THE SELF ESTEEM GOSPEL
Self-esteem is a person's overall opinion of themselves, including their confidence in their
abilities, morals,
and worth.
The predominant view found in modern Christian counselling is that almost all ills in society can be attributed to low self-esteem.
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! *
* https:// procinwarn.com/ the-false-gospel-of-self-esteem
Paul speaks of people in the last days being pre-occupied with having a positive self-image:
2 Tim 3:1-5 People will be lovers of themselves… boastful, proud… conceited…
Yet many Christian leaders now promote the very love of self that Paul warned would characterize men in the last days.
In the counselling section of Christian bookstore you might see these titles (Remember “People will be lovers of themselves”):
Love Yourself 1
The Art of Learning to Love Yourself 2
You’re Someone Special 3
Self Esteem: You’re Better than You Think 4
Self-Esteem: The New Reformation 5
Self-Love: The Dynamic Force of Success 6
Improving Your Self-Image 7
1 Walter Trobisch 2 Cecil G. Osborne 3 Bruce Narramore
4 Ray Burwick 5 Robert H. Schuller
6 Robert H. Schuller & Norman Vincent Peale 7 H. Norman Wright
This preoccupation with self is the result of the secular psychology which has crept into Christian theology and counselling. A typical Christian psychologist writes:
“Our attitude toward ourselves—our self-concept or our self-image—is one of the most important things we possess. Our self-concept is the source of our personal happiness or lack of it. It establishes the boundaries
of our accomplishment and defines the limits of
our fulfilment. If we think little of ourselves,
we either accomplish little or drive
ourselves unmercifully to disprove our
negative self-evaluation. If we think
positively about ourselves, we are
free to achieve our true potential.” *
* Bruce Narramore, You’re Someone Special
Robert Schuller agrees with humanist-secular psychology that every human being should esteem himself as fundamentally good.
He explicitly denies that there is any such
thing as original sin and that “Adam’s sin should not be charged to his children.”
Of course, the man is a nominal Christian preacher. And, therefore, he must do something with the basic doctrines of Christianity. What he does is to re-define them. According to his re-definition, the
truth of inherited sin becomes this, that everyone is born with a negative self-image, an inferiority complex that must be overcome. *
*https:// prca.org/ pamphlets/ pamphlet_57.html
According to his re-definition of the cross of Jesus Christ, the truth about the cross is that the cross shows us how worthy every man is, for Jesus died for every man. And He would not have died for unworthy people; therefore, everyone is shown, by the cross of Jesus Christ, to be good and worthy.
The cross, of course, was not Jesus’ satisfaction for sin, but it was only intended to show you and me that if we have a dream, as Jesus had a dream, we must be willing to pay a certain cost in order to attain our dream.
The good news, according to the gospel of Robert Schuller, the message that he hopes will become the heart of the new reformation, is this message: Every man and woman is good. You only have to realize this and you only have to exercise your inherent ability. *
*Ibid.
This emphasis on self-esteem is not found in the writings of historical Christianity. D.L. Moody (19th century) writes:
The object of the Bible is not to tell how good men are, but how bad men can become good.
I firmly believe that the moment our hearts are emptied of selfishness and ambition and self-seeking and everything that is contrary to God’s law, the Holy Spirit will come and fill every corner of our hearts; but if we are full of pride and conceit, ambition and self-seeking, pleasure and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God.
Until the advent of humanistic psychology and its influence in the church, Christians regarded self-esteem as a sinful attitude.
C.H. Spurgeon (19th century): “Self-esteem naturally keeps Jesus out of the heart. And the more our self-esteem increases, the more firmly do we fasten the door against Christ. Love of self prevents love of the Saviour!”
WHERE HAVE ALL THE WRETCHES GONE?
DEFINITION (informal): wretch - a despicable or contemptible person.
Former slave trader, turned pastor, John Newton wrote in his famous hymn “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”
The phrase has been rendered in some modern hymnbooks, “to save one just like me.”
A hymn by modern British songwriter, Stuart Townend, says, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure; that He should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure.”
It has been since been rendered in some hymnbooks, “to make us all His treasure.”
WORM THEOLOGY?
Apparently the word “wretch” has gone
out of fashion, being too negative for
modern sensibilities.
While it took over 200 years for people
to start fiddling with Newton’s classic,
Townend’s hymn was “sanitized” after
only 10 years.
Strangely Paul wrote in Romans 7:24,
“What a wretched man I am!” (NIV)
Isaac Watts (1674-1748) wrote in his hymn “Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?”
Again some have changed this to read, “for sinners such as I?”
Some Christians object to what they term “worm theology” which bows down before God in a humility that confesses its nothingness.
One such person is the well-known James Dobson, an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family.
He declares, “Inferiority even motivates wars and international politics.” In fact, he attributes the attempted genocide of the Jews in Germany to an inferiority complex … Suddenly, the most egotistical people are excused with a diagnosis of inferiority. *
* https:// coursehero.com/ es/ file/ p3lcbm8o/ 1-The-major-theme-and-purpose-of-Dobsons-book-Hide-orSeek-How-to-Build-Self
Clearly David needed to read Dobson’s book, as he writes, “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men…” (Ps 22:6).
Here are some more of David’s “positive affirmations” reflecting what today would be diagnosed as a poor self-image:
“I am lowly and despised” (Ps 119:141).
“I am the utter contempt of my neighbours; I am a dread to my friends— those who see me on the street flee from me” (Ps 31:9).
“All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse” (Ps 102:8).
Self-esteem, self-image, self-worth and self-love are not concepts promoted in the Bible. Rather they are drawn from Self-Image Psychology which derives from the branch of modern psychology called Humanistic Psychology.
These concepts and their associated terms are not found within the Evangelical Church until the 20th century with the rise of Humanistic Psychology and its concepts of Self-Actualization and the emphasis on ‘needs’. Humanistic Psychology has played a major role in obsessing this generation with ‘Self’ and was developed by such men as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers… *
*https:// procinwarn.com/ the-false-gospel-of-self-esteem
Maslow’s idea of human development through the Hierarchy of Needs (with the more basic needs at the bottom) is diametrically opposed to Jesus’ teaching.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus states
that it is the pagans
who chase after
their felt needs’:
“what to eat”
and “what to
wear”.
Kingdom of God
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness
Matt 6:31-33 (NIV) So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the pagans run after all these things, and your
heavenly Father knows
that you need them.
But seek first his
kingdom and his
righteousness, and
all these things
will be given to
you as well.
Biblical faith is not based on a good self-esteem, but rather confidence in God despite our human failing.
If it were true, then clearly many godly men in the Bible could have ‘benefited’ from the modern teaching on self-esteem and positive confession.
Here are some Old Testament examples of low self-esteem, which certainly do not portray the positive affirmations some claim we ought to be making about ourselves.
Agur says, “Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man. I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.” (Prov 30:2-3, NKJV).
Abraham confesses that God is not obliged to grant his request (Gen 18:27).
Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes
Jacob considered himself unworthy of God’s blessings (Gen 32:10) – but God blessed him anyway.
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant.
Gideon didn’t believe he could save Israel (Judges 6:15) – but he did!
Yet we are supposed to believe that if “we confess it, we possess it”.
In humility he calls himself “the least in my family”, but the angel calls him “mighty warrior.”
The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.
How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.
Ruth doesn’t consider herself worthy of being noticed by Boaz (Ruth 2:10), but she is.
Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?
Saul (when he was still righteous) doesn’t believe he should be king (1 Sam 9:21).
But he becomes king anyway.
But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?
Mephibosheth feels unworthy of David’s favour (2 Sam 9:8), but gets it regardless.
What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?
Elijah says that he is no more righteous than his ancestors (1 Kings 19:4).
But he becomes one of two men in the Bible who never die.
Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.
Isaiah feels unworthy to be in God’s presence (Isaiah 6:5), but become God’s prophet.
I am a man of unclean lips
Here are some NT examples of low self-esteem:
The Prodigal believes himself to be an unworthy child (Luke 15:19).
Yet his father throws a party for him – and restores him.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
John the Baptist considers himself
an unworthy predecessor to
the Messiah
(Acts 13:25).
Yet Jesus says of him, “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” (Matt 11:11)
… he is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
Peter doesn’t believe he merits Jesus’ company (Luke 5:8).
Yet not only did Jesus not go away from him (which should have been the result of his negative confession), he becomes the “apostle to the Jews” (Gal 2:8) and writes two epistles.
Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!
Besides calling himself a “wretched man”, look at these affirmations that Paul makes about himself:
“I am nothing” (2 Cor 12:11).
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Tim 1:15)
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Rom 7:18, ESV)
Paul writes that he is
“less than the least of all God’s people” (Eph 3:8).
He says that he is “the
least of the apostles and
do not even deserve
to be called an
apostle” (1 Cor 15:9).
Yet despite these
negative confessions,
Paul is the foremost “apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom 11:13) and wrote half the New Testament.
But I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. Some Biblical figures clearly understood the value of high self-esteem.
Look at this positive confession and note the high self-esteem and assertiveness.
I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
[Satan in Isaiah 14:13-14]
But God says: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth …” (Isaiah 14:12).
So the Bible does not teach that what you say you get,
provided you are very positive.
Satan says “I will ascend to heaven” and gets thrown out of heaven down to earth.
Jesus told a parable about a Pharisee who also had very high self-esteem and practiced positive affirmation (Luke 18:11-14).
God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
In contrast, Jesus then tells us of a man with low self-esteem, “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said…”
God, have mercy on me, a sinner!
Jesus says of the tax collector: “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Despite the positive confession of the Babylonian harlot, God says of her: “She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” (Rev 18:8)
I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn. (Rev 18:7)
HIGH SELF ESTEEM
People who think too highly of themselves have the following traits:
Entitlement - the expectation of having things handed to them without much effort
Dislike and alienation from other people who don’t appear to adore them
Lack of care or concern about others
An inflated sense of their own greatness
Self-centredness
Overconfidence
So while some would want Jesus to say, “A new command I give you: Love yourself as I have loved you.”
Jesus actually said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
Jesus does not command self-love, but rather love for God and love for one another. He didn’t command us to love ourselves, because we
already do.
Some Christians teach that when Jesus said “love your neighbour as yourself”, he was telling us to love ourselves first, so that we could then love our neighbours.
The claim that a lack of self-love is our main problem means that Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself” is
now re-interpreted as an instruction to love yourself!
Why would Christ command us, if we all lack
self-love, to love our neighbours as we [fail to]
love ourselves? Christ’s apparent error is now
corrected by books and seminars teaching us how to
first of all love self so that we can fulfil His command. *
* https:// thebereancall.org/ content/ problem-self-love
The Bible says that people already love themselves; they need no instruction or commandment to do so.
Eph 5:29 (NLT) No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it…
An honest exegesis of the command to “love your neighbour as yourself” is as follows:
Clearly we already love ourselves, or the command makes no sense.
Ephesians 5:29 confirms this, based on the fact that we feed, clothe and care for ourselves, and seek to satisfy our desires.
We are thus commanded to love our neighbours in a similar way; i.e., by caring for them as we care for ourselves.
The fact that this command is necessary indicates
that, rather than lacking self-love, our problem
is an excessive amount of it, which causes
us to be selfish and to neglect caring
for others. It is this self-centeredness
that Jesus seeks to correct.
American Christian apologist and author, Dave Hunt writes:
… this pop psychology myth, having been introduced into Christianity by leaders of impeccable reputation, has become so popular that today it is the prevailing belief throughout the church.
It is as though Paul actually wrote, “…in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be haters of their own selves, and as a consequence will need to undergo therapy and attend seminars in order to learn to love themselves properly…”
http:// thebereancall.org/ content/ problem-self-love
Ironically Jean Twenge, a secular professor of psychology at San Diego State University says,
“We need to stop endlessly repeating ‘You’re
special’ and having children repeat that
back. Kids are self-centred enough already.”
After analyzing 16,475 college students
over a span of more than 24 years, a
group of researchers concluded that
today’s collegians are far more
narcissistic than previous generations.
By 2006, two-thirds of all students had
above-average scores on a standardized inventory test that indicated various degrees of self-centeredness - a 30% increase since 1982.
https:// pluggedinonline.com & https:// lcweekly.com
Twenge and her researchers traced the upsurge in narcissism to what they call the “self-esteem movement” that sprang up in the 1980s. They believe the effort to build self-confidence has gone too far.
In her book Generation Me: Why Today’s
Young Americans Are More Confident,
Assertive, Entitled – and More Miserable
Than Ever Before, Twenge asserts that
narcissists tend to lack empathy, react
aggressively to criticism and favour
self-promotion over helping others.
They are also more likely to commit
infidelities in their personal relationships,
be emotionally cold, lie without
remorse, and exhibit violent behaviour.
*Ibid.
THE REAL PROBLEM
A secular psychologist Roy F. Baumeister, Professor of Psychology at Florida State University, concludes that people with high self-esteem tend to have low self-control.
His research refutes the self-esteem myth by showing that criminals generally do not suffer from low self-esteem.
They are not acting out their outrage at being oppressed and abused. They are narcissists who believe that they are entitled to get whatever they want, and that the ends justify the means.
The problem with the world is not lack of self-esteem but the opposite – pride and failure to take responsibility for our sin!
D. L. Moody, the greatest evangelist of the 19th century, said: “I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I have ever met.”
God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves. - D. L. Moody.
Moody related the following story:
I was invited one day, some years ago, to visit and preach in the Tombs prison, New York.
I had supposed that I should address the prisoners face to face, as I used to talk to the prisoners in the chapels of most of our jails.
But when I got there, I found I had to stand on a little iron railing running from one tier of cells to another. There was a tier above and one below, and one on the same level with me.
There I talked to a great, long, narrow passageway - to gates, to bars, and to
brick walls. It was pretty hard preaching.
I had never attempted to preach in
that way before.
I did not know, when I got through
with it, how they had received me;
and so I thought I would go
and see them.
I went to the first cell door and looked in. I found the men playing euchre. I suppose they had been playing all the time that I was preaching, and took no interest in the sermon.
I looked into the window, and said, ‘How is it with you here?’”
‘O chaplain, we do not want you to have a bad idea of us.’
I said to myself, ‘There is no one here to be saved, for there is no one lost.’
And I got away as quick as I could. I went to another cell.
There were 3 or 4 men in there; and I said, ‘How is it with you here?’
‘Well, stranger, we will tell you. We got into bad company, and the men that did the deed got clear and we got caught.’
I said to myself ‘There is no one here for Christ to save, for there is no one lost.’
And I went along to the next cell; and I said, ‘Well, my friends, how is it with you?’
One of them said, ‘A false witness went to court and swore a lie upon me.’
He was perfectly innocent, and ought not to be there.
I went on to the next cell, looked in, and said, ‘Well, my friends, how is it with you?’
They were innocent, thank God! But the man that did the deed looked very much like them.
The people thought they were the men, and they got caught…
I went along to the next cell. But no sooner did I ask the same question than they said they had not had their trial.
They were going to have it that week, and they would be out on next Sunday.
And so I went on. I never found so many innocent men. They were all innocent. I found a great many innocent men under lock and key, and they were all trying to justify themselves.
There was no one guilty but the constables, the justices, or magistrates…
I got discouraged. I thought I would
give it up; but I kept on, and I
found one man in a cell alone.
He had his elbows on his knees, and had his head buried in his hands.
As I looked in, I could see the streams of tears running down upon his cheeks. They were the first tears I had seen. It did me good to look at them.
I said, ‘My friend, how is it with you here?’
He looked up. It was a look of remorse and despair. He said, ‘0, sir, my sins are more than I can bear.’
‘Thank God for that!’ said I. ‘Thank God for that!’ ”
‘Ain’t you the man that’s been preaching to us?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And yet I thought you said you was a friend to the prisoner; and you are glad that my sins are more than I can bear?’
‘Yes.’
‘Yes? Then you are a strange kind of friend. How is it that you are glad my sins are more than I can bear?’
‘I am glad that they are more than you can bear. For if they are more than you can bear, you can cast them on the Lord Jesus.’
‘He will not bear my sins. Why I am the worst man living today.’
And he began enumerating his sins, and what a load it was for him to bear. It was refreshing to stand there and hear him tell me.
It was the Lord Jesus that had got into that cell and into that man’s heart, and I told him so; then I told him to pray to God to forgive him and to take away his sin.
He thought God would never forgive such a sinner as he was.
I told him: ‘You can get all those sins, multiplied by ten thousand, forgiven; because you have committed probably ten thousand more sins than you have thought of. You can sum them all up, and write underneath, “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses from all sin.”’
And I stood there and preached the Gospel to that thirsty soul. He seemed to drink it in.
I said, ‘Let us get down here and pray.’ And we did, he inside and I outside.
And after I got through prayer I said, ‘My friend, now you pray.’ ‘I pray! It would be blasphemy for me to pray — for a wretch like me to call upon God.’
I said to him, ‘Call upon God. Ask for mercy. That’s what you want. Ask him to have mercy upon you.’
The poor wretch could not lift his eyes towards heaven. He knelt down on the pavement, and all he could say was, ‘God be merciful to me, a vile wretch!’
After his prayer I put my hand through the window in the door. He got hold of it and shook it, and a hot tear fell on my hand.
That tear seemed to burn into my very soul. I said ‘I am going to the hotel between nine and twelve o’clock. I want you to join in prayer, and make up your mind that you will not sleep tonight till you know.’
That night I got much interested in prayer for the man.
My heart was so overborne that I could not go back to Chicago without going down to the prison to see him.
I went down, and I got the governor of the Tombs to let me in, and I went to his cell; and when I got there and saw him, the remorse and despair had all disappeared.
It was all gone. His face was lit up with a heavenly glow. He seized my hand, and tears of joy began to flow.
He pressed my hand and shook it, and said: ‘I believe I am the happiest man in the whole city of New York.
I thought when they brought
me to this prison I should never go out again. I thought I never could walk down Broadway again. I thought I never could see my godly mother again.
Now I thank God that they brought me; for if they had
not I would never have
known Christ.’
He said, when he prayed the Lord Jesus heard his prayer. I asked him what time of the night he thought it was; and he said he thought it was about midnight that the Lord Jesus came into that cell and saved his soul.
My dear friend, can you tell me why it was that God came into that prison, and passed by cell after cell, and set that one captive free?
It was because he took his place as a poor lost sinner, and asked for mercy. The moment sinners do that and cry for mercy, they will get it.
Gal 5:19-20 says that the
acts of the sinful nature
include “selfish ambition.”
Phil 2:3-8 Do nothing out of
selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who… made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…
he humbled himself…
In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. (Ps 36:2)
The Bible says that too much self-love makes you unaware of your sinful state:
Rom 2:5-8 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath... God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
And the final outcome for those who are self-seeking?
DEFINITION OF ‘HUMBLE’
Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary:
not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive
reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
Scripture says:
Eph 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle…
1 Pet 3:8 … be compassionate and humble.
We should have a modest opinion of ourselves:
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. (Rom 12:3)
And who can forget Jesus’ words in his Sermon On The Mount: “Blessed are the meek” (Matt 5:5)?
Jesus also said: “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say,
“We are unworthy servants; we have
only done our duty.” (Luke 17:10)
James 4:6-10 God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble…
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up.
Matt 23:12
For whoever
exalts himself
will be humbled,
and whoever
humbles himself
will be exalted.
And in similar fashion:
1 Pet 5:5-6 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another… Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Psalm 145:14 The Lord
upholds all who fall; and
lifts up all who are bowed
down.
Matt 18:4 Therefore, whoever
humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven.
The mother of our Lord said the following in her song:
“God my Saviour… has been mindful of the humble state of his servant…
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.”
(Luke 1:46-52)
SELF DENIAL
Rather than self-love and teaching that God wants you to be successful, reach your full potential and fulfil your dreams; Jesus taught self-denial:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matt 16:24)
AUTHOR: Gavin Paynter
For more sermon downloads: https://agfbrakpan.com
For more sermon downloads by Gavin Paynter: https://agfbrakpan.com/free-sermon-downloads-by-speaker/Gavin%20Paynter
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