Jesus warns against the time when the traits we know as narcissism will plague the earth. Matthew, chapter twenty-four verses ten through twelve:
“At that time (end of the age) many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold.”
The Apostle Paul writes this to the young preacher, Timothy ( 2 Timothy , chapter three verses one through five):
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having the form of godliness but denying the power. Have nothing to do with them.”
Who's the Victim?
We are all victims of narcissism one way or another. Unfortunately most people aren't acutely aware of this psychological- social, and spiritual malady. As narcissism eats its way through society, it slowly destroys the social structure of our culture. This makes the quality of life less valuable and diminishes many of the expectations (those traditional American dreams) our forefathers worked hard to achieve, many sacrificing their life in order to preserve the dream. With narcissism rampant, we as a society seem to be working hard to loose these dreams, through the use, abuse and lose syndrome not only for ourselves but also for our children and all future generations.
An Awareness Is Needed
It is vital to understand how all the critical areas of our social structure has been and is being affected by narcissism or sins-of-the-flesh. If this condition is left unopposed and undisclosed, and if we sit back and do nothing to stop it, it will ruin our Nation. We will be worse off than any of the ancient civilizations which fell for the very same reasons!
Where do we start? I believe education is the first step. Narcissism has been in the dark for far too long. If you are an American, please don't think narcissism is unique to the United States - it isn't. Many Countries throughout the world are adversely affected by it.
Sin is sin and narcissism is narcissism….and definitely the both are related. Through education, (shedding the light, if you will) each one of us can make the decision whether or not we will let narcissism and narcissistic individuals, steal from us our “old fashioned” values and norms which are the keys to a healthy and prosperous life.
