kind of self concern.
Christ fulfilled and did away with sacrifice. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD. as it ushered in a new era. Our body is the Temple where Christ dwells. We worship Christ in the temple of the body. Therefore, we love, nourish, and take care of ourselves first. Nothing narcissistic about it at all.
I would also add that when we as finite creatures worship and praise God it completes our joy in Him. Therefore, when God gives Himself to us in order to be praised in worship it completes our joy and therefore this is an act of love on God’s part not selfishness. It completes us when we worship God. God’s self giving in seeking worship is therefore love.