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

The Power of Negative Thinking

In 1952, a New York pastor named Norman Vincent Peale penned a book that has influenced generations that followed, called, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Many of his thoughts and ideas were picked up by Robert Schuller, who repackaged them as “Possibility Thinking,” and built a religious empire from them.

These ideas, once seen as counter to the gospel, have now become mainstream, even in evangelical, supposedly Bible-believing Christianity. Christianity has been completely redefined, deemphasizing sin and lostness and separation from God and replacing it with a man-centered, self-reliant, relentlessly positive message – grace without the fall, redemption without the need for forgiveness.

In the Peale/Schuller world, our problem is low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in our own abilities to do great things for God. The solution is for us to think positive, believe in ourselves, dream big dreams and believe that God will help us reach our dreams. Man’s chief end is no longer to give glory to God, but God’s chief end is to bring happiness to us.

My concern is that over time this concept has gained ground and begun to establish itself as settled doctrine. Too many are replacing the hard, cold facts of the true gospel with the cotton candy of self-esteem and “you can do it” motivational approaches. A popular radio network bills itself as “positive and encouraging.”  Continue at Dave Miller

Preaching Self-Denial to a Culture Consumed with Self-Love

We live in a culture of self-love, to put it simply, a culture that is consumed with self-love, ego-building, self-esteem, feeling good about yourself, thinking you’re important, thinking you’re valuable, thinking you’re a hero, thinking you’ve achieved something, thinking you’re worthy of honor. We’re drowning in awards for everything imaginable and unimaginable.

Parents are consumed with boosting the egos of their children with every imaginable means, as well as boosting their own sense of self-value. This is the generation of self-lovers.

And just by way of reminder, in 2 Timothy chapter 3 the apostle Paul classified “love of self” as a sin. In fact, a dominating sin. In one of his familiar lists of iniquities, there are numbers of them in his letters, he begins the list of iniquities in 2 Timothy chapter 3 with “lovers of self,” and then “lovers of money,” and then goes through the rest of his list. This describes deceivers, unbelievers, those outside the Kingdom of God, those who do not know the truth. Self-love is at the top of the list in terms of normal human attitude. Sinners are consumed with pride. They’re consumed with themselves. We have made that into THE prominent, dominant virtue in our society.  Continue at Eric T. Young

Has the Gospel-Centered Emphasis Gone Too Far?

R. C. Sproul, James Boice, and J. I. Packer were already stirring many evangelicals with the vision of a great God who saves sinners by a grace that is amazing from start to finish. Out of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, chaired by Dr. Boice, a host of annual conferences sprouted up across North America. Ligonier Ministries gained a national platform. Inspired and nourished by these efforts, several of us started the White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation 20 years ago out of a concern that we need to recover the riches of the Reformation, with the gospel of justification in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, at its heart.

Over these two decades, we’ve been through a series of controversies within evangelicalism about the character of God and his gospel: open theism, Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and the “emergent” movement, to name a few. Along the way, we’ve engaged Robert Schuller, with the publication of his Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, at a moment when it seemed from the Christian best-seller list that Christianity was being radically re-written in the subjective and therapeutic categories of modernity.

There are still enormous challenges, of course. As our latest issue of Modern Reformation points out, the diet of Christian trade books doesn’t exactly point in the direction of widespread renewal of catechesis. Nevertheless, there has been a proliferation of gospel-centered resources. Groups like the Gospel Coalition and Together for the Gospel sponsor large national conferences. Reared on moralism, a number of younger pastors—many of larger nondenominational churches—are being gripped by grace.

Just think of some of the titles of late in this genre: The Gospel as Center, D. A. Carson; The Prodigal God, Tim Keller; Jesus + Nothing = Everything, Tullian Tchividjian; Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, J. D. Greear; The Good News We Almost Forgot, Kevin DeYoung; What Is the Gospel?, Greg Gilbert. I’ve added a few of my own logs to the “gospel” fire, so I can only rejoice in what Charles Swindoll called a while back “the grace awakening.”     Continue at Michael Horton

Rude: Where are our Manners?

I'm always being shocked. No one signals, people don't say hello back when you pass them in the park, people walk three abreast on the sidewalk and don't move for anyone. Who says excuse me or sorry or thank you anymore? -Valerie Pringle

Rude: Where are our Manners? is a one-hour documentary exploring our ideas of modern civility, or lack thereof. 

Valerie Pringle walks with civility expert, Benet Davetian, on a P.E.I. street. 

 

People's perception of our world is that we've become increasingly uncivil - kids are out of control, people talk on their cellphones everywhere and the f-word is a standard greeting. 

But hasn't every generation since time began worried that their world was becoming less tolerant and less civil? And isn't change sometimes for the better? Not too long ago a woman wearing pants could be seen as uncivil, and for that matter so was an African American person using a public water fountain.

Valerie Pringle interviews Judith Martin, aka Miss Manners. Read more of the interview online.

Rude: Where are our Manners? will take a journey through the past and into our present while asking difficult questions - are we more uncivil, where did we go wrong, did we go wrong, and is it possible to change? 

Our guide will be Valerie Pringle, she wants answers to why our world seems so rude. She tracks down the experts in her quest for a 21st century guide to manners.  Watch the full episode at CBC Doc Zone

The Beauty of Low Self-Esteem

I'm just going to say it: I love me. Go ahead and say it to yourself a few times. I love me. I don't know how it will make you feel, but I can guarantee that it won't make you a liar. Look in the mirror. Not bad, huh? No? Well, whether you love or hate what you see, chances are you'll keep on looking.

None of us has a problem with low self-esteem. Scripture tells us we were born with the opposite issue. We all think of ourselves as a little more pretty, a little more talented, a little more worthy, and a little more deserving of just about everything in this life. Far from having naturally broken hearts, our hearts are naturally bloated with the calories of self-consumption and filled with obscene levels of self-obsession. We've been taught that there's nothing more valuable than how much we value ourselves. Sometimes we like to doll it up with introspective words like self-realization or self-fulfillment, but it's all the same thing: egos the size of Kanye West performing with Jay Z on top of the Empire State Building. Yes, our esteem is that extreme.

Depths of Our Souls

The frightening thing about self esteem is the staggering lengths God goes to completely eradicate it from the depths of our souls, in order to produce depth in our souls. If the Lord loves a humble and contrite heart, it means that he equally abhors a prideful and defiant one. One of the prevailing themes of the Bible is how God makes nothing out of men by flipping the object of their esteem from themselves back to him. These stories play out like dark, epic, cinematic tragedies. We all hope our story doesn't.  Continue at Ronnie Martin

You Shouldn’t try to Forgive Yourself

One of the more interesting teachings that has crept into the Christian community is this idea of self-forgiveness.

Forgiving myself is the standard way it is talked about.

I’m not exactly sure how it became such an effective teaching in mainstream Christian consciousness, though I do have a pretty good idea where it came from.

Its roots are in the self-esteem movement as taught by our secular culture.

Only a person who is pursuing a high self-esteem would be tempted to think along the lines of self-forgiveness.

What I mean is this:

Typically a person who believes he needs to forgive himself has sinned in some way–hence the need for forgiveness.

All sin requires forgiveness in order to be free from it. We’re good so far.

However, rather than the self-forgiver seeking forgiveness from God alone, he believes that he needs something more–something in addition to God’s forgiveness. While he may think about and even know that God will forgive him of his sins, he also believes his personal forgiveness of himself is required too.

“Yes, God has forgiven me, but I can’t forgive myself for what I did,” is a typical response.

This is a major heresy because it adds to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of this it must be repudiated. Whenever we add anything to the Gospel, it mocks and marginalizes the work of Christ and it must be rebuked.

• Christ’s forgiveness of myself + my forgiveness of myself = heresy
• Christ’s forgiveness of myself + my acceptance of His forgiveness = forgiveness

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. – Galatians 1:8-9 (ESV)  Continue at Rick Thomas

Christian Image Is Everything

Image is everything in modern culture. Take for instance the shopping mall. More than showcasing merchandise, malls resemble ancient temples or medieval cathedrals---places of worship where the spirit is lifted. Along with designer jeans and exotic coffees, you can fashion for yourself an improved image, one in which people take pride.

Concern for image sometimes reveals itself in ways that are less than subtle. Consider, for instance, the following personal ad from New York magazine:

Strikingly Beautiful: Ivy League graduate. Playful, passionate, perceptive, elegant, bright, articulate, original in mind, unique in spirit. I possess a rare balance of beauty and depth, sophistication and earthiness, seriousness and a love of fun. Professionally successful, perfectly capable of being self-sufficient and independent, but I won't be truly content until we find each other. . . . Please reply with a substantial letter describing your background and who you are. Photo essential.

Over and against such blatant hubris, there is a concern for image that is not only acceptable, it is actually basic to our Christian identity and calling. The apostle Paul says, "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15). To properly understand what this means, we must consider God's original creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden---the place where image projection started.  Continue at Gospel Coalition

The Cult of Self-Esteem is Ruining our Kids

“Your kids will fail. This is both inevitable and also necessary. Apparently not many parents today want to hear this uncomfortable fact. And they certainly don’t want to implement it in how they discipline their children. Writing the cover story for The Atlantic’s July/August issue, therapist Lori Gottlieb alerts us that the cult of self-esteem is ruining our kids. Convinced they are the center of the universe and capable of anything, our children have become insufferable narcissists. Then, when these kids grow up and fail, as they must, they head for the nearest therapist, worried their lives have gone horribly wrong.” Gottlieb writes:

[R]ates of anxiety and depression have also risen in tandem with self-esteem. Why is this? “Narcissists are happy when they’re younger, because they’re the center of the universe,” [psychology professor Jean] Twenge explains. “Their parents act like their servants, shuttling them to any activity they choose and catering to their every desire. Parents are constantly telling their children how special and talented they are. This gives them an inflated view of their specialness compared to other human beings. Instead of feeling good about themselves, they feel better than everyone else.” Continue reading….

Self-help, Self-esteem, Self-destruction, and large, irresponsible mouths

The Secularization of Justification

Self-Esteem vs. the Gospel