The Biblical View of Self-Image
and Psychology
Two articles on the modern
philosophies of “self-image” and
“psychology.”
“The
Biblical View of Self-Image”
by
Pastor Gary E. Gilley
Ÿ
“Biblical Authority Verses Psychology and
Self-Image”
by Dr.
J. D. Watson
The Biblical
View of Self-Image
By Gary E.
Gilley
Pastor-Teacher at Southern View
Chapel
A
reprint of the September 1996 issue of Think On These
Things
Published by Southern View Chapel
3253 S.
Fourth Street – Springfield, IL – 62703
www.svchapel.org
The fact is that the
self-image movement is neither Biblical nor scientific.
It is a fad that will eventually pass away after doing
incredible damage in our society and unfortunately in
all too many churches. By God’s grace and the truth of
His Word, believers need not be taken in by Satan’s
lies. We can choose to live by the infallible, never
changing Word of God!
Few would
disagree with the following statement: How people
think of themselves will to a large degree determine how
they will think of others, how they will think of God,
how they will obtain and maintain all their
relationships, and how they will make decisions. There
is no area of life that will not be directly or
indirectly affected by the way we view ourselves.
However, there are two vastly
different views on the subject of
self-image.
The Unbiblical View of
Self-Image, Self-Worth, Self-Esteem and
Self-Love
The basic teaching in
pop-psychology today is that people in general have a
low self-image, self-esteem, self-worth, self-love, etc.
They do not think that they are very good, they do not
love themselves, they do not accept themselves the way
they are, they lack self-confidence, etc. People behave
poorly because they view themselves in this manner. If
people could improve their self-image, then they would
feel better about themselves and perform better in life.
Everyone, of course, has a bad self-image, there are
however, varying degrees. Also, since people do not want
others to know how badly they perceive themselves, they
tend to cover up their poor self-image with different
methods: some with shyness — so that people will not
catch on to how bad they really are. Others may show-off
trying to prove that they are really
okay.
In order to get a feel for what is actually being
taught, let’s look at what some of today’s self-image
proponents, both in secular and Christian circles, are
saying:
If I could
write a prescription for the women of the world, I would
provide each of them with a healthy dose of self-esteem
and personal worth. ...I have no doubt that this is
their greatest need (James Dobson, What
Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women,
p35).
Feeling
good about ourselves may in fact, be the cornerstone of
our total well being (Barnett, Baruch and Rivers, “The
Secret of Self Esteem,” The Ladies Home Journal, Feb.
1984, p54).
Mothers who choose to obtain abortions do so
because of too little self-esteem, not too much (Philip
A. Captain, Eight Stages of Christian
Growth).
“Lack of self-esteem can actually
extinguish the desire to go on living” (James Dobson,
High or Seek,
p80).
Once a person believes he is an ‘unworthy sinner’
it is doubtful if he can honestly accept the saving
grace God offers in Christ (Robert Schuller, Self Esteem,
p98).
Depression always has a loss of self-esteem in
the foreground. ...Be slow to direct a depressed person
to the Scriptures. . . no preaching. I would recommend a
recess from church if there is preaching done in the
church (Jeff Boer, “Is Self-Esteem Proper for a
Christian?” The Journal of Pastoral
Practice, Vol 5, #4,
p78).
Under the influence of humanistic psychologists
like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, many of us
Christians have begun to see our need for self-love and
self-esteem (Bruce Narramore, You’re
Someone Special,
p22).
Self-love is the prerequisite and the criterion
for our conduct towards our neighbor. ...Without
self-love there can be no love for others. ...You cannot
love your neighbor, you cannot love God unless you first
love yourself (Walter Trobishch, Love
Yourself, p11).
Actually,our ability to love God and to love our
neighbor is limited by our ability to love ourselves. We
cannot love God more than we love our neighbor and we
cannot love our neighbor more than we love ourselves
(Captain, Eight Stages of Christian
Growth, p157).
Low self-esteem can lead to depression and other
emotional and physical illness, substance abuse, sexual
promiscuity, and even suicide (Shirley Sherrif, Contact, Vol. II #1; Jan.
1991).
You have to think that you are somebody if you
want to maintain good mental health (Arthur Rounder,
You Can Learn To Like Yourself,
p3).
“Self-esteem or pride in being a human being is
the single greatest need facing the human race today
(Robert Schuller, Self-Esteem,
p19).
People have one basic personal need which
requires two kinds of impute for its satisfaction. The
most basic need is a sense of personal worth, and
acceptance of oneself as a whole, real person (Lawrence
Crabb, Effective Biblical
Counseling,
p80).
According to the
self-image proponents: sexual promiscuity, suicide,
crime, abortion, depression, poor mental health, stress,
unhappiness, lack of success in life, the inability to
love God and to accept His free gift of salvation, the
inability to love others, and the inability to love
self, are all the results of a poor self-image or low
self-esteem.
What is the cure then
for all of these problems? According to the self-image
advocates, it is to build a good self-image (and a
strong sense of self-worth) into the lives of all
people. If what they are saying is true, then we as
Christians had better jump on the self-image bandwagon.
As a matter of fact, if people are unable to love God
and others because of a poor self-image, then building
self-esteem in our children, our spouses, our unsaved
friends, ourselves and the entire world should become a
primary goal of the church.
The
Biblical View of Self-Image,
Self-Worth, Self-Esteem and Self-Love
The power of the human mind to deceive itself
seems infinite. We need to pray Psalms 139:23,24:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me and know my
anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in
me, And lead me in the everlasting way” often! One
study of two-hundred criminals revealed that not one of
those criminals believed he was evil. Each criminal
thought of himself as basically a good person even when
planning a crime (The Washington
Star, Aug. 15,
1976).
One of the Bible’s major aims is to correct man’s
high view of himself; yet, it is now interpreted by
Christian leaders to intend just the opposite. How can
creatures who are constantly told (in the Word of God)
that they think too highly of themselves, be convinced
that their problem is in fact low self-esteem? Left to
our own observations and imaginations such a thing is
possible (Jer. 17:9,10: “The heart is more deceitful
than all else. . .”), but the Bible does not cater to
our self-deception, it seeks to correct it.
C.S. Lewis, writing before the self-esteem fad
took off, made this interesting observation, “The child
who is patted on the back for doing a lesson well, the
woman whose beauty is praised by her lover, the saved
soul to whom Christ says, ‘well done,’ is pleased and
ought to be. For here the pleasure lies not in what you
are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you
wanted (and rightly wanted) to please. The trouble
begins when you pass from thinking, ‘I have pleased him;
all is well,’ to thinking, ‘what a fine person I must be
to have done it.’” If Lewis were to write such words
today, would they be well received? I doubt
it!
What do the Scriptures
have to say about how we view ourselves?
Jesus taught the virtue of humility (Luke 18:14),
and the importance of self-denial, rather than self-love
(Matt. 16:24).
The Epistles are in hardy agreement with the
words of Jesus (cp. I Tim. 1:15; Rom. 7:24; 12:3; and
Phip. 2:3-8). As a matter of fact, nowhere in the Bible
are we warned not to think more lowly of ourselves than
we ought. Yet, there should be many such Scriptures if
our problem is lack of self-esteem. There are, however,
five and a half pages in the Nave’s Topical Bible on the
subject of pride, including Prov. 16:5,18 and 19. In
addition, there are three pages on self-denial. There
are no references to self-image or any word meaning the
same. Only in II Tim. 3:2 does the concept of self-love
appear, and then it is a vice (see below). Clearly, the
Bible does not present self-esteem as man’s problem. In
fact, the opposite of self-esteem, pride, is certainly
stated to be a problem.
In the New Testament,
neither John the Baptist (Lk. 3:16) nor the prodigal son
(Lk. 15:21) were corrected when they declared themselves
unworthy. Yet Norman Wright says, “Worthiness is a
feeling of ‘I am good.’” If this is true, then what do
we do with Jesus’ statement, ‘there is none good but
one, that is God.’
Note the Old Testament examples of Gideon (Jud.
6:15); Isaiah (Isa. 6:5); Amos (Amos 7:14); Job (Job
42:6); and Moses (Exod. 3:11; 4:10-13). Each of these
men were used of God when they recognized the Lord’s
greatness and their own smallness. II Cor. 12:9,10 also
teaches us that we find God’s strength only when we
recognize our own weakness.
II Tim. 3:16,17 and II
Pet. 1:3 explains that God’s Word is sufficient to equip
us to be godly people, and that everything concerning
life and godliness is found in His Word. This being the
case, we must ask the question: “Why is there no mention
of self-esteem in all of the
Scriptures?”
The answer to that question surely lies in the
fact that our relationship with God is not based on
our righteousness or our worth to Him, but upon
His grace (Titus 3:4-7). Rather, we are sinners
who can do nothing to impress or please God (Rom.
3:23; 5:6-8). (This chart is
undoubtedly borrowed from a source, which I cannot
locate. My apologies to the
author.)
Key Differences Between
Self-Image And Biblical Image
|
God In His
Word: |
Self-Image Advocates
Say: |
|
1)
Love God & others (Mt.
22:37) |
1)
Love
yourself |
|
2)
Build up others (Heb.
10:24,25) |
2)
Build your
self-esteem |
|
3)
None righteous (Rom.
3:23) |
3) You
are
good |
|
4)
Heart is deceitful (Jer.
17:9) |
4)
Believe in
yourself |
|
5) Put
others first (Phil.
2:1-4) |
5) Put
yourself
first |
|
6) Be
humble (Rom.
12:3) |
6)
Think highly of
yourself |
|
7) We
are sinners (Rom.
3:10,11) |
7) You
are of great
value |
|
8)
Walk in the Spirit (Gal.
5:16) |
8) Do
what you want to
do |
|
9)
Deny yourself (Mt.
16:24-26) |
9)
Find
yourself |
|
10)
Put confidence in God (Phil.
4:13) |
10)
Have
self-confidence |
SOME FALSEHOODS
ANSWERED
“We must love
ourselves”
Self-image advocates claim that Scripture
commands us to love ourselves. The main verse they use
to support this claim is Matthew 22:39b which says, “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Based on a faulty
interpretation of this passage many teachers - of the
self-image theory - see this as a clear Biblical command
for us to love ourselves. However, nowhere in this
passage (Mtt. 22:36-40) is there a command from the Lord
for us to love ourselves.
As a
matter of fact, there is no place in Scripture where we
are told to love ourselves. Instead, it is always
assumed that we already love ourselves (Note “as
yourself” in the passage under study). Nevertheless, we
are told that what Jesus meant to say is that we have to
learn to love ourselves first, before we can love
others. In other words, there are really three
commandments given here (even though Jesus said that
there are “two”). We are commanded to love God and our
neighbor; then, Jesus concludes by saying, “On these two
commandments depend the whole Law. . .” If Jesus says
that there are two commandments here how dare we claim
that there are three!
Ephesians 5:28,29 is another passage used by the
teachers of the self-image philosophy to promote
self-love. We are told that we must first learn to love
ourselves before we can love our spouse, but the passage
clearly states that there has never been a person who
did not love himself. Our problem has never been lack
of self-love, but too much concern for self. There
is however one time in Scripture where self-love is
mentioned: II Tim. 3:2. There we find the love of self
at the top of a list of sins that will characterize the
last days. It is interesting to note, as well, that the
Greek word used for love in this verse (phileo) speaks
of emotional love as opposed to self-sacrificing love
(agapao) in the other passages. In other words, the only
verse in the New Testament that speaks of us loving
ourselves emotionally (feeling good about ourselves,
etc.) is a warning that this is a sin to
avoid.
“We are Worthy of God’s
Love”
William Kirwin in Biblical Concepts for
Christian Counseling (p107) says, “It is as if
Christ has said, you are of such worth to me that I am
going to die; even experience Hell so that you might be
adopted as My brothers and sisters.” Donna Faster wrote,
“Of course the greatest demonstration of a person’s
worth to God was shown in giving us His Son (Building
a Child’s Self-Esteem, p6).
Wrong, the sending of God’s Son is not a demonstration
of our worth, but the greatest demonstration of the
love, grace, mercy and kindness of our God. The truth is
that God saves us not because He sees anything of value
in us, but despite the fact that there is nothing in us
worthy of saving (Rom. 5:6-10; Tit. 3:4-7; Eph. 2:4-9).
Such a statement wounds our pride, but it is true
nevertheless.
The self-worth advocates destroy
the concept of grace. The very definition of grace is
God giving us what we do not deserve. If we are worthy
of His salvation then eternal life is not a gift of
grace but a reward based on our value, or good works.
This is a concept totally refuted in Scripture (Eph.
2:8,9). For a person to come to Christ, they must first
recognize their need for salvation. Teaching them that
they are worthy in the eyes of God is to do them a
terribly cruel and unbiblical injustice. The more we
view ourselves Biblically the more precious the love,
grace and mercy of our God becomes. If we consider
ourselves worthy of any of God’s blessings we have
grossly cheapened His free gift of love and
grace.
“Satan Loves It When We
Think Badly of Ourselves”
Self-image teachers would like us to believe that
we must have a good self-image or else the devil has a
strong foothold in our life. They believe that a poor
self-image will keep us from recognizing our worth to
God and therefore we won’t accept His gift of salvation.
In truth Satan doesn’t care what we think about
ourselves as long as we are preoccupied with SELF.
If he can keep us wrapped up
with self he can keep us from being occupied with God
and others as we are instructed in Scripture (Phip.
2:3-8).
Man’s problem has
always been pride.
From the beginning man wanted to be like God
(Gen. 3:5). The devil, himself, is the author of sinful
pride (Isa. 14:13,14). This kind of attitude and high
opinion of himself not only got Satan kicked out of
heaven and damned to eternal punishment, but it also
became his favorite tool to keep from trusting in
God.
THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF
SELF
Jay Adams in The Biblical View of Self-Esteem,
Self-Love, Self-Image says,
“While there is no concern evidenced in the Bible about
having too little self-esteem, and therefore no
directions for enhancing self-esteem, God does indicate
that He wants us to evaluate ourselves - so far as it is
possible to do so - accurately” (p113). In Romans 12:3
Paul is instructing his readers how to evaluate
themselves concerning the different gifts that God has
given to them. In doing so, he provides the principle
that we should use to evaluate ourselves concerning
every area of our lives. In that passage, “sound
judgment” means (and demands) that a reasoned judgment,
based on evidence, be made. Note that Paul’s warning is
against thinking too highly of ourselves. He says
nothing about being careful not to think to lowly of
ourselves, since this is never a problem discussed in
Scripture.
When we evaluate ourselves according to sound
judgment what do we find? As believers we will find that
God has reached down to us totally by grace to save
unworthy sinners, making us a very child of God! We
have been made worthy by God (cp Rev. 3:4), not because
we deserved it but because of God’s
love. We also now know, by the
Scriptures, that God has uniquely equipped us to serve
and minister for Him in this world and in His church.
Our value is not based upon a comparison of ourselves
with others (as a matter of fact that is forbidden, II
Cor. 10:12), but upon the position that we have in
Christ and the gifts with which He has equipped us to
live for Him.
As Christians, are we supposed to think badly
about ourselves? Not at all! The Scriptural position is
that we are to focus on God and others, not ourselves
(Matt. 22:36-40; Phip. 2:3-8). Any preoccupation with
self (either in thinking too highly or too lowly), is an
unbiblical response to God’s Word. Scripture starts from
the position that we already love ourselves and
commands us to
love others equally. As a matter of fact, we are to
put the interest of others before our own (Phip. 2:3,4).
RESEARCH
Most would assume that since both
the secular and Christian segments of our society have
jumped on the self-image train, apparently the
scientific research has revealed that low self-esteem is
rampant and the need to build a good self-image is
paramount. Such is not the case. As a matter of fact,
most research has shown that both children and adults in
our society actually esteem themselves too highly. In
addition, there appears to be no correlation between
self-image and behavior. The following are some such
examples:
¨ The findings of the
College Board (through surveys taken from millions of
high school seniors who take its tests) found that
seventy percent rated themselves above average; two
percent as below average. Sixty percent viewed
themselves as above average in “athletic ability;” only
six percent said they were below average. In “ability to
get along with others,” zero percent rated themselves
below average; sixty percent rated themselves in the top
ten percent and twenty-five percent saw themselves in
the top one percent (The Inflated
Self,
p23,24).
¨ In one study,
ninety-four percent of college faculty members think
themselves better than their average colleague (“A New
Look at Pride,” in Your Better Self, p90).
¨ In a recent issue of
Psychological Review, a journal published by the
American Psychological Association, an article was
written with the subtitle: “The Dark Side of High
Self-Esteem.” The authors stated, after studying
numerous serious empirical studies, “In our view, the
benefits of favorable self-opinions accrue primarily to
the self, and they are if anything a burden and
potential problem to everyone else.” (Reported in
Fortune, April 29, 1996, pp211-212). Newsweek
claimed that although more than ten thousand
scientific studies of self-esteem have been conducted,
the experts cannot even agree on what it is
(Newsweek, Feb. 17, 1992,
“Hey, I’m Terrific,”
pp48-51).
¨ Perhaps the most
comprehensive study of its kind was that which was done
by the California State Task Force on Self-Esteem.
U.S. News and World Report (April 2, 1990), says
concerning this study, “The Bush era turns out to be a
perfect time for self-esteem programs. They cost almost
nothing. They offer the light of sunny California
optimism at a time of great pessimism. They are simple —
easily grasped, easily spread. And in public-school
systems torn by competing pressure groups, they have no
natural enemies. They have only one flaw: They are a
terrible idea. First of all, despite the firsthand
reports of many teachers, there is almost no research
evidence that these programs work. The book Social
Importance of Self-Esteem, which is basically all
the research turned up by the California task force,
says frankly, ‘One of the disappointing aspects of every
chapter in this volume. . . is how low the associations
between self-esteem and its and potential problem to
everyone else” (Reported in Fortune, April 29,
1996, pp211-212). Newsweek claimed that although
more than ten thousand scientific studies of self-esteem
have been conducted, the experts cannot even
agree on what it is (Newsweek, Feb. 17, 1992, “Hey, I’m Terrific,”
pp48-51).
¨ Perhaps the most
comprehensive study of its kind was that which was done
by the California State Task Force on Self-Esteem.
U.S. News and World Report (April 2, 1990), says
concerning this study, “The Bush era turns out to be a
perfect time for self-esteem programs. They cost almost
nothing. They offer the light of sunny California
optimism at a time of great pessimism. They are simple —
easily grasped, easily spread. And in public-school
systems torn by competing pressure groups, they have no
natural enemies. They have only one flaw: They are a
terrible idea. First of all, despite the firsthand
reports of many teachers, there is almost no research
evidence that these programs work. The book Social
Importance of Self-Esteem, which
is basically all the research turned up by the
California task force, says frankly, ‘One of the
disappointing aspects of every chapter in this volume. .
. is how low the associations between self-esteem and
its consequences are in research to date.’ In fact those
correlation’s are as close to zero as you can get in the
social sciences.”
Biblical
Authority Verses Psychology and Self-Image
By Dr.
J. D. Watson
Pastor-Teacher at Grace Bible Church – Meeker,
CO
Biblical Authority Verses
Psychology and Self-Image
An
excerpt from the author’s book
Sola Scriptura: A New Call To
Biblical Authority
Christianity today is totally enamored with
psychology and counseling. To many it is the “cure-all,”
the answer to every problem. But what exactly is at the
heart of modern psychology and counseling technique? Is
psychology taught, or even allowed for, in the Word of
God?
One of the key terms in the modern attitude on
psychology, counseling, and success motivation is
“self-esteem” (or “self-image”). This philosophy has
even imbedded itself into Christianity. It has spawned
the misnomers “Christian Psychology” and “Christian
Psychologist.” It is rampant in the teachings and
writings of men such as Robert Schuller, James Dobson,
Gary Collins, Larry Crab, Paul Meier, Frank Minirth, and
others. But all this is diametrically opposed to the
Word of God, and it is vitally important that we expose
it from the Word of God.
Since others have done this better than I, we
will defer to their work on specifics,1 but
may I at least say that there is not one place in the
Scriptures that speak of such things. Nowhere does the
Word of God speak of self-image,
rather It speaks of Christ-image
(Rom 8:29). Nowhere does the Word of God speak of self-worth,
rather It speaks of Christ-worth
(Gal. 2:20). When the Word of God does mention
“self,” It makes it clear that it is something to be denied, not reaffirmed (Mk. 8:34). Our desire must be
humility (Prov. 11:2; 15:33; Mk. 8:34; Eph. 3:8; 4:2;
Phil 2:5-8; Jas. 4:6; etc.), and the philosophy of self
that is rampant today is the very opposite of humility.
It is pride and is no less than the glorification, even
deification, of man (Rom. 1:25).
But what about the so-called “science” of
psychology? Since we Christians work with people, is
there not great value in studying psychology, which
observes people’s behavior? To put the matter frankly
and to the point, there is no Biblical justification
whatsoever for the use of psychology. Granted, this is a
strong statement, but I challenge anyone to prove it
wrong solely
from the Word of God. If
psychology is so important, why didn’t the Lord Jesus or
Paul use it and outline how we can use it? If it is so
important, why is it such a recent development? Pastors
today are going back to school to get certification or
even advanced degrees in psychology. Those who don’t are
being bullied into believing that they are not qualified
to counsel people and should send a “troubled person” to
a “professional counselor.” I’d like to submit two basic
problems with psychology.
First, psychology claims to be a “science” when, in
fact, it is no such thing. Three cardinal principles of
science are that for something to be a science, it must
be observable, provable, and demonstratable. While
psychology is observable, it is not provable or
demonstratable. In other words, the tenets of psychology
cannot be consistently demonstrated and objectively
proven. In contrast, sciences such as chemistry and
physics deal with objective truth that is provable and
demonstratable. If you drop an object, for example, it
will always fall, thereby demonstrating and proving
gravity. But in psychology, you can get several results
from the same experiment. This is not science, rather
pseudo-science that is riddled with contradiction. In an
article titled “Psychology Goes Insane, Botches Role as
Science,” Psychologist Roger Mills admitted in
1980:
The
field of psychology today is literally in a mess. There
are as many techniques, methods, and theories around as
there are researchers and therapists. I have personally
seen therapists convince their clients that all of the
their problems come from their mothers, the stars, their
bio-chemical make-up, their diet, their life-style and
even the “kharma” from their past lives.2
Christian psychologist
Kirk Kilpatrick realized how far away from Biblical
Christianity psychology was leading him and wrote in
1983:
Despite the creation of a virtual army of
psychiatrists, psychologists, psychometrists,
counselors, and social workers, there has been no letup
in the rate of mental illness, suicide, alcoholism, drug
addiction, child abuse, divorce, murder, and general
mayhem. Contrary to what one might expect in a society
so carefully analyzed and attended to by mental health
experts, there has been an increase in all of these
categories.3
So, if psychology is not science, what is it?
Frankly, it is merely a philosophical viewpoint. Why do
I say this? Because of one of the foundational tenets of
psychology that says a person is not responsible for the
way he is or what he does. The underlying philosophy of
Freudian and Rogerian psychology is blame-shifting, that
someone else, or society in general, is to blame for a
person’s actions. We could give many technical
quotations to prove this, but the following song sung by
folk singer Anna Russell in the 1960’s summarizes it
quite well:
I
went to my psychiatrist to be
psychoanalyzed
To
find out why I killed the cat and blacked my husband’s
eyes.
He
laid me on a downy couch to see what he could
find,
And
here is what he dredged up from my unconscious
mind.
When
I was one, my mommie hid my dolly in a
trunk,
And
so it follows naturally that I am always
drunk.
When
I was two, I saw my father kiss the maid one
day,
And
that is why I suffer now from
kleptomania.
At
three, I had the feeling of ambivalence toward my
brothers,
And
so it follows naturally I poisoned all my
lovers.
But I
am happy; now I’ve learned the lesson this has
taught;
That
everything I do that’s wrong is someone else’s
fault. 4
The Word of God, however,
is clear when It declares that “everyone of us shall
give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). We should
also add that Freud called himself “a completely godless
Jew” and a “hopeless pagan.”5 He viewed
religion, especially Christianity, as an illusion and a
neurosis, something which man needs to grow out
of.6 Why would any Christian want to have
anything to do with the philosophy or such a
man?
I should also mention that because of the abject
failure of Freudian psychology, many therapists have
abandoned Freud’s non-responsibility ethic and replaced
it with a “Moral Model” of personal responsibility. The
pioneer in this revolution in psychology was O. Hobart
Mowrer. Other members include: Steve Pratt, G. L.
Harrington, William Mainord, Perry Longon, and William
Glaser. The results of this approach have been
astounding, but they still fall short of the Biblical
model. They are totally of man, they disregard God and
man’s fundamental responsibility to Him, and they reject
God’s law. This leads to the second problem with
psychology.
Second,
psychology claims to have answers that the Word of God
says It alone provides. If a so-called “Twelve Step Program”
or other such technique offers the answers to problems,
then the Word of God simply is not sufficient. Again,
psychology offers conflicting answers to the same
question, answers that are based on each therapist’s
ideas. But the Word of God contains the objective,
authoritative answers of God.
This, of course, leads to an objection often
raised against what I’ve said here, namely, “But who, then, deals
with people’s problems and how do they deal
with them?” The answer is simple: pastors deal
with problems and they do it with the Scripture alone.
As mentioned in the last chapter, a strong pulpit
ministry confronts and deals with problems. There will
also be times when the pastor must engage in personal
counsel, but this too is to be done using Scripture
alone. We should not tell the person that they are
suffering from some “complex” or “anxiety,” or that they
are using such and such “defense mechanism.” Neither
should we give them our opinion, personal experience, or
sage advice. Rather, we should define the problem and
then outline from the Word of God how to solve the
problem. To put the matter frankly, the Lord Jesus and
Paul did not need modern psychology, and neither do we.
What we need is Scripture alone.
Today’s emphasis on psychology demonstrates a
trend that has been steadily progressing for centuries,
namely, a departure from Biblical authority. While
Biblical theologians and expositors used to be the
leaders, it is now Christian psychologists who are the
new leaders. As one writer accurately sums it
up:
Christian psychologists are the new authoritarian
clergy in the church. Like the Catholic clergy, they
cannot be questioned because they have a source of
“truth” that supplements the Bible, and possess an
expertise lacking to the layman. The most popular
authors and speakers at conferences, they glibly present
a new interpretation of the Bible unimagined by those
“holy men of God. . .moved by the Holy Spirit” whom God
inspired to write His Word. How it must break God’s
heart to see His children seeking counsel outside of His
Word! 7
One of the greatest needs
of our day is to reject all of today’s psycho-babble and
lean solely upon “every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
The Biblical Principle of
Humility
An
excerpt from the author’s book
Salvation Is of The
Lord
I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,
forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph.
4:1-3).
Mark this down: Humility is the most
foundational attitude for the Christian walk and
Christian growth. There is no way we can please God
without humility. The Greek here (tapeinophrosune)
literally means “lowliness of mind,” i.e. to think lowly of
one’s self.
It’s extremely significant that neither the
Romans nor the Greeks had a word for humility. They
abhorred any thought of self-belittling. To them such a
thing was synonymous with weakness and cowardice. Well,
as we’ve seen, this abhorrence of self-belittling lives
today. While we will continue to deal with this issue,
we will mainly concern ourselves here with what the Word
of God specifically says about
humility.
“Pride” and
“Proud”
The first term we should examine is “pride.” Many
today speak of “positive pride” (or “healthy pride”) and
contrast it with “negative pride.” Where are men getting
this? They borrow it from psychology, stamp the name
“Christian” on it, and say it’s true. But what saith the
Scriptures?
The word “pride” appears forty-nine times in the
King James Version, and not one time is it
used in a positive way. God’s
judgment is always connected to pride. For
example:
Only by pride cometh
contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. (Prov.
13:10)
Pride goeth
before destruction . . . (16:18)
A
man’s pride
shall bring him low . . .
(29:23)
The
pride of
thine heart has deceived you . . . (Obad.
1:3)
For
all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life;
is not of the Father but is of the world (I John
2:16).
Likewise, the word “proud” appears forty-eight
times in the King James Version, and it too is never used in a positive way. Consider these few
examples:
Look on
every one that is proud, and bring
him low. (Job 40:12)
Blessed
is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and
respecteth not the proud. (Ps.
40:4)
These
six things doth the LORD hate, Ye, seven are an
abomination to Him:
A
proud look .
. . (Prov. 6:16-17a).
Every
one that is proud in heart
is an abomination to the LORD. (16:5)
The
lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness
of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be
exalted in that day. For the day of
the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty,
and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be
brought low. (Is. 2:11-12).
[Fallen
man is] proud. (Rom.
1:30)
[In
the last days] men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, and proud. (II Tim.
3:2)
But
he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. (Jas. 4:6;
see also I Pet. 5:5)
Why do I make such an issue of this? Why is pride
so terrible? Because pride is at
the root of all sin. The first
sin, that of Lucifer (Is. 14:12-23), was the sin of
pride, and it has motivated all sin ever since.
Pride comes in many forms. We may be tempted to
be proud of our success, our accomplishments, our
knowledge (even Biblical knowledge), our talents and
abilities, our appearance, or even our children. But
again, pride is never good. Why?
Because it always
reflects the idea that we have done
something. Even the dictionary definition bears this
out: “Feeling pleasurable satisfaction over an act, a
possession, a quality, or a relationship by which one
measures one’s stature or self-worth: [e.g.] proud of
one’s child; proud to serve one’s country.”
8
Some argue, however, “We must have some pride and
dignity, such as cleanliness and good appearance.” Yes,
we should be clean and have a good appearance, but why?
What is our motive? Should our motive be that we just
don’t want people to think badly of us? Or rather should
our motive be that we do not dishonor the Lord because
of our appearance?
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever you
do, do all to the glory of God. (I Cor.
10:31)
Consider also that there was no pride or dignity
at the cross. On the contrary, the cross was the ugliest
and the most undignified of deaths. But Jesus still
humbled Himself to it. So let us not think of pride and
dignity when called upon to suffer.
Ponder a moment something else that few preachers
emphasize today. How often are we tempted to be proud of
our children when they do right? But again, we feel this
way because we think we have done a good job of raising
them. Yes, we will feel pleased and thankful, but only
God is to receive the glory. And God forbid that we ever
tell our children, “I am so proud of you,” because this
will give them the wrong message. Yes, perhaps they
obeyed a principle you laid down in the home, but where
did the principle originate? With you? No, with God. We
can take no credit, rather we must give all credit and
praise to God. So, may we say to our children instead,
“Oh, how happy and thankful I am that you did right, but
think how pleased God is!” Let us teach our children the
right motivation for obedience, that first and foremost
they do everything to glorify the Lord. May we teach our
children to do or not do something not because we say so, but
because God says so.
“Self” and
“Self-Image”
Now let us consider what the Word of God says
about that ever so popular term “self.” Those who speak
of “self-image” either forget (or simply deny) that
man’s image is one of a dirty, filthy, wretched sinner,
as we’ve seen in Romans 1 and Ephesians 2. Yes, we were
created in God’s image, but that image was tainted by
sin, and it is Christ alone Who restores the image of
God. Therefore, a self-image
should not be our concern, rather a Christ-image should be our concern. Likewise,
psychologists and educators are obsessed with children
being “raised in an environment that will build a
positive self-esteem.” But God says we should be
building a “Christ-esteem” in them, teaching them to do
everything to please the Lord.
As we’ve seen in Romans 8:29, we are being
conformed to the image of Christ. The “image” of something means
“reflection,” like the reflection in a mirror.
Wouldn’t it be ridiculous for a mirror to try to develop
a “good self-image?” Likewise, our purpose is merely to
reflect Christ.
Paul uses another picture in Ephesians 5:1, where
he writes that we are to be “imitators of God
as dear children.” The Greek here is mimetes, from which we get our English word “mimic.” And
indeed, children mimic their parents (good or bad). If I
may illustrate, the last thing in the world I want my
son to do is to imitate me, that is, imitate my
shortcomings and weaknesses. What, then, does Paul mean
when he says elsewhere, “Imitate me, just as I also
imitate Christ” (I Cor. 11:1)? This means that when my
son “imitates me” at such times, he is not really
imitating me at all, rather he is imitating
Christ.
Consider also Philippians
2:5-8:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus . . . [Who] humbled Himself.
. .
Above all else, the
mind of Christ is humility. If we may put it this way,
in His humanity
Jesus had a low opinion of
Himself. Before going on, I would like to note what
Robert Schuller writes concerning this
verse:
Jesus knew his worth, his success fed his
self-esteem . . . He suffered the cross to sanctify his
self-esteem. And he bore the cross to sanctify your
self-esteem. And the cross will
sanctify the ego trip!
9
Such blasphemy is hard to
believe. But we can’t expect anything better from one
who says that, “A person is in hell when he has lost his
self-esteem,” 10 and who also
writes:
I don’t think anything has been done in the name
of Christ and under the banner of Christianity more
destructive to human personality and, hence,
counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the
often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of
attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful
condition.” 11
And what is sin in
Schuller’s gospel? In his book Self-Esteem, The
New Reformation, he writes, “Reformation Theology
failed to make clear that the core of sin is a lack of
self-esteem.” 12 In fact, the whole book is
an attack on the Theology of Calvin and others who were
“rampantly reckless in assaulting the dignity of the
person.” 13 He goes on to say that the same
is true of most evangelical Theology. In other words,
saying man is depraved is an attack on his dignity. He
continues by saying, “What we need is a theology of
salvation that begins and ends with a recognition of
every person’s hunger for glory.”
14
Such apostasy is almost unbelievable. Is there
any possibility that such a man is truly a born-again
child of God? May we submit, this is what lies at the
root of today’s self-image craze. I quote all this just
to show the extreme that has been created by this
philosophy. There is nothing good in
it!
Many disagree here. They argue, “Oh, we must teach children to have a positive self-esteem.”
Why? Where is the Scripture for this? By teaching our
children such a thing, we are teaching them to glorify
themselves, for Schuller is right about one thing, that
man does have a “hunger for glory” (Rom. 1:25). While we
certainly want to give our children a “positive
environment,” we must not teach them to lift up
themselves. Again, what we need to teach them is to
glorify God and reflect the image of Jesus
Christ.
Now consider II Timothy 3:2 again, that in the
last days “men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, and
proud.” This is what we see today, “self-love.” Man is
the focus of love instead of God. What we need to be
emphasizing in our churches today is to love the Lord
not ourselves.
Another term we hear often is “self-worth.” But
may we stop and think a moment that those who speak of
this ignore the fact that we are worthless. Not one
verse in God’s Word says such a thing. On the contrary,
It says that we were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph.
2:1-3). May we ask ourselves, “What good is a corpse?”
Any so-called “worth” we have belongs to Christ, not us.
Christ never told his disciples they were worth
anything. When He called them, did He say, “Gentlemen,
when I created you, I gave you some talents and
abilities and I sure do need you now.” On the contrary,
he told them to “deny self, take up your cross, and
follow me.” (Mk. 8:34). And as Paul
wrote:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of
God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal.
2:20)
There is no self-worth here,
only Christ-worth.
The only men God ever used were humble servants.
He didn’t use a self-assertive Moses, rather a humble
Moses. He called a
self-assertive Peter, but He used a humble Peter after Christ dealt with him in
John 21.
But the most dramatic illustration was Paul.
There are several places in Scripture where Paul views
himself. In I Corinthians 15:9, for example, Paul
writes:
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not
meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the
church of God. (I Cor. 15:9)
And in I Timothy 1:15, he
calls himself the “chief” of sinners.
But Ephesians 3:8 is certainly the most vivid,
where he speaks of himself as “less than the least of
all the saints.” Grammatically, Paul uses an unusual
word here; he forms a comparative from a superlative. In
English we form the comparative using “er” (e.g. “smaller”) and
form the superlative using “est” (“smallest”). So, for
the sake of good English grammar, two words are used
here: “less” (comparative) and “least” (superlative). In
the Greek, however, there is only one word (elachistoteros), which we could render “leaster,” i.e. “far
less than the least.” Paul felt he was far less worthy
than anyone to have God’s grace bestowed upon him. This
wasn’t false modesty, rather a true assessment of
himself.
Likewise, this must be true of every believer. Each of us must never forget what we
were outside of Christ. As Isaiah told the nation of
Israel:
. . . look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and
to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. (Is.
51:1)
No, we should not dwell on the
past, for this will defeat us. As someone has said,
“When we live in the past, we mar the present and
neglect the future.” Rather we should remember what we were to remind us that we are continuing
to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom.
8:29).
So, throughout the Word of God we are told that
humility is a key ingredient to spiritual blessing. Just
as pride is at the root of all sin, humility is at the
root of all righteousness and
blessing.
In contrast to “pride” and “proud,” the word
“humility” appears seven times in the King James Version
(twelve in the NKJV), and “humble” appears twenty-five
times in the King James Version (forty-three in the
NKJV).
May I point out here that we should notice that
the Word of God speaks more about “pride” than it does
about “humility.” So much for the criticism that goes,
“There’s just too much negative preaching.” As is often
the case, the Word of God speaks more about the negative
than It does about the positive. The most vivid example
is that the Scripture says much more about Hell than It
does about Heaven. Why? To warn us! Likewise, God warns
us that pride leads only to
destruction.
Oh, but what marvelous verses there are about
humility:
The fear of the LORD is the
instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. (Prov.
15:33)
.
. . God resisteth the proud, But giveth grace to the humble (I Pet.
5:5 and Jas. 4:6).
If
my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (II
Chron. 7:14)
When
pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
(Prov. 11:2)
Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up. (Jas. 4:10)
.
. . Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself
as this little child, the same is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 18:3-4).
That last verse reminds us
that we must humble ourselves to even become a
Christian. How much clearer it should be then to the
Christian that he is to be humble. The Gospel is being
reversed today. In essence, the teaching is that we have
to humble ourselves a little bit to get saved,
afterwards we get this great self-image. But humility
keeps us in our place. What is our place? We are
servants and tools.
To illustrate, does the carpenter’s hammer have a
good self-esteem and self-worth? Does a hammer ever say,
“Pardon me, but I don’t want my head banged against a
nail all day today. I feel I have a better worth than
that and would prefer to be used in a more positive
way.” Obviously this is ridiculous. The hammer has only
one worth, being used by the carpenter to pound nails
into wood and removing a nail occasionally. Likewise, we
are tools, tools that God will use as He sees fit. Thank
God our Savior also calls us “friends,” since we have a
personal relationship with Him (John 15:15), but the
servant relationship is still in
force.
Coming back to our text, notice that it says,
“all lowliness,” that is, “all humility.” That little
word “all” (pas) is very important. It means “all, the whole,
every kind of” (Strong). Paul’s challenge is that we be
humble all the time, in every kind of
situation.
Humility is elusive, is it not? Why? Because if
we focus on it too much, it will turn into the very
opposite, pride. I don’t think I will ever forget what I
heard a preacher say from the pulpit one Lord’s Day
morning, and he said it with all sincerity: “I have many
shortcomings, but the virtue I know I have is humility.
You could even say that I’m proud of my humility.” We
may think this humorous, but it seems like many think
this true of themselves, they think they are humble in
their “self-esteem.” May I say, the moment you think
you’re humble, you’re actually proud. Humility is
something we are always trying to attain but never quite
get.
Before going on, please meditate on these words
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones:
“Lowliness” is humility, and especially humility
of mind . . . It means modesty. It is the opposite of
self-esteem, self-assertion, and pride. Humility is one
of the chief of all the Christian virtues; it is the
hallmark of the child of God. Humility means having a
poor opinion of yourself and of your powers and
faculties . . . It is the opposite of the worldly spirit
which urges man to trust in himself, and to believe in
himself. It is the opposite of all aggressiveness and
self-advertisement and ambition and all the brazenness
of life at this present time. There is nothing sadder
about this present age than the appalling absence of
humility; and when this same lack is found in the Church
of God, it is the greatest tragedy of all.
15
“The good doctor” (as he
was often called) preached those words many years ago,
but they have never been truer than they are
today.
One of the greatest results of applying the
Doctrines of Grace to our lives is that they humble us
more than anything else can. Oh, how can we not be
humble when we realize what man is and Who God is? This
is, in fact, how to be humble. And again, this attitude
forms the very foundation of Christian growth. First and
foremost, to live
by grace means to walk in humility.
NOTES
1 Dave
Hunt and T. A. McMahon in The Seduction of
Christianity and Beyond
Seduction, Martin and Deidre Bodgan in Prophets of
PsychoHeresy, and Jim
Owen.
2 The National
Educator, July 1980, Roger
Mills, “Psychology Goes Insane, Botches Role as
Science,” p. 14.
3 Psychological
Seduction (Nashville: Thomas
Nelson, 1983), p. 31.
4 Cited
in Jay Adams, Competent to
Counsel (Grand Rapids: Baker
Book House, 1970), p. 8.
5
Heinrich Meng and Ernst Freud, editors, Psychoanalysis and
Faith (New York: Basic Books,
Inc., 1963), pp. 63, 110. Cited in
ibid.
6 See
Adam’s discussion on pp.
15-17.
7 Dave
Hunt, “All the Counsel of God,” an article in The Berean
Call newsletter (Bend, OR),
February, 1996.
8 American Heritage
Dictionary.
9 Living Positively
One Day at a Time (Revell, 1982), p. 201 and Self-Esteem, The New
Reformation (Word Books, 1982),
p. 115 (emphasis in the
original).
10 Self-Esteem,
p.14-15.
11 Christianity
Today, Oct. 5, 1984, p.
12.
12 Self-Esteem, p.98.
13 Ibid,
flyleaf.
14 Ibid,
p. 26-27.
15 Christian Unity: An
Exposition of Ephesians 4:1-16
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1982), p.
41.
