Don’t Be All About Your Selfies!

“Selfie” was Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year in 2013. Why are close-up pictures of oneself so popular, and could selfies pose a problem for Christians?

Find an interesting background, strike a pose, get a good angle, have an interesting expression, make eyes look bigger, make sure you get your best side and snap! It’s as easy as that—a selfie!

The selfie phenomenon has captured the media world by storm, even being declared Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013. Celebrities—from Kim Kardashian (whose book of selfies titled Selfish will be released next April) to Barack Obama to Pope Francis—are taking selfies that are getting viewed and shared millions of times.

What motivates a selfie?

Photographs are a way of capturing memories, sharing stories and preserving the past. What story does a selfie tell?

Snapping a selfie isn’t a sin, of course. But could it be a symptom of other problems? Here are some questions we should ask ourselves in order to assess our true motives behind certain selfies:  

• Do we take selfies to get attention? Facebook metrics of likes, comments, friends and views are like money for many people today. The more we have; the richer we feel. When we take selfies, are we focused on being noticed?
• Do we take selfies to boost our self-esteem? Do we feel better about ourselves or get personal validation for how well our selfie does on social media?
• Do we take selfies to show off? In other words, are we showing off our personal beauty or handsomeness through selfies?
• Do we take selfies to attract the attention of the opposite sex? If so, are there better ways of attracting others (for instance, conversations!) than through selfies?
• Do we take selfies because we are bored? If we have nothing better to do than snap pictures of ourselves and post them to social media—perhaps we should add more activity to our lives.

We need to consider why we are taking selfies. If our motivations are not godly, then we may need to consider examining our lives and making appropriate changes.

Are selfies harmless?

Did you know that taking selfies can actually become an addiction? One teenager spent hours taking up to 200 selfies a day in a quest to take the perfect selfie. His quest eventually contributed to his attempting suicide.

Another young man accidently killed himself when he tried to take a selfie with a gun.

While these cases of selfies are extreme, the selfie craze is one indicator of a society that is becoming increasingly narcissistic. Narcissism, an excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one’s physical appearance, has its origins in Greek mythology where a handsome youth named Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection.

In a study titled “Tagger’s Delight?” researchers asked 508 Facebook users (with an average age of 24) to rank how close they felt to friends, coworkers and relatives. The data was compared to the number of selfies those people had posted on Facebook.

The conclusion: “Increased frequency of sharing photographs of the self, regardless of the type of target sharing the photographs, is related to a decrease in intimacy [in personal relationships].”

In other words, the more we focus on self, the less deep our relationships are with others.

So the issue really isn’t selfies. Selfies are merely a symptom. The real issue is the self!

The Bible on self

The apostle Paul described the last days as “perilous times.” The first characteristic Paul lists in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 is an obsession with self: “For men will be lovers of themselves.” This truly is the most dangerous human trait—because it is the root of many bigger problems!

We are told that the real origin of narcissism is Satan the devil—who was described as “perfect in beauty” (Ezekiel 28:12). His preoccupation with his beauty led to pride (verse 17). This led him to become God’s adversary. And it all started with a preoccupation with self. Satan uses his evil influence to broadcast this attitude to the world around us (Ephesians 2:2).

(To learn more about his influential power over mankind and how it will eventually be removed, read “Removing the Cause of Sin.”)

Focus on the heart!

The Bible advises us to not focus on the outward appearance alone, but on our inner character.

Women are specifically instructed, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward … rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:3-4).

When it was time to replace Saul as king, God instructed Samuel: “Do not look at his appearance … for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

If your Facebook wall or timeline is filled with selfies, then it may be time to reassess the role these kinds of pictures (and social media in general) are playing in your life. Make sure you are taking time to be social—developing and cultivating healthy, positive relationships—outside of social media. And make sure your heart—your inward character and motivations—is pleasing to God.

To learn more about becoming a selfless person (as opposed to a self-centered person), read our article “A Heart of Service.”