The Concept of Narcissism in the Bible: Part 1

The concept of narcissism was called out by Paul long before Psychology sank its teeth into the idea as a personality disorder. But having just created a list of fifteen narcissistic traits, I thought I would see how Paul did it. And it strikes me as very interesting that Paul says these men would surface in the last days. NPD, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, didn’t make it into the DSM until 1980. Paul nailed it sometime in the first century.
I am just going to go one by one and look deeply at the concept of narcissism according to Paul. I find it very instructional and somewhat painful, as my writing about this topic stems from personal experience.

The Concept of Narcissism in the Bible:

1: Lovers of their own selves:

This one is a no-brainer. What strikes me as interesting, however, is how narcs manage to arrange themselves in the center of the universe. They find victims who sign on to their self-absorbed agenda. I remember the outrage I engendered in my ex when once I asked him why I never got to choose a restaurant or give input into our lives. I guess I forgot the terms of engagement: The all-him channel all the time.
The psychological diagnosis is more nuanced. Most narcs hate themselves. They cannot love themselves so they divorce themselves from their true self and fasten onto a mere reflection of themselves. Everything must bow to the worship of this image in order to protect the narcissist from having to deal with who he or she really is.

2: Covetous

Money is the currency of approval for the narcissist. To be seen as wealthy or even just having more than another feeds the narcissist’s need for a grand image. Narcissists are commonly guilty of financial abuse (see here) and often commit crimes in order to keep the money coming in. It is not uncommon for victims to find themselves with poor credit, over-extended, and in serious debt after a relationship with a narc. Indeed, when I left my ex, I discovered a sheaf of bills in my name he had neglected to pay.
Psychologically, money feeds their sense of entitlement and grandiosity. Money is useful for seduction and power, both tools of the narcissist. Money is often at the heart of every relationship with a narc. If you find yourself with someone obsessed with money, beware. You may have stumbled onto a narc just waiting to use your resources.

3: Boasters

The grandiose nature of narcissism is hard to miss. Psychologists often comment about how superior narcs genuinely feel to the rest of us poor schlubs. They project supreme self-confidence at all times in order to maintain the image. Think of the Wizard of Oz. He projected a frightening, all-powerful image that in the end had no substance. Narcs are just little people behind curtains trying to distract us from seeing the pathetic petty tyrants they really are.

3: Proud

The concept of narcissism in the Bible always includes arrogance. Proverbs is filled with warnings against pride. In fact, I think that the devil is the perfect model of pride and where it leads. Jesus often pointed out the pride and grandiosity of the Pharisees, a warning to all believers if ever there was one. But pride has one characteristic above all that links it to narcissism. It is the foundational belief that we don’t need anyone. Pride is a rejection of a real relationship. Narcs don’t have relationships. They have slaves.

4: Blasphemers

Here is the official definition of blasphemer: One who commits blasphemy; a person who mocks or derides a deity or religion, or claims to be God. While quite a few world leaders claim to be God, narcs often act as if they were. But blasphemy has to do with defiling the sacred. The narc can spend all day criticizing God, religion, and the saints.
I remember one lady whose boyfriend was clearly narcissistic. In his sixties, he stood in the back of the church, slouching in his black leather trench coat like a fourteen-year-old teenager. She told me that he believed that God had called him to tell the church what was wrong with it. Any day God was going to elevate him to a position of power within the evangelical world. I laughed and she got offended. However, I am pretty sure that God doesn’t call anyone to attack His bride. Love her? Yes. Instruct, exhort, and speak the truth? Yes. Truth without love isn’t the whole truth.

5: Disobedient to Parents

     The concept of narcissism in the Bible often includes how one relates to authority. Parental authority is the first any of us generally experience. How I wish I had taken note of the disrespect with which my ex spoke of his parents. And it wasn’t until after I divorced him that I discovered he had stolen money from them to finance our honeymoon. To my knowledge, he has never held down a job for the simple reason that he cannot tolerate any authority. He tried here and there. I covered for him and told people he was entrepreneurial. Truthfully, he despised authority.

6: Unthankful

No such thing as enough exists for the narcissist. Entitlement is a black hole into which the whole universe can be consumed. I think of The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. The devils in the book were organized as a bureaucracy in which the higher-ups often devoured those beneath them while living in fear that they too would be eaten. Of course, that is how the devils in the book saw humans.
And that is how the narcissist sees people: as supply. A lack of gratitude kept the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. Imagine the wilderness inside of a narc. Never enough and always the wrong kind of food, clothes, etc… Going to a restaurant with a narc is usually an ordeal. And please and thank you are only tools for manipulation. A lack of gratitude prevents one from praising God, and praise is the key to His presence. Narcs live in complaint ridden hells of their own making.

The concept of narcissism in the Bible is too long for one post! Paul’s list is so comprehensive that I have to do this blog in two parts. But when Paul warns of perilous times in his concept of narcissism, I have to take note. In this era of shootings and political outrage, I think Paul is being alarmingly prophetic. Be careful, my friends, and practice true religion which is staying undefiled by the world and caring for widows and orphans.
Praise be to Jesus, the suffering servant who came in all humility to wash our feet, die for us, and resurrect us with Him. Knowing how anti-Christ narcissism is, how could we not want to call Him Lord?

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 2 Timothy 3: 1-10

Fifteen Signs of a Narcissist

As an Amazon affiliate, I receive a small commission off purchases at no cost to you.