"It's all about you" is a great worship song, but the reality is that we've raised a generation to believe "It's all about ME." In a thousand ways, we parents have raised them to defy Copernican logic by being the center of the universe.

Sure children need to be doted on. But we've swung the pendulum so far in that direction that our children grow up self-referential and soft, incapable of setting aside their own needs in order to help build the kingdom of God. Their tolerance for pain is minimal; we've raised them in protective bubbles that leave them thin skinned and ill-suited for the rough and tumble of real life.

The result of all this parental foolishness is that many young people are growing up spiritually handicapped. So much of spiritual maturity has to do with how we process pain. Discipline entails embracing the painful or unpleasant in the short term in order to realize long term gains. Though well-intentioned, parents are depriving their children of this essential piece of equipment, creating little narcissists instead.

So what is to be done? First of all, if you're a young person between the ages of 15-30, you would do well to evaluate how much of this cultural poison has seeped into your soul. Ask a few older, wiser mentors to give you a no-holds-barred assessment of your level of narcissism. Do you make your life decisions to serve a higher purpose? Do you delay gratification? Are you disciplined?

Perhaps you have never really sought honest feedback on this issue. It's not that you're bad and need fixing. It's that you're much better than you realize and perhaps you've just picked up a few bad habits along the way that don't allow you to shine like you were made to shine. Why not choose to become the best version of yourself? Here are a few ideas:

For young people

1. Expose yourself to more painful and ambiguous situations.
2. Read Proverbs on the subject for a good study.
3. Go on a two-month summer mission trip.
4. Watch the "Me Monster" video below (my favorite comedian & a hilarious riff on the subject).

For parents

1. Give your child chores.
2. Involve your child in serving a local ministry.
3. Help your child identify a mentor and help them learn how to seek and listen to feedback.
4. Stop caring so much about every aspect of their lives. By age 18 they should be making their own decisions.
5. Realize that our culture is broken and the models you've inherited are broken. Read Juli Slattery on the subject.