Self-Esteem or Christ Esteem? Having a High View of God

Last month I had the opportunity to speak at two women's "Rejuvenate" conferences in New Hampshire. I was doing a new workshop, entitled "Self Esteem or Christ Esteem? Developing a High View of God, and a Biblical View of Self."

As this was the first time I had given this presentation, I was a little nervous about how it would be received. I spoke immediately before a woman who pastors a Congregationalist church and had penned a children's book about our special-ness. I emphasized the difference in who we are in our carnal, unregenerate state vs. who we are in Christ. The last portion of my talk drew heavily from 1 John about our position in Christ and what that means practically. (See chapter in my book "Your Position in Christ - a Slave to Sin No Longer").

The presentation was extremely well-received, and the feedback I received from the women present far exceeded my expectations. They are hungry - for biblical teaching. Women are tired of the fluff at conferences, telling them how great they are and how in love with them Jesus is....they want solid, biblical teaching that will direct them to the Word and help them overcome spiritual struggles. I hope in some small way I was able to do that. An excellent talk on the importance of gratitude was given by another speaker, as well.

The Center -- is it Really "A Place of Hope"?

Today, I received an inquiry from a reader in the Dominican Republic who is battling bulimia, and is looking into Christian inpatient treatment in the United States. She was wondering about "The Center", an addiction-treatment center in Washington state founded by Dr. Gregg Jantz. While I did not specifically mention "The Center" in my book, Redeemed from the Pit,  the program's integrationist worldview and "whole-person" treatment model predictably follow the pattern common to many counseling centers. While claiming to be "Christian", these facilities, sadly, do not subscribe to a biblical philosophy of man, God, sin, or the Word of God itself.

Following are the main points I mentioned to her about "The Center":

 My discernment alarms are going off. First off, what I notice from the website (in the 1st few minutes I'm there):

 - They "accept insurance". This is never a good sign. If they were truly Christ-centered, biblical counseling-oriented, they would NOT be licensed as "mental health" providers. That alone tells me they are more psych-based than Scripture-based.

 - I cannot find any Statement of Faith. That is another red flag, even if a counseling center claims to be founded by a Christian. - Dr. Gregg Jantz is very much in the "integrationist" camp -- one who believes that the Bible does not contain all the answers; but rather that psychology can be blended with the Bible. (It can't be, as any biblical counselor will tell you -- psychotherapy's view of man and the Bible's view of man are diametrically opposite.) His "whole person approach" is just that. He is not a biblical counselor, by any stretch of the imagination (although he may very well be a Christian.)

 After a few more minutes perusing their website, I come across The Center's program distinctives:

  - 2. We have assembled a comprehensive recovery team of psychologists, licensed counselors, a certified eating disorder specialist, medical personnel, board certified psychiatrist, dieticians, licensed social workers, depression experts, licensed marriage and family therapists, certified chemical dependency professionals, massage therapists, RN, fitness trainer and various specialists. Our team represents the very best in treatment – professionals who are called into the ministry of Hope and Healing. 

Okay....dieticians (nutritionists) and other medical personnel are always a good thing. "Board certified psychiatrists" and "depression experts" are not. They will tell the client that eating disorders (and depression) are "diseases", not their fault, and probably pump them full of psychotropic drugs to numb the feelings of guilt. No child of God should be deceived in this way.

 - On the Eating Disorder program page, I saw good and bad. Yes, I (obviously) agree that total transformation (I refuse to use the word recovery) is possible.....but this: "our programs for eating disorders incorporate advanced eating disorder treatment and technologies." is hogwash. They never mention REPENTANCE, which is how one changes. Of course, for them to talk about repentance, they'd have to admit that anorexia and bulimia are SINS, which they never do.

 - On the main page, where one would expect a comprehensive explanation of The Center's worldview (is it biblical? secular?), we read: "The Center for Counseling and Health Resources follows a model of whole person care – for both men and women – whereby our vision ensures we give appropriate attention to the medical, physical, psychological, emotional, nutritional, fitness and spiritual aspects of each person seeking help through one of our treatment programs. We believe in and value the worth of all individuals, and model this belief to all we serve – “inspired healthcare” for restoring balance to the body, mind and spirit."

 No mention there (or elsewhere) of the Bible as God's inspired, inerrant Word; or the fact that it is sufficient "for all matters pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). A Christian seeking inpatient treatment (or a long-term residential center) would do well to avoid "The Center".

"Self Esteem": The Enemy of Your Soul

The Gospel Coalition just published a superb, biblical critique of why the LAST thing we flawed human beings need is more "self esteem". Long identified as the culprit behind eating disorders, self esteem is actually the self-love and self-centered mindset the Bible cautions us against. Invariably, it will lead us into sin - including self-obsessed life-dominating sins such as anorexia and bulimia.

Ronnie Martin's article, "The Beauty of Low Self-Esteem", is here:

"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.

In Moses we see a rich, short-tempered prep school kid who got embroiled in a racial murder scandal. Fleeing the scene into exile and obscurity, he gets a blue-collar gig tending sheep for 40 years. God eventually steps back into the picture and assigns him the CEO position of the world's largest relocation project. What he doesn't tell him is that the relocation's going to take another 40-plus years and that he's going to die right before the final move-in date. God spent a lot of years breaking down Moses. His whole life, actually.

Then there's Joseph, a spoiled, insensitive trust-fund baby, coddled by his Daddy until his brothers have finally had enough of his insufferable bragging and throw him in a hole while they discuss how to do away with him. They end up selling him into slavery instead, because you could do that back then. He lands a manager position for good behavior until he gets framed on rape charges. Dude ends up back in jail until a VP gig for the nation of Egypt opens up, and through some heartbreaking circumstances, he lands the job. God broke Joseph down during the prime years of his young adult life.

You see where I'm going here. God takes sometimes horrific, drastic measures to destroy our self-esteem. We're not told much about the personal pain Moses and Joseph experienced. We're not told of the sleepless nights spent in isolation, gripped by emotional despondency while grasping hopelessly in the dark, trying to fathom why God was doing this and whether he was even there. In hindsight, we tend to view these figures as emboldened, courageous, pillars of the faith, but it's foolishness to think that their responses were any less weak and human than ours would be. But we see a God that uses very human experiences to change the hearts of human vessels. And it hurts.

Call to Brokenness

The call to brokenness is a call to openness. It's an altered vision. It doesn't mean that our lives enter into a continuous state of disrepair so that God can use what "working" functions we have left for his glory. Brokenness is the gentrification of our hearts. It means that the heart we had was condemned and the only way for God to make it fit for use was to demolish it and rebuild it from the ground up. Same body, new heart. The reason it hurts so bad is that we all love our old hearts. We love the familiar pulse and well-worn rhythm that our old hearts provided for us. They filled us with adrenaline, pumping the blood of self-indulgence through our veins . . . until we remember that they didn't at all. We remember that they shut us into the cells of our own self-belief, closing us off from the liberation of godly self-denial.

The beauty of low self-esteem is that we finally have the hearts to highly esteem God. It's not that we all turn into Debbie Downers and drench ourselves in self-loathing and self-pity. No, there's no time for that when our eyes are fixed firmly on our Lord.

"You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, Lord, do I seek' (Psalm 27:8).

Help us, O Lord, to see only you."

Ronnie Martin is a writer, speaker, recording artist, and worship leader at Ashland (OH) Grace Brethren Church. He also co-hosts The Reformatory, a radio talk show with Ted Kluck. He blogs here: http://ronniemartin.tumblr.com/