Christ, not ourselves

One of my favorite gospel-centered web writers, Mark Lauterbach, has done a series on the beauty of Christ and the value of avoiding excessive introspection. Here's a sample from Part 1:

I think there is more transforming power in a look at the Savior than in all the self-help efforts I could muster for a thousand years. I do not need to figure myself out -- I need to flee to Jesus.

Amen. Part 2 is also strong:

I think church history has hit the nail of the doctrine of sin on the head . . . and that sin makes us curve in on ourselves. That means I must be very careful with introspection. What starts out as a look for sinful idols quickly becomes a fascination with me. We are self-focused. As one quip in a movie notes, "Enough of my talking about me. What do you think about me?" It is of note that if we ran a special seminar in our church on the character of God we might have a decent turnout -- but if we ran a seminar on knowing our gifts, knowing ourselves, being free to be ourselves -- it would be flooded with participants (this is not a theoretical illustration, I have seen it happen). People think a sermon is good if it in some way is about them -- we call that "relevance."

Part 3 and Part 4 are also worth reading, along with a follow-up post on living in the beauty of Christ. Mark may be guilty of referencing the same small circle of Reformed writers who keep popping up on blogs, but his thoughts are solid nevertheless. And, to his credit, he does quote John Wesley.