Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. Rom 6:3-13

What is selfishness?

Who is selfish?

Why does it matter if we’re selfish?

How is the cross the answer to selfishness?

So, what is selfishness and who is selfish?

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary selfishness is described as “a concern for one's own welfare or advantage at the expense of or in disregard of others”.

In short, it is putting ourselves first, our wants and needs before others.

Leon Morris says, “It is natural that we all consider everything in terms of what it will cost us.” This is how we gauge things. What will it cost me?

Have you noticed how reluctant people are to commit to anything these days?

You invite people to things, and the majority will leave confirming their attendance until the last minute or won’t confirm at all and just turn up. Or will confirm and then not turn up. It’s very hard to plan anything these days. Have you noticed that?

Now I realise there are many things to be considered when deciding whether to do something or not, but certainly we consider how it will affect us. How much time it will take, what else we might miss out on, whether it benefits us at all. Of course, we’re not going to put it like that, we’re going to find very good reasons why we can’t or shouldn’t, but the bottom line is, we’re putting our own self-interest first. We’re asking what will it cost us?

Where else have you noticed selfishness?

If a person has no belief in God, they’re unlikely to do something because it may be God’s will, in line with his teaching, an act of service towards God or indeed because one day they have to give an account of their lives to God. None of this is likely to matter to someone who does not yet know God.

As Leon Morris says, “it is undeniable that a conviction that one is responsible to God is a brake on some kinds of conduct, and it is a brake that the atheist and agnostic do not have”.

Jesus said,

23 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24

But what does that really mean, and what does it look like?

Really, if someone was sent to the cross in Jesus’ time, this was a deeply shameful thing, that ended in their death and a painful death at that. They were not coming back from this. It was the end for them. Far from something they would soldier on through.

So, to take up our cross is far more than just to endure some difficulty.

It is a cost.

It also doesn’t mean we can earn our salvation, please don’t hear it like that. We don’t save our own life. We can’t. As it says at the end of Romans 6:  

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We deserve death, but through Jesus, we’re given life. Given, that’s a gift.

It is a complete change in who we are. It is a new life.

As we read at the beginning in Romans 6, we have died to sin (Rom 6:2), been baptized into Jesus’ death (Rom 6:3), buried with him, and just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life (Rom 6:4). A new life.

It is “to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:22-24.

And “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with” (Rom 6:6)

And (John 3:3) born again. 

So why does it matter that we’re selfish?

We need to know we were not created to be selfish.

The world was not created to be selfish.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and it was good! (Gen 1)

In the beginning everything was beautiful and harmonious. And God lived with his people (Gen 3:8).

We were created to be in harmony, with one another, with God and with creation itself.

It’s hard for us to flourish and thrive when we allow selfishness to rule us. ``

How then, is the cross the answer to selfishness?

Jesus took ALL sin upon himself when he went to the cross.

God doesn’t say our selfishness, our sin, doesn’t matter. He doesn’t say “it’s nothing, don’t worry about it”. No, it fills his heart with pain (Gen 6:6). But he loves his creation, all of it, he loves us, so he doesn’t just retaliate and wipe us out as he could.

He sent Jesus. And what did we do? In true selfishness we rejected him. Humanity rejected him. In the most shameful and barbaric way. We tortured him and killed him. We sent him to the cross.

And did Jesus retaliate? Did he use his mighty power to get us back? To wipe us out? Like we probably would’ve done?

No, not even a little bit. He took it all. He absorbed the sins and selfishness of the world. He took it on himself, so that we can be forgiven, no punishment necessary. It stopped with him.

But not only that. He took something broken and made something new. He gave us a way to be made new. We have been raised to life with him and given a new life.

What do we do about it?

Do you know you are selfish? We all are. Accept it.

Do you know you don’t have to live like this? God doesn’t want to leave us this way. That’s why he sent Jesus.

Jesus died for YOU, for me, for all of us.

We are reunited with God the Father through Jesus death and resurrection. There is a way we can be in relationship with God again, and with one another and with creation.

It starts with knowing that Jesus died for each of us personally and accepting it. Do you accept it?

Then what?

We can embrace the new life given to us.

With God’s help every day we can choose selflessness. It’s not always easy but selfishness can stop with us. When someone puts themselves before us, their agenda, their needs, their gain, their ambition before us, at our expense, we can choose to let it stop with us. We can absorb it, instead of retaliating. We can take it. We can choose to forgive.

Can you imagine a world in which we all do this? Where everything will once again be beautiful and harmonious. Everything will be good.