Can a true narcissist become a true Christian?

Answer 1

Various views from different people:

• No, a true narcissist puts love for his or her self over love for God. A true Christian is the exact opposite and puts love for God over love of self. However, a narcissist can become a Christian by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ but then would no longer be a narcissist. In other words you can't be both. It's one or the other.
• Yes they can become true Christians if they truly want to change, but most narcissists are happy the way they are miserable and taking everyone else down with their negative and sometimes nasty behavior. The best advice is to stay away from Narcissistic people because they're only going to bring you down later in life because they feed off bringing others down to bringing themselves up.
• A true Christian would want to believe that it is possible. Because the Word of God tells us that all things are possible through Christ. The Word of God also tells us that when we become a christian we are made of a sound mind and of peace. The very things that a narcissist is in desperate need for. But, to become a true Christian you have to repent of your ways. Believe that you are in need of a savior. If we assume that the narcissist mind is that of child in its maturity and ability to take responsible for his actions, we can conclude that this would be an impossible feat for a narcissist. The age of accountability has not taken place in their life or their mentality. Can a six year become a christian? Sure, Jesus said let the little ones come unto me He admires the sincerity of child-like faith. My husband soon to be ex-husband is a narcissist. We talk of God, (He says he believes in God, he even believes that Christ was the Son of God, but he does not believe that Christ is savior.) He lives like hell and only uses his (supposed) belief on God when it is useful for him in gaining want he wants. He went to church with me and claimed to believe in Christ and wanted those things in his life.. This changed shortly after we were married. He has become in my life the lion in sheep clothing, seeking to destroy and devour my faith and life. The word of God tells us that Satan is the father of lies and author of confusion. This is who my husband has been in my life a liar and the cause of extreme confusion and self-doubt. I take the responsibility of my choice to marry him. He was charming and the perfect fit for me. He find out who I was, and what I valued and then mirrored that to me. I was too naive and trusting. If I believed that he would on his own free will choose to become a Christian I would stay with him. But, I am under the mind set that he will not and can not do this. So, I must take responsibility for my life happiness, and future to allow him to live in his hopeless state and for me I choose to live in hope filled life. i lived with him in hope that God would do something to change things. But, the bottom line is God has done all that is required of Him in my husband life. It is and always has been and always will be up to my husband to exercise his free will and turn to Christ. He is responsible for this decision not I or God. This choice is in my opinion is impossible for him to make. He does not realize he is in need and most the time he can not take responsibility for his own actions. The only time he takes ownership is when he needs to secure my attention and willingness to stay with him. It is all about him and Christianity is not self-serving and it is about God not the Narcissist. Satan himself was a narcissist. He admired himself above God. i believe it is more likely that a narcissist would place his believe in Satan than God. All this is my opinion but, I acquired this knowledge by being a Christian myself and being married to a narcissist.
• No, I don't believe a narcissist can be a Christian because they think they're God! There has been much spoken of narcissistic traits on postings and we know they are self-centered, ego maniacal, perfectionists and most never seek counseling so it's not likely they will take God into their hearts. There may a small percentage that do if they reach a point in their lives where they have experienced a taste of their own medicine and try to change themselves.
• "True narcissists" are not psychotically delusional. They are fully human beings. Wanting to change and trying to change are not requirements for salvation. You do not attempt and cannot achieve "perfection" before coming to the cross. The more your own efforts are involved, the more phony your charade before God. The Spirit can bring a "narcissist" (along with all those other labeled people) to repentance. If this isn't true, then Christ is a lie. I am no longer a believer, but not because I think "narcissists" are without hope.
• God may cause the blind to see, the lame to walk. However, it is understood that some may never walk, and others may never see. While I cannot pretend to know the will of God in all cases of disability, I am persuaded that a true narcissist has the probability of being a committed and sincere believer as a man with a broken spine has the ability to walk. My answer is based upon 30+ years of living with my NPD wife and being a Christian myself.
• "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, shall not perish but have ever lasting life." JOHN 3:16 If you are human you are a "whosoever". Any person that believes in their heart and confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus shall be saved. There are only TWO conditions to salvation and that is belived and confession.
• John 3:16 ? Seems perfect to a narcissist, but then Mat 7:21 (NRS) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Titus 1:16 (NRS) They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. I've been dealing with this myself forever, & I think I'm a little better, but it's hard to know. Used to call it absolute thinking, but as I've studied it's NPD. Narcs hang together in a sort of mutual admiration society I think, and re-enforce each other. At least mildly, I also think it is very common among buddies. I think this runs strongly in the conservative evangelical environment. They seem to always be critical of others, or those outside their group. Think smug, radio talk show hosts:-) I thank God for my wife - she's since passed - and the love I had for her that made me able to sit and consider the reality when she told me I unwittingly hurt other people. It seemed like an insensitivity to others feelings. Feelings that I didn't seem to have in myself. All of it was unintended most of the time, I think. I was 35, before I ever felt love, a word that means to many things in English. I think that level of caring has to be present in order to see the problem, and I'd bet that it's missing in most narcissists. The real chance of finding it also seems slim. I just thank God for being so lucky. I must say I'm a lot less certain about things than I used to be, and that has been a problem. When "maybe" becomes part of the equation it's a hard thing to deal with, when everything has always been (seemed) certain. The cure, or what seems to help me the most is the old "fake it till you make it" mentality. That is, intellectually you can know what the actions of a kind and caring person should be, and so you just pretend. Slowly you start to become that person you're pretending to be. You can then control and direct your emotions somewhat. I still have little time for men and care more for women, children and love nature and animals, but that's the way I've chosen to set it up. It's easier for me that way. The great problem is to be able to get the narc to appreciate that they even have a problem, because they think like computers. Always right. Computers don't have souls do they?
• Since god is all forgiving all one has to do is believe in something that has no evidence of it ever existed but has tons of evidence that its man-made. I don't see why a narcissist cant do that, after all he wants to go to heaven. God Welcomed criminals and murderers like the guy sitting next to the cross with Jesus, but he refuses anybody that doesn't believe he exists.
• Most of these answers are to a degree off the mark. First, there is a tendency to assume that narcissists are different in a way that makes them incapable of acting as others do. We can then somehow feel more justified in our own behaviors and decisions, since we aren't like the unfortunate narcissists. The problem is that God gives faith to whom he will, and God withholds faith from whom he will. Here's the clincher: our behaviors have absolutely nothing to do with it. Being distracted by the 'narcissist' question leads us away from the truth that absolutely no person can do anything (not even the sinners' prayer) that makes her/him worthy, or forgiven, or saved. Faith is given before the sinners' prayer is said; you don't even have control over that. We are saved by faith and not by any act that we could think of. Faith is entirely God's prerogative, and he is free to give it even to narcissists. He couldn't care less about the DSM. While we are in sin, God makes the first move; we can do absolutely nothing except to respond in faith after it is given. So there is quite a lot of perhaps unintended arrogance in concluding that "God saved me, of course, but he will not save those people."
• I believe the real relationship question here is, can a narcissist live like Christ in a marriage, love relationship or close friendship? Salvation, an act of Grace and faith, is not a question, however relating to others like Christ requires a sincere and willing heart, surrender to the Holy Spirit and repentance to those we've hurt. All Christians struggle to walk this walk with family, friends, & coworkers if they have a personal relationship with Christ. Yet marriage is a spiritual oneness that is a spiritual truth yet doesn't magically happen because both partners are Christians. I believe those who suffer from narcissism or narcissistic personality disorder must make a faithful commitment to Christian therapy to have a mirror of the destructive presence or narcissism in relationships with others-especially a spouse. A commitment to trust a Christian professional input; bare one's heart to The Holy Spirit daily; and willingness to graciously repent to those we have hurt is a must. A persons willingness to do these things consistently must be the guideline for entering a committed relationship with an individual battling this disorder-Christian or not. Like the Emperor who believed he had on fine raiment, a narcissist cannot see themselves accurately, and often fall victim to outward religious appearances as their Christian life. A narcissist must admit (and Christ will reveal this to them if they are in relationship with Him), that they cannot see themselves as they truly are before a mutually loving relationship with another is possible. Beware before committing to a narcissist or remaining in relationship with one-admitting their blindness is just the first step but the commitments described above must follow for true change to occur.
• According to the Old Testament, God Himself would be a narcissist. "worship me", "I won't accept homosexuals but won't provide a reason" etc. Many Christians are in fact narcissistic and what a better way to project your own beliefs than by creating an infallible, omnipotent and may I add invisible form of consciousness to personify them. Many Christians are not narcissistic but are drawn to the religion by an inability to accept mortality. I believe there may be a God. I know I'm not wrong but many people on this thread may be. May I remind you of a Gandhi quotation "I like your Christ but I do not like you Christians." Any objections to what I say?