It’s not about you.

The term “narcigesis” is an attempt to combine the word “eisegesis” with the word “narcissism.”

Narcissism is a personality disorder of someone with an inflated sense of self-importance.

In our culture today, we often hear of people who are described as having “narcissistic tendencies.” In most cases, a person may not be a full-blown narcissist, but they may display some level of narcissistic behaviours due to an inflated sense of self-importance.

A narcissistic eisegesis is when we force the Bible to make us the center of the story and when every teaching / command of Scripture becomes about our personal faith journeys.

This type of interpretation also comes with the added motivational thinking, positive affirmations, personal success, and a sense of heroism to oneself that are common psychological aspects in the world today.

The narcigesis teaching is visibly prevalent in the “Seeker Friendly movement” within churches, which focuses on doing whatever is possible to attract new people to church. This is achieved by using methods to appeal to the humanism, emotionalism, experience, feelings, needs, carnality, and worldly successes that the human soul naturally craves.

Narcigesis, in practice, leads to Scripture being read out of context and almost always forces the text to be centered around the listener or teacher.

This is harmful because the original audience and the author’s intent are completely ignored in order to find an application that makes us feel good.

We often think that the Bible is all about us. Still, in reality, we fail to realize that the Bible and even Jesus Himself said that all scriptures point towards Him. Therefore, the aim of the Gospel is not to make you focus on yourself; instead, it is to make you take your eyes off “YOU” and focus it towards Christ alone – who is altogether lovely and altogether worthy.

It is not about you.

The Dangers of Narcigesis

The Final Authority

We need to measure or validate truth by some objective standard, which should be the Scripture alone.

In cases where the Bible isn’t considered the final authority, the interpreter’s personal opinions and ideas become the basis for establishing truth, which is dangerous. 

This is because people’s opinions, emotions, and experiences often take precedence over the divinely inspired Scriptures, as each interpreter applies whatever symbolic meanings to the text they wish.

Because of the human tendency to replace God and His inspired Scripture as the true authority with our self-centered bias reading, the reformers coined the term ‘Sola Scriptura’, which means ‘Scripture alone.’ Because Scripture is God’s inspired word, it is the only inerrant, sufficient and final authority for the Church.

False interpretations will not benefit anyone.

Because Narcigetical interpretations inaccurately exegete the scriptures, they fail to convey God’s real message. Therefore, they will not truly benefit anyone who applies these interpretations. 

Distorted view of God

When we interpret scripture through narcigesis, we can develop a distorted view of God and even miss out on the whole point of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, the followers of such preaching / teaching could likely be falsely converted and miss out on God’s real salvation message through the biblical Jesus Christ.

Narcigetical interpretations only function as a means to boost a person’s self-esteem and fulfill one’s immoral desires. It almost entirely ignores the reality of sin, the sovereignty of God, the necessity for brokenness, repentance, and the grace of God provided through Jesus Christ.

Christ did not die for our feelings, temporal needs, or worldly success; instead, He died to save us from sin and restore our communion with the Father.

You are not the Hero.

Another type of incorrect interpretation of Scripture is one where the reader imagines themselves as one of the heroes of the Bible.

This is mainly instilled through modern-day preaching, where people are asked to model the characters / heroes in the Bible.

Examples of such heroes include Moses, Joshua, Samson, Elijah, and even Jesus, who miraculously accomplished things by faith.

While faith is essential for every believer’s walk with God, it is also important to note that each believer’s life and God-given purpose are unique and different from those of the Bible characters. 

However, teaching or telling people they are not the hero of the Bible stories goes against the very fabric of modern-day preaching and teaching.

In today’s churches, preachers often look to please the congregation by calling them victorious heroes of their life stories.

The human heart naturally loves to exalt itself, and so the kind of preaching where the listener is made a champion is readily acceptable by all people.

However, the real tragedy is that all people (both lost and saved) do not need more of themselves. Rather, we need a daily / weekly reminder that in Christ, they are dead to themselves but alive in Him.

Why can’t we impose ourselves on the characters of the Bible?

The answer to this is simply because all of the great and faithful people mentioned in the Old & New Testament were living in a different dispensation / era of God’s grand plan for humanity.

Just because something happened in one of the Bible characters’ lives doesn’t mean we can somehow mystically and superficially claim that it will happen for us.

For example, just because David killed Goliath, it does not somehow mean we will also slay our giants. It may even be possible that sometimes God’s will for us might be to die fighting our giants if it brings Him glory.

The roles and purposes of the Bible characters (in the Old Testament) were unique to form part of the timeline that would eventually lead to the birth of Christ. Our roles and purposes now have been streamlined; although still special and unique, we are now called to preach the Gospel and make disciples and use our talents, skills, and abilities for the Lord. 

Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV)

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Each Christian should interpret the Bible objectively and accurately, having faith in God and living out their lives according to God’s unique calling for their lives.

Can we learn something from the famous Bible characters?

Yes, we can definitely learn from their examples of faith, perseverance, righteousness, and holiness.

It isn’t difficult to find principles we can learn from, but the struggle is drawing the line in how far we allegorize the Bible Characters. For example, should we make rash vows like Jephthah (Judges 11:30-31) or sacrifice our children to prove our faith in God like Abraham (Gen. 22)? Obviously not.

If we do use people in the Bible as our role models, we should be modeling their character & faith and bring those ideals & principles into our own culture.

For example, we should have the perseverance and trust in God like Joseph, who believed in the promises spoken over him, even when his situation didn’t match up. We should strive to have the boldness of Caleb, who saw big giants but believed that if God was for them, no one could be against them.

We can take the principles and learn from them without copying the character’s exact behavior.

The New Testament explicitly talks about the famous Bible characters from the Old Testament in Hebrews 11:1-40 and 12:1. These verses brilliantly show how those characters are a good testimony of genuine faith, perseverance, and godliness.

Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Ultimately of all the famous characters, the author of Hebrews directs our focus and attention to Jesus Christ, who provided the ultimate example by living a Holy and righteous life. 

Hebrews 12:2-3 (NKJV)

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

The Bible is written FOR you but not TO you.

It is imperative to understand the context of Scripture before applying any verse to ourselves.

It is important to note that the Bible is written FOR us and not TO us; this doesn’t mean that we should totally ignore it; rather, it means that we should be more careful in our reading of scripture.

There are many Bible passages that aren’t addressed to us and were written directly to a specific group of people. So it would be a misapplication if we take a verse that was directed at someone else and claim the relevant promises for ourselves.

When we fail to read the scriptures in context, we can literally make the Bible say whatever we want (as many have done). But reading in context helps keep the interpretation consistent and avoids chaos and confusion.

Lastly, while we aren’t the immediate audiences of the written text, the principles behind them still apply to us today.