2011 Reading Challenge: Book 04

I can't believe I'm already four books into this challenge!  So far, I've been finishing off books and series I had begun but lacked the impetus to finish.  It's been nice to get some of that done (and has gotten me thinking about the other projects I haven't finished yet).

This week, I read The Biblical View of Self-Esteem, Self-Love, and Self-Image by Jay Adams.  Self-esteem is an incredibly important issue in modern culture, particularly in schools.  The Banner reported that Christian schools are also promoting self-esteem:

In Grand Rapids 500 Christian school children from the fourth and fifth grades were given a week’s training in “how to recognize” their “true worth.”  They wrote essays on why they liked themselves (or didn’t), they acted out a skit called “A Pat on the Back,” and were told “feel good about yourselves.” (August 13, 1984)

Self-esteem teachings pervade many different areas of life.  For example, the Ladies Home Journal communicated that “feeling good about ourselves, in fact, may be the cornerstone of our total wellbeing” (“The Secret of Self-Esteem,” published February 1984).  One Christian author wrote that “I contend that this unfulfilled need for self-esteem underlies every act” (Robert H. Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation).  Doctors studied prison inmates and discovered that their self-esteem was higher than the average law-abiding citizen’s.

Because we, as Christians, are called to weigh every philosophy, thought, and action against the Bible, it is clear that the self-esteem movement can’t be ignored.  Is the self-esteem movement biblical?

When studying any theory, it is important to understand its origins.  The modern idea of self-esteem began with Alfred Adler and Abraham Maslow’s need theories.  These secular philosophers promoted the idea that our basic needs (food, shelter, safety, and love) must be met before we are capable of loving ourselves.  Once we love ourselves, we are able to love other people and God (see chapter 3 for a more in-depth analysis of Adler and Maslow’s theories).

Walter Trobisch writes in Love Yourself that

Self love is thus the prerequisite and the criterion for our conduct towards our neighbor . . . without self-love there can be no love for others . . . You cannot love neighbor, you cannot move God unless you first love yourself.

It’s clear that the modern idea of self-esteem became popularized through Adler and Maslow in the late 1800s and early 20^th century.  When looking at new philosophies, it is important to see if they were mirrored anywhere in history, particularly in the Church.  Examining the history of a theory can give us valuable insight into the effects it will have and any refutations that historical philosophers have made.  To think that modern man is unilaterally correct and that historical people were simple country bumpkins – something C.S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery” – should be avoided at all costs.

Adams writes that “The only question that may rightfully concern us, according to God’s Word, is whether what [self-esteem advocates] say is correct.”  Let’s examine what the Bible has to say about self-esteem so we can determine if the modern self-esteem movement is biblical.

The essential factor in Maslow’s theory is that people are not motivated to meet the “higher” needs until the “lower” or more basic ones are met. (Lawrence Crabb, Effective Biblical Counseling)

If people are incapable of selfless thinking until their basic needs are met, then “man cannot be held responsible for obedience to the biblical commands to love God and his neighbor” (Adams 43).  Luke 10:42 says that “Only a few things are necessary, really only one.”  That need is salvation, found only in Jesus’ death and resurrection (“man does not live by bread alone”).

Obviously we are faced with a choice here.  Shall we continue to recognize the need theory of the Bible as the basis for our understanding of humanity, or shall we abandon it for the speculations of modern psychologists?

In Matthew 6, Jesus contrasts the “Gentile” (or pagan) philosophy of life with the Christian approach.  He observes that the pagan zealously seeks security in “things” (a prominent term in the chapter) that he thinks he “needs.”  … Yet rather than concluding that these needs are essential to higher-level activity . . . Jesus turns everything around and stands Maslow’s pyramid on its apex:

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

. . . Paganism says, “I must have my lower-level needs satisfied first if you expect me to seek higher ends.”  Christ replies, “No, it will not be that way with my disciples.  They must put me and other members of my kingdom first.  All other matters are secondary.”

Christian proponents of self-esteem realize that, on some level, the Bible contradicts their teachings.  One way they seek to prove their theories is by using the second commandment in the New Testament (“you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself,” Matthew 22:39b).  If we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, surely we should focus on loving ourselves more and more so that we can love our neighbors better.

This can’t be true for two reasons.  First, it is clear from the surrounding verses that Jesus is giving two, and only two, commandments.  Second, nowhere in the rest of the Bible are we told to love ourselves more.  Scripture cannot contradict itself and remain infallible.

Paul “pre-supposes” self-love in Ephesians 5:28-29 when he tells husbands to “love your wives as you love your own body.”  Adams points out that “out of self-love we do not only good things, but all sorts of injurious and sinful things to ourselves: We commit adultery, we lie, we steal, we eat too much, we commit suicide” (71).  We are continually told to die to self (II Timothy 3:2, Matthew 16:24-25, Matthew 6, Matthew 10:37).

The biggest problem I have with the self-esteem movement is its view of man.  Christian self-esteem advocates teach that we are of infinite worth because Jesus came to die for us.  Not true!  If we claim that we are valuable, we deny the full extent of God’s grace.  Jesus came to die for us in spite of our inadequacy and inherently sinful natures.  (Consider Job 25:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 18:12 and 23:12, Romans 3:10-18, I Corinthians 1:28-19, and Galatians 6:14, to name a few [93]).

Adams summarizes the entire book well: “In His amazing grace and undeserved love, God cares for man.  The great fact is that the Scriptures everywhere point us to the grace of God and not to the worth of man.”

I recommend this book to everyone.  It’s a quick read (about 140 pages), written in an easily understood style and supported by good scholarship and lots of sources and citations. You can order a copy used on Amazon for $0.01, and it will be the best cent (plus shipping/handling :) ) that you've ever spent.

“[Christ] died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” – II Corinthians 5:15

Next week: New Covenant Theology by Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel