Navel-gazing refers to the excessive focus and concentration on the self. Call it "the belly button generation." Like infants who have just discovered their belly buttons, we are captivated by ourselves. It might be OK for infants to not be much aware of the world beyond their own selves, but as we grow up we need to see that there's a world around us, or we will lead rather shallow lives. At some point, we must outgrow our fascination with ourselves. This is yet another reason to study church history. We need to know that we are not the center of the universe. More importantly, we need to be reminded of what matters most. In this regard, we can receive guidance from one of the towering figures in church history: Augustine of Hippo.
....From the very first word of The Confessions, Augustine wants his readers to know what's important. The first word in the Latin is magnus. It is usually translated "great," and one recent translation refers to it as "vast." Augustine uses the word to refer to God. The first word and the truth it represents control Augustine's great book. There is something and someone far greater than us. The Greatest, in fact. After Augustine calls God the Greatest, he refers to himself as a mere segment, a dot. Now that's perspective. Rather than starting with our own belly button, we start with eyes upward, enthralled and awed by the transcendent greatness, magnitude, and vastness of God....While we are in this world, with its mixed-up perspective that sees people as big and God as small, we can magnify the greatness of God in our hearts and minds.
[excerpt from 5 Minutes in Church History by Stephen J. Nichols]
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