Psychology.
There are a lot of people in the Church who recognize
that there is a problem with a lot of teaching that focuses on self-love and
self-esteem. But where does this teaching come from? Well the answer is the
modern obsession with psychology,
“Even more reprehensible, if
possible, than forgetfulness and neglect is the teaching of Christian
psychology that God loves us because we are lovable and worth it. Richard
Dobbins, best known Assemblies of God psychologist, suggests that one repeat,
“I am a lovable, forgivable person.” Bruce Narramore boasts, “The Son of God
considers us of such value that He gave His life for us.” If that were true, it
would only increase our self-esteem (which, indeed, Narramore teaches) but
decrease our love for Him and our appreciation of His grace. The Bible teaches
that our love for God and our appreciation of His love and forgiveness will be
in proportion to the recognition of our sin and unworthiness. That truth, found
over and over throughout God’s Word, is vigorously opposed by Christian
psychology to the detriment of the Christian faith!
Such was the lesson Christ
taught Simon the Pharisee when He was a guest in his house. Jesus told of a
creditor who forgave two debtors, one who owed a vast sum and another who owed
almost nothing. Then He asked Simon, “Which of them will love him [the creditor]
most?” Said Simon, “I suppose … he, to whom he forgave most.” “Thou hast
rightly judged,” replied Jesus. Then, rebuking Simon for failing even to give
him water and a towel and commending the woman who had been washing His feet
with her tears and wiping them with her hair, Christ declared pointedly, “Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is
forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:36–47).
It is both logical and
biblical that the more sinful and worthless we realize we are in God’s eyes,
the greater our gratitude and love that Christ would die for us. Clearly the
emphasis of Christian psychology in trying to build up our self-esteem and self-image
undermines the very basis for gratitude to Christ for dying to redeem us. When
some years ago the Biola University choir was going to sing at Schuller’s
Crystal Cathedral, they had to change the words of a well-known hymn from “that
He would die for such a wretch as I” to “for such a one as I.” The flesh fights
the awful truth about self, which is a major reason that so many turn to
psychology for the unbiblical comfort it offers.
One would think that
Christian psychologists promoting self-esteem, self-image, self-worth, and the
other selfisms would be ashamed that they are simply echoing the world. Los
Angeles psychotherapist, Nathaniel Branden, is credited with pioneering the psychology
of self-esteem in the secular world, from whence Christians learned this gross
error. Branden (whom Dobson echoes) says, “The reputation you have within
yourself, your self-esteem, is the single most important factor for a
fulfilling life.” He is not echoing what Christian psychologists say on this
subject—they are echoing him.
Let the world believe this;
they have no other hope, nowhere else to turn except to self. But this is
contrary to what the Bible teaches. Not one of the heroes of the faith had high
self-esteem but, like Paul, considered themselves to be “less than the least of
all saints” (Ephesians 3:8).
Jesus told of two men who
“went up into the temple to pray” (Luke 18:9–14). The one, a Pharisee, had a
very exalted view of himself; the other such “low self-esteem” that he “would
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus said that God didn’t even hear the first
man’s prayer but that “he prayed … with himself.” Of the other man, with such a
miserable view of himself, Christ declared, “This man went down to his house
justified.” This is God’s view of high and low self-esteem—don’t be deceived by
any other!”[1]
The closer you draw to God, the more you will recognize
his glory and matchless worth, and also your own unworthiness. Think of the
time Isaiah beheld the glory of God and cried out that he was a man of unclean
lips. Or the ways that the Apostle John recognized his unworthiness in the eyes
of God in Revelation. Many other Biblical characters had a similar response to God when
they encountered him in his glory. The Christian worldview is antithetical to
reinforcing self-esteem, because to esteem ones self is incredibly dangerous.
It is the route to pride, the route to self-destruction.
But this idea that we must build people’s self-esteem to
help them course correct their lives is pervasive in the church, and pervasive
in modern Christian teaching. This is because modern psychology has retrained many
preachers to think like life coaches and NRL coaches, not preachers and
pastors. The word of God does not say the beginning of wisdom – which is right
living – comes from valuing yourself highly. It says that wisdom comes from
fearing God. One might choose to not do the wrong thing sexually before
marriage because they regard themselves highly, but the better motivation is to
avoid sexual immorality because you fear God. Why is this the case? Because if
your greatest motivation for moral behaviour is that you value yourself,
your life’s focus will be based around yourself, and you will compare yourself
to other people who are not capable of the same kind of self-discipline and
find yourself in the same place as the Pharisee who said, “Thank you God I am
not like that sinner over there.”
It is so dangerous because on the outside you might seem
like a good Christian to many people who observe your behaviour. You might even
seem like a superior Christian to many of the same people, and especially those
who are struggling. But really your life is based around self-regard, and while
this can lead to a successful approach to life, much like that of the Stoics of
the ancient world, it is just a more stable and successful path to eternal destruction. The
goal of Christianity is not success in this life, moral fortitude, or
self-esteem. Success and moral fortitude are fruits of Christianity, but the
goal is a life orientated around God and a growing awareness of his greatness
is comparison to you or anything else.
Another way to put this is that the goal of Christianity
is to get outside of yourself and focus yourself more and more on God and his
ways for your life. The fruit of this will be joy, a deeply rooted joy that
finds its foundation outside of yourself and your own importance. One has come
whose sandals we are not even worthy of untying, yet who has chosen to love us
and make us his children anyway. This is a love directed to us, which finds its
source outside of anything in us, and this is the kind of love we need to know
that God has for us.
Another reason this is important to understand is because
some people can go through life quite happy in their own achievements, quite
happy in their regard for themselves, and maintain a very high level of dignity
and morality. This can throw Christians who might tend to think that such success
and achievement without faith should make these people hollow, and yet it does not always
seem to. This is because sometimes God gives people over to their idolatry, selfishness
and self-regard. He does this to harden their hearts. And a heart filled with
self-regard is often the hardest kind of heart.
This does not mean that God does not hold us in some
value. Daniel was told that he was one who was highly esteemed. David reflected
on the idea that God is mindful of man, and has crowned him with glory and
honour. We are incomparably and wonderfully made. But the danger comes when we
focus on the creature, especially ourselves, and not the creator. That we are
esteemed by God should be a reason to worship God, not fill ourselves with inflated
self-regard.
[1] Hunt,
Dave; McMahon, T. A.. Psychology and the Church: Critical Questions, Crucial
Answers (pp. 136-137). The Berean Call. Kindle Edition.
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