The False Gospel of Self-Esteem

COUNSELING

“Christian counseling” has become a very prominent feature of the Church of Jesus Christ. The fact that the general area of “counseling” is rife with the philosophies of man results in great danger that the “wisdom” of this world will infiltrate the message of the Church at the expense of the wisdom of God. A growing deception found in Christian counseling (and throughout society) is the false gospel of “self-esteem” which is incompatible with the Biblical Gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Increasingly, the counseling mentality is that “low self-esteem” is the root cause of a teenager deciding to engage in pre-marital sex or of a house-wife who is always depressed. In fact, prominent Christian personalities can be heard to claim that society’s greatest problem is that of “low self-esteem”, and that everything from abortion, school drop-outs, teen pregnancy to rape, robbery, and poverty can be solved if only we help people to esteem themselves more highly; to love themselves more and more; and to realize their great self-worth!

Those of us who call ourselves Bible-believing Christians must ask some crucial questions. Is mankind’s problem a lack of self-esteem or is it pride, self-centeredness and rebellion? Is the answer to our problem “building self-esteem” or is it brokenness and repentance at the foot of the Cross? And how about my “self-worth”? Doesn’t God’s Word say that in-and-of my “self” I am worthy of eternal hell?

THE REBELLION OF SELF

The origin of the theology of “selfism” can be found in Isaiah 14:12-14 where Satan’s long list of self-exalting “I will’s” are recorded. Satan then took his message of “Self” to the Garden of Eden in Genesis three where, in the form of the serpent, he told Eve that she could be her own god and decide for herself what is right and wrong. Revelation 12:9 says, “…that serpent, Satan, who deceives the whole world.”    Continue at Christian Research Service