Glorifying God as the Christian’s life purpose is a well-established, foundational truth of Christianity. God has created humankind expressly for His glory (Isaiah 43:7). But in doing so, does that not make Him inherently selfish? This is a question often raised by skeptics of the Christian faith, but I suspect it often surfaces in the mind of most thoughtful Christians. No doubt, many Christians quickly dismiss this fleeting thought to avoid risking disrespect toward their Lord. In contrast, the skeptic overtly raises this question to object to Christianity. Both for the sake of the sincere believer and for the thoughtful skeptic of the Christian faith, this question ought not linger below the surface. Rather, we should place the question in plain view and allow it to come under the light of Scriptural truth.
The Nature of Selfishness
Of course, selfishness is not an explicitly Biblical term, but it is a term that likely flows naturally from our God-given consciences as we observe behavior in our world. Sayings such as “That’s selfish,” or “How could he/she be so selfish?” are obviously common. But what exactly is selfishness? Well, I propose that selfishness or self-centeredness is a stationary, static condition that demands that others, circumstances, and resources orbit around “me” and serve my purposes as an individual. In other words, when I am selfish, I am using people and resources for my purposes as an individual–usually for my benefit and at their expense.
Why God Is Not Selfish
With a description of selfishness established, let’s explore the question of whether or not God is selfish. One could immediately argue that God is the center of everything and deserves our God-centeredness, and I would fully concur. Nevertheless, I’m convinced we can more fully establish the inherent loving, unselfish nature of God by clarifying three important truths.
- The Persons of the Trinity exist to glorify each other
We view ourselves primarily as individuals; however, God, though one in essence, is three in personage.[i] Scripture clearly describes a loving relationship within the Godhead when it exclaims that Jesus is “in the bosom” of the Father (John 1:18). Additionally, the Son glorifies the Father (John 17:4) and the Father glorifies the Son (John 17:5). This relationship has been going on for all of eternity according to John 17:5b.
I think the best earthly illustration of this relationship is marriage (1 Cor 11, Eph. 5). When a person marries initially, he may be doing so because of what he believes his spouse can do for him. But as a marriage matures, a loving husband will find his greatest “glory” in finding ways to add value to his wife’s life. she, in turn, reciprocates to add value his life. The same is true with any covenantal friendship where there is constant, reciprocal generosity. The result of such generosity is joy—far surpassing self-gratification. Such a relationship can genuinely be described as beautiful. To a superlative degree, the Trinity enjoys this kind of relationship.
So, God in his very essence, is not static and stationary the way self-centeredness is, but He is dynamic and relational. No singular person of the Trinity wishes to become the center of all, but God, Himself simply is all in all (1 Cor 15:28).
- Glorifying includes serving, but is more than just serving.
Unfortunately, I suspect that Christians often view glorifying God as only one dimensional. The believer often reduces glorifying to merely serving, makes sure to include service in his/her schedule, and fails to give it any deeper thought. On the other hand, the skeptic, not having the inclination to sacrifice for God, may dismiss Christianity altogether.
We desperately need a fuller understanding of this all-encompassing life pursuit! Undoubtedly, serving or giving of one’s self is an important facet of glorifying God. While it may begin there, glorifying God shouldn’t end there. But what other facets are there? To gain a fuller understanding, we need to observe Jesus’ intercessory prayer to His Father. In John 17, Jesus prays,“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.” Later, in John’s first letter, he references Christ’s prayer to His Father and further explains that loving fellowship with God results in fulness of joy.
- Glorifying begins with giving (serving)
- Glorifying includes enjoying
- Glorifying results in full joy
These are the facets that the persons of the Trinity share with each other. The Bible calls this sharing, fellowship.
Tim Keller puts it this way:
“God did not create us to get the cosmic, infinite joy of mutual love and glorification, but to share it.”[ii]
- We are most satisfied, when God is most glorified.
These truths lead us to understand that God’s invitation to glorify Him is certainly not selfish! His invitation to share in the fellowship of the Trinity is incredibly loving. In fact, God did not create us because He needed something from us, but as the persons of the Trinity experienced this self-giving, others-oriented, joy-resulting glory, God chose to make humanity in His own image—with the capacity to enter into this relationship and thereby expand His glory. Truly, we are most satisfied as God is most glorified. In other words, God is not using us to His benefit and our hurt: He is inviting us into a relationship that will result in mutual joy!
Conclusively, God is loving, not selfish. In each of the four Gospels Jesus asks us to lose our lives for His sake because, in doing so, we’ll find them (Matt. 10:39, 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24, 17:33; John 12:25). Then, Jesus did the most unselfish, self-giving, loving act act He gave His life for our sin providing access to this divine, loving relationship; thereby expanding His Father’s glory and inviting us to partake freely by His grace. That is hardly selfish.
[i] Note: For the skeptic, discussing the Trinity will no doubt engender questions about the logical problem of the doctrine Trinity which is beyond the scope of our discussion here. However, I would just note that if we assume that there is a Creator (another apologetic discussion), it is logically plausible that the nature of such a being is beyond the scope of our understanding.
[ii] Keller, Timothy. The Reason for God (p. 219)
