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Is God a Narcissist? Why God’s Demand for Worship Isn’t Selfish

  • By: Scott Stein, Shawn Walker
  • Apr 09, 2024
    • Listen on:

The first commandment God gave Israel was this: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). And the rest of God’s commands and revelations throughout the Bible are consistent with this. God, and only God, is to be worshipped. Only God can get the glory.

But the skeptic looks at this and asks: “Wait a minute! If anyone else acted the way God acts, we’d call them a narcissist and accuse them of outright selfishness. So, why does God get a pass? Isn’t his demand for worship just a sign of selfish egotism?”

On surface, objections like these carry rhetorical force. They sound convincing, and often leave us speechless to respond. That’s why in this episode, Scott and Shawn sit down to talk through this objection, looking to God and his word to answer this challenge against God’s character. Tune in and discover that far from an act of selfishness, God’s command that we worship him only is born from his selfless love.

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Comments

  • Krista
    Aug 8th, 2025
    Only victims in a toxic relationship would validate narcissism as love. Once you break away from the relationship and look at it from the outside, you realize that you were being abused and never knew it.
    • Scott
      Aug 26th, 2025
      Thanks for leaving a comment Krista. I don't disagree with you that abuse and control within human relationships can be blinding, and breaking free from patterns of narcissism liberating. Do you not think there is a fundamental difference when talking about God though? What do you think it means to "break away" from God? Break away to what exactly? Where is it that you think we end up if we break outside of a relationship with the one who is the source of all life? I'm not trying to be clever, or catch you in a word trap. I'd really be interested in your thoughts on this. Thank you! - Scott Stein
  • Michael
    Feb 26th, 2026
    I guess my question that continues to come to mind would be that Lucifer wears a high angel. Considered beautiful and of high value so if he was in heaven a place of perfect existence why or how could choose to sin unless god created sin within free will? I am just confused here not trying be mean because I need the guidance
    • Scott
      Feb 26th, 2026
      Hi Michael. Don't apologize. I struggle with this question too, and to be honest don't have a satisfying answer; at least not one that resolves the tension. However, I think to be consistent we need to continually allow Scripture to guide us, and the first thing we need to do is take explanations off the table that would contradict Scripture, such as God "creating sin within free will". Since the Bible makes it clear that God is perfectly good and wholly without sin and does not tempt anyone to sin, we need to rule that out. Free will is also a little bit of a puzzle because I'm not always clear what people mean by "free will". Your point and question however are completely legitimate and worthy of careful thought. Rather than me writing a long post here, let me point you to an article by John Piper that addresses this question head on. Have a read and let me know what you think. If you want to follow up with further conversation, feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. I'd love to help you think it through more, and maybe deepen my own thoughts on it too. Thanks for your question Michael. Our website won't let me past a URL, so here the link to John Piper's article, but you'll need to add the www part, or just go to the Desiring God website and search "Where did Satan's first desire for evil come from. (desiringgod.org/interviews/where-did-satans-first-desire-for-evil-come-from)
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