TAKING A “SELFIE” PHOTO

I have a smart phone and I do take photos with it. Especially of my grand- and great-grandchildren. But I've never used the "selfie" camera feature, although most of my family, especially the younger crowd, do so constantly. 

Okay, I know it's cool. At the same time I'm a bit uncomfortable with it. Seems sort of ego-focused like a lot of Facebook entries.

Just maybe there is a lot more emphasis than necessary on our outward appearance to continually showcase ourselves, to display ourselves in every conceivable situation. Oh well, to each his own. There are a lot of beautiful people around to admire. No criticism, no judgment, just my personal reluctance.

Everything in balance, of course. Self-awareness is important. At the same time the Scripture cautions us not to “think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly” (Rom. 12:3). Balance means to put temporal things and eternal things in perspective. Self-esteem is good; self-conceit to be avoided. Pride is right in its place; pridefulness is a negative. Continually bemoaning our unworthiness is not humility, which is a virtue. We need God-perspective.

What is this human body of which we are taking “selfies”? In the long run what is its worth? How long will it be around? Does it merit all the attention we give it? The upkeep, the nurture, the feeding, the clothing, the efforts to keep it young looking or just to keep it going? What comes after its beauty fades and its inevitable decline? (2 Cor. 4:16-18; 5:1) Is anything left after the body becomes dust? Is this morbid talk or something to “lose heart” over?

A friend and I were discussing the meaning of a phrase from Ps. 62:9 in one of the newer translations, “Human beings are all like a puff of breath; great and small alike are worthless. Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing; they are lighter than a mere breath." King David wrote that observation thousands of years ago without modern scientific knowledge or having Google search at his disposal to back him up with facts.

By coincidence, I had recently been reading one of the philosophical essays written by my friend a physics professor. Used by permission of Dr. Karl de Azagra from his book and web site: EXPLORING THE HUMAN THEOREM THESIS:

"The human body is made up of approximately 70 percent water (practically a walking swimming pool!), with the residual 30 percent mainly composed of carbon, nitrogen, and 28 other chemical elements such as calcium, potassium, iron, and even the highly toxic arsenic. At face value, these compounds are nothing more than abundant and cheap raw materials! What is more, everything in our bodies is ultimately composed entirely of atoms – most of which are actually empty space!

"If we wanted to accumulate all of the real matter within a single human body into a single solid block, we would have to compress all of our atoms with a powerful (& imaginary!) press to eliminate all the space, or vacuum, within them. Surprisingly, if we undertook this hypothetical compression, our total mass would hardly fill half of a thimble! As a result, I doubt that the marketplace would offer more than seven dollars for the sum of our body’s organic compounds, even with an interested buyer."

Realistically then, we are taking “selfie” pictures of our $7 human self. Is it true then? “Put our bodies on the scales and they weigh nothing; they are lighter than a mere breath?" Are we worth so little? No! We are of incalculable worth to God! He created us as both a temporal, progressively wasting away body AND an eternal, undying soul (spirit). He values our human bodies so greatly that He plans to resurrect them, no matter what condition they will be in, when Jesus returns again. God plans to transform them to live in the Eternal Dimension. He plans to reunite our bodies with our souls which will be temporarily waiting in Heaven with Jesus until the resurrection.

Is there an “interested buyer” for our $7 bodies as Dr. Karl speculates? The apostle Paul declares with assurance, “For you are bought [by Jesus] with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor. 6:20). Jesus paid an immense price for us by giving His life on the cross for our sins. God doesn't care for or prepare for only the future of our spirit but our body also. Both are precious to Him. 

It is clear, therefore, by the mercies of God, what we should do about our bodies, “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1).

If we were to take a true “selfie”of ourselves and we had special spiritual X-ray or heavenly MRI or a sacred CT scan in our smart phone camera, how surprised we would be! We could see our invisible soul and the indwelling Holy Spirit inside the body of a Christian. What a marvelous future ahead for our $7 bodies!