A Cold Wind is Blowing: Narcissistic Behavior and the Last Days

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We were told that it would come to pass, and here we are.

Nearly two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, warning him—and all who would later read his letter—about the evil behavior that would be rampant in the last days:

“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these” (2 Tim. 3:1-5, NASB).

There can be no clearer and more definitive description of narcissistic behavior than this passage. It hits every note and leaves nothing to be desired.

I have already done a deep dive into the finer details of this passage elsewhere. In this article, I wish to describe the phenomenon of these traits and generally describe the dire consequences of our current situation. The rampant increase in toxic human behavior—chiefly as it is seen and described in the term “narcissism”—is one of the most alarming developments on the planet.

We live in perilous times, and human behavior has scarcely ever been so evil.

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Trust Your Senses

Rest assured that every one of us—yes, everyone walking this planet—has encountered narcissistic individuals. The reality, however, is that most of us never identified them as such.

We thought the person was “mean” or “insensitive.” We likely dismissed them as simply being difficult to get along with, a common jerk. While these types of people no doubt exist, many that we encounter are something altogether more devious. If you recall the characteristics mentioned in the passage above (2 Tim. 3:1-5), we see that the rabbit hole goes much deeper.

Certain individuals we have come across poked fun and made degrading comments at our expense, but they were “only joking.” They criticized us “for our own good.” They triangulated us with those in their proximity—with coworkers, friends, family members, former romantic partners, and many from the opposite sex—to invoke jealousy and insecurity within us. They regularly pulled away on a whim, either giving us silent treatment or stonewalling us. They pushed our boundaries to the limits and made us question our very sense of self.

Strangely, the rollercoaster of emotions made us want to please them even more.

Whenever they knew they had pushed a little too far—energetically sensing that we were pulling away from them—they chose to give us a glimpse of the things we had liked about them in the beginning: the things we experienced during the “love bomb.” We once more saw their charming smiles, infectious laughter, romantic gestures, affirming compliments, and warm validation. In doing so, they breadcrumbed us back in for another round of abuse.

So went the cycle, over . . . and over . . . and over again.

When they finally realized that there was nothing left to take from us, they instantly discarded us for the next opportunity: for the person or situation they had been setting up behind our backs throughout the course of the relationship. Either that, or they forced us to reverse discard them because we just couldn’t take any more of the abuse. They still went on to the next opportunity, as though we never existed.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Chances are, you have either experienced this for yourself or are well-acquainted with someone who has.

This is the behavior that is now rampant within our world. This is the product of those who are “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

If you have noticed this type of manipulative behavior around, and that it seems to be growing, then I have this to tell you: trust your senses.

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Trust the Numbers

Not only is the rise in Narcissistic behavior predicted in Scripture—and is far more prevalent than it ever has been—but it also proves itself out in the numbers.

Some of the world’s leading experts on Narcissism are now stating—from a purely clinical perspective—what those with spiritual discernment into the matter have been shouting for some time. While it once sounded insane to suggest that upwards of 15-20 percent of the population are full-blown narcissists, it is now openly being stated by those with the “respected degrees” to prove it.

Of particular note is Dr. Ramani Durvasula, who has counseled thousands of people who display tremendous amounts of narcissistic traits. She describes NPD—Narcissistic Personality Disorder—as a “personality style” rather than a diagnosis. In other words, our concern should not be with who is professionally diagnosed—since few ever are—but with the behavior we see around us every day.

For this observation, I genuinely salute her. Behavior is what truly reveals one’s personality rather than a clinical diagnosis.

In her extensive professional opinion, the true number of people who exhibit enough traits for us to consider them a “narcissist” is a staggering 15-20 percent. In case those percentages are not registering, let’s look at this another way. When you are out and about on a daily basis, roughly 1 in every 6 people you encounter is a narcissist. While it can vary depending on the demographic, this would generally be our collective experience.

Worse, these figures don’t include the much larger number of people who exhibit many narcissistic traits but aren’t necessarily far enough down the path of darkness to warrant the title. This makes sense, as narcissistic traits are essentially evil traits: the characteristics portrayed by corrupted humanity who has neither repented nor been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I talk extensively about this issue in this video.

Does this mean that narcissists are now all around us, and that we are encountering them on probably a daily basis? Well, yes—yes it does.

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A “Chilling” Conclusion

During his ministry, the Lord himself addressed the increase in unloving and unaffectionate individuals that will appear at the end of the age. When the apostles explicitly asked him: “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”, one of the items Jesus mentioned was this:

 ^“And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold” (Mt. 24:12, NASB).

We could spend time discussing how lawlessness has increased, but the latter part has more bearing on this discussion.

The phrase, “will grow cold,” is an especially interesting one. The term from which this word is derived is psuchó, and Matthew 24:12 is the only time it’s used in all of Scripture. It is a future tense term that is more basically translated as “to make cool,” but it can be more deeply described in this way:

“a spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind.”

Imagine a cold wind of demonic power blowing across the earth which literally puts people’s love on ice. This is what Jesus said will occur in the last days.

Also notice that Jesus said most people’s love will dissipate in such a way. He did not say a few, some, or another parallel statement; he said that the majority of people will be affected.

As I have been trying to illustrate, we now live in such a world. We do not need to wait for another day or a time in the future; Narcissistic behavior is utterly rampant.

As I previously said, trust your senses. If you don’t trust your senses, then trust the numbers. If trust neither your senses nor the numbers, then at least—I implore you—trust the words of Jesus and Paul. If you trust none of this, then there is an excellent chance that you are one of the people that I have described within this article.

To those with eyes to see and ears to hear, I leave you with this message. Understand that the days Paul warned Timothy about are now upon us. A “spiritual energy”—one chilled by a malign or poisonous wind—is fully at work within our world.

Look to Christ, hide yourself within him, and walk the narrow path. He is our only protection from the Narcissistic creatures around us.

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