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."
THE CROSS
Far from exalting or esteeming "self", Jesus says in
Matthew 16 that we should deny ourselves, pick up our cross and
follow him. Jesus says in Matthew 22:34-40 that the two (not
three, but two!) greatest commandments are to love God and to
love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus wasn't, also, giving us a
third commandment to love ourselves. He was acknowledging that
even in our sin nature we love ourselves already: we feed
ourselves, we clothe ourselves. He is saying, "Now, go and
serve other people like you are already serving yourself."
The whole Christian life is built upon dying to self and
serving God and serving people. We are to get our eyes off of
self and fix our "eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of
our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). People-in-need must realize that
they are helpless and hopeless, but, "While we were yet
sinners Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Through repentance
we find forgiveness and then a life of surrender; of trusting and
obeying. What we must respond to is, not any sense of our own
worth, but the fact that Jesus loves us and has a purpose for our
lives, and he wants to use us!
THE WORLD RELIGION
The Bible says that there is coming a one-world religion whose
inspiration is the author of "Selfism". May we never
take part in synthesizing the Evangelical Church into that
one-world religion. First Timothy 4:1 tells us that, "In
latter times some will abandon the faith and follow after
seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils." And 2 Timothy
3 warns, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the
last days. People will be lovers of themselves..." and
chapter three goes on to list the inevitable results of a
self-absorbed society.
As we counsel people in the midst of crisis or tragedy or
trouble of any kind, I pray that we will give them Jesus, and him
crucified; having confidence that in his word, God, "...has
given us everything we need for life and godliness." (2
Peter 1:3)
SOLA SCRIPTURA!
Recommended reading: The Biblical View of Self Esteem, Self
Love, Self Image, by Jay Adams
