Articles
“Ptolemaic Vanity”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
1 Peter 5:6
Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” is a 1970’s pop classic with its hum-along melody and biting lyrics describing a self-absorbed boyfriend. The refrain highlights the song’s theme of narcissism: “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” Vanity is sneaky and gets the better of us more often than we would like to admit. We often think only in terms of self — how things effect me, myself and I.
We’ll call this arrogance ‘Ptolemaic Vanity.’
Ptolemy was a 2nd century Greek astronomer who advanced the theory of Plato and Aristotle that the earth was at the center of the universe with all other celestial bodies revolving around it. Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the cosmos was, of course, proven wrong, but not before being accepted by the Roman Catholic Church and most of the Western world through the Middle Ages. Ptolemy’s model seemed to support the Judeo-Christian belief that the earth holds a special place in creation and is unique among the cosmos. But just because humanity is the central concern in God’s plan of redemption (theology) doesn’t make humanity the center of the physical universe (astronomy). Many people attempted to prop up this mistaken theory by interpreting poetic texts and metaphorical language in the Bible with literal meanings (Psa. 104:5). Some things never change.
Copernicus came along in the 16th century and proposed the heliocentric model of the universe with the sun at the center and the earth and other planetary bodies moving around it. Later, Johannes Kepler refined the Copernican model by describing planetary orbits as elliptical. Since then, we could no longer think of ourselves as the center of the universe.
But sometimes we still do.
We betray this kind of Ptolemaic vanity when we only interpret events in terms of how they effect us personally. This spiritually immature condition makes it impossible to see beyond ourselves and our own concerns. But the world is much bigger than “me” and “my” own perception. We are not the one fixed point around which the entire universe turns. We are very important to God, but not that important! Developing this humble view of ourselves will save us a lot of trouble in life.
Have you ever fallen prey to this vanity? Perhaps, like me, you have an active imagination that gets away from you. Perhaps, stewing in the wake of some trial you imagine what other people are thinking of you and saying about you behind your back. You allow these baseless suspicions to run amok in your imagination. But, most of the time, no one is actually thinking about you or talking about you at all. At least, they are not thinking about you and talking about you as much as you are thinking about yourself.
It reminds me of the Carly Simon song… and it stings! By imagining that people don’t have anything better to do than talk about us, we invite a whole mess of unnecessary drama and self-destructive anxiety into our life. Not only does this anxiety borrow trouble and do actual harm (Mt. 6:34), it shows that we lack faith and are stuck in a me-centered universe.
How does Jesus teach us to deal with anxiety about the unknown? “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Mt. 6:33) In other words, stop thinking about yourself “first” and start seeking God “first.” God can lift us out of our harmful vanity when we learn to live this prayer:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt. 6:9-10)
Note the focus of the beginning of Christ’s model prayer. It’s all about God’s name, God’s kingdom and God’s will. Jesus not only taught us to live God-centered lives, he exemplified it. Before his betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Lk. 22:42) He enveloped his request in the will of his Father. Jesus honored his Father’s name, established his kingdom and did his will. That God-centered humility led him through the cross of shame to the throne of victory (Phil. 2:5-11).
When we humbly learn that God is the one fixed point around which all reality turns, including our very lives, then we too will be exalted at the proper time (1 Pet. 5:6-7).
