Me-Centered Religion
It has become increasingly fashionable to hear people
protest organized or institutional religion in recent decades, as they have
sought to invent their own religious systems, based on what they desire and
think. This writer also finds much in current systems to protest, but for vastly
different, biblical reasons. Their protests are grounded in their own selfish
notions, and mine are based on the teaching of God's Word. One main impetus
giving rise to the community churches of recent decades has been the emphasis on
selfish desires rather than the will of God. When human beings begin to view
themselves as equal to God, they begin acting so by asserting their own will
over His will and arrogating to themselves divine prerogatives. The importance
of the individual truly has become the central organizing thread around which so
much of the thinking and teaching of our time has clustered. For this reason
there has been much discussion of "The Me Generation."
Out of this emphasis on self, an entire "theology" has evolved, giving rise to
me-centered religion. From beginning to end, however, such a religion is similar
to those religions so often decried by "The Me Generation," in its fundamental
traits, to which we shall call attention in this article. Those traits form the
basic tenets of the theology undergirding this religion.
1. I am my own person; nobody tells me what to
do.
Expressed in this assertion is the autonomy or independence of the individual
from God and all others. Of course, such thinking runs into a brick wall when
civil government is involved! To think that people can become so proud that they
banish God from their concerns and lives in the thought that they are capable of
directing their own course and that they are answerable to no one except self is
the outrageous conclusion from this statement. Involved also is the idea of the
authority of the individual, who views himself as supreme. He no longer is
accountable to God, if there is a God. The Humanist Manifesto I and II from the
last seventy years well express what has become dominant thinking with many.
Many of this stripe believe that humans are the only "deity" involved in this
world. Such thinking enthrones man and dethrones God. It is difficult to appeal
to such thinking for self-denial, humility, lowliness, and trust in God (Mt.
16:24), or even for compassion, mercy, and kindness in human relations, when
such arrogance prevails.
The entire record of divine revelation demonstrates man's amenability to God. By
reason of creation God has ever had dominion over His creation. Early He
directed Adam and Eve in their lives, though they soon manifested the spirit of
self-sufficiency and autonomy that we here condemn. Whenever human beings have
obeyed the Lord, whether as individuals or as nations, they have benefited
greatly. On the other hand disobedience to God has always brought troubles. The
Christian belongs to God in a special sense, having been bought by Him for a
price (1 Cor. 6:19-20). He is obligated to live to God's glory in both body and
spirit. Any doubters need to consult the inhabitants of Sodom, Jonah, or the
nation of Israel to learn the value of seeking the guidance of God in their
lives.
Be yourself.
Guided by the basic understanding of individual autonomy, legions have fallen
victim to the appeal of one strain of modern psychiatry to live out their own
individual dreams, to actualize their own potential in an effort to maximize
their self-realization. The most important person is "you," and the most
significant culture is self-development along lines of one's own choosing.
Nothing that hinders the developing of self is allowable; all else become
secondary.
Against this incorrigible spirit of self-determinism lies the demand of God for
the alteration of self (Gal. 2:20). Only when the old self is crucified and the
new self is formed in one's life, according to the image of Jesus Christ, does
one become spiritually useful to this world. To remain in the old mode of sinful
living is to remain a spiritual drag and part of the world's principal problem.
The changes wrought by the Lord through the power of His Spirit-given Word
produce a life that is both salt and light Mt. 5:13-16). Only in subordinating
oneself to the will of Christ does one escape the slavery to sin that captures
the old self (Rom. 6:10-18).
2. Your own self-realization is more important
than any externally imposed creed.
With the dominance of self imbedded in the modern psyche, the groundwork is
likewise laid for rejection of creeds (any religious idea or ideal that
infringes upon what the individual desires or conflicts with it). The stubborn
will of the individual becomes the impenetrable wall guarding the person against
any Biblical concept of God or man. As the Gentiles rejected the idea of God, so
have many today similarly repudiated Him. Lip service is too often the only
service offered, and that until conscience no longer cries out for something
more. No one knows you better than you do, and nobody thinks more highly of you
that you do. Thus one reasons himself into a stance of rejecting all that
affords not the pleasure, contentment, or satisfaction that self demands. He
then forms attitudes, speaks, and acts on the basis of what will promote his own
self-realization (or self-actualization).
The value of the benevolent will of God should never be set aside. God has never
spoken from whim but for man's earthly and eternal good (Deut. 6:24). God's own
selfish pleasure has never been the motive behind the divine mind or plan, and
man's own selfish pleasure is always the motive that short-circuits the divine
plan (Jas. 4:3; Mt. 6:24).
3. Express the deity (god) within you.
Though the materialist does not believe in any deity, he acts as if man is
deity. He worships and serves the creature-both idols and self- rather than the
Creator (Rom. 1:25). Others seem to think that the human being is somewhat
divine, though they fail to believe in God in any genuine Biblical sense. The
outcome of this endeavor is the defying of God and the deifying of man. The
saddest reality of the present is that many live their lives as if there is no
God. In doing so, they impede their own spiritual development and, to some
degree, obstruct the salutary influence of the Bible.
SOURCES OF ME-CENTERED THINKING
Every major stream has its tributaries; this "stream" of thought is no
exceptions. Into it have flowed the influential contributions of many decades,
thus gradually conditioning the minds of people for an acceptance of what once
was unthinkable. What are these sources?
1. Denominational creeds: They have fostered the idea of diversity of thought
about God and His service is acceptable. They have also encouraged people to
believe what they wish, making humans the final arbiters of what they choose.
2. New Age Thought/Eastern Religions: Being a hodgepodge of religious thought,
it offers people something they want, encourages people's autonomous view of
themselves, and presents a view of humans as divine.
3. Secularism: Possibly its major contribution has been its "Don't Worry-Be
Happy" thinking.
4. Pluralism: This concept has become a major contributing stream in its stress
on there being many paths to God.
5. Ecumenicalism: Recent decades have witnessed the merging of different
religious bodies by the surrender of convictions and beliefs. In such a climate,
it becomes acceptable to surrender God-required teaching to the preeminence of
the individual.
6. Segmental Role of God: Too often God has been assigned His place in life,
which has usually been some small part of life or some particular time in life,
instead of the totality of one's life. Such thinking motivates one think of
himself as superior to God.
It is easy to see the convergence of these varied sources into the stream of
me-centered religion. How many of have not been victimized to some extent by the
thinking here reviewed. May all of us guard out hearts diligently, that we might
subject ourselves to God. We must view ourselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ
and even speak of ourselves in this way. What a difference between the way we
have viewed such matters and the way Paul frequently spoke of himself!
By Bobby L. Graham
From Expository Files 12.3; March 2005
