You or Me?

Dr. Sutherland in his book Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns, page 40 wrote concerning God’s spiritual paradigm for the development and happiness of humans. He states, “The God-given system, as found among the Hebrews, rested upon faith, and developed the spiritual side of man’s nature, making it possible in the highest sense for divinity to unite with humanity. The result of this union of the human and the divine – the Immanuel – is the highest creation of the universe. It in itself was a power before which men and demons bowed.”

God’s program of salvation demands self-abnegation for it is only then that man can be used by God. Ellen White wrote, “What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself. When men see their own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.” The Faith I Live By, 111.

Dr. Sutherland reveals the central theme in the religion of the pagans; he maintains, “As to paganism and its system of education, what was the religion of the pagan world? And what were the ideas it strove to propagate? First, it placed above God the study and worship of self.” Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns, 40.

On page 41 of the book he further states, “The thought which must be borne in mind is that man turns from God and worships himself. He can conceive of no power higher than his own mind, no form more lofty than his own. His first idol is the human form, male and female. He endows this with human passions, for he knows no heart but his own.”

The core of self-esteem is the worship and uplifting of self. It is totally devoid of the worship of God. Jesus made it very clear when He said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24.

Deny Self and Follow Christ

Fundamentally each of us worships either “Self” or “Christ” making us either pagans at heart or Christians at heart! One must ask who is the supreme authority in his or her life. The answer will reveal who he or she worships, who is his or her idol.

The self-esteem doctrine acknowledges and praises people with high self-esteem while it boosts people with low self-esteem. Thus the central thought is that we are good within ourselves, we are masters of our own destiny, we are gods!

This “you are god” philosophy was what Satan injected Eve with in the Garden of Eden: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4, 5.

Ellen White, the servant of the Lord, remarked concerning the forbidden tree: “It was called the tree of knowledge, because in partaking of that tree, of which God had said ‘Thou shalt not eat of it,’ they would have a knowledge of sin, an experience in disobedience.” The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874.

She also states, “The first great moral lesson given Adam was that of self-denial.” Ibid.

The experience of Adam and Eve opened the door to self-love, self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-justification, self-righteousness, self-actualization, self-denigration, self-pity and other forms of self-focus and self-centeredness.

The word of God presents a different picture of human beings; it tells us of our true condition. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

The psalmist David wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Psalm 14:1–3.

The Prophet Isaiah depicts man’s true condition: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6.

And the prophet Jeremiah reminds us: “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23, 24.

The apostle Paul tells us our true state: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.

There is nothing good in us that sets us apart as worthy of recognition and commendation. Jesus made this clear when He said to His disciples, “But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” Luke 17:7–10.

In our lost and hopeless condition where is the reason for self-exaltation, self-recognition, boasting and self-esteem? Remember, the message of the Bible is addressing a sinful, lost, and otherwise hopeless human race. Every individual is shown to be a desperate sinner, because of Adam’s sin and disobedience.

There is no hope in “self”; we cannot make ourselves good or righteous. Ellen White tells us, “Man needs power outside of, and beyond, himself to restore him to the likeness of God, and to enable him to do the work of God; but this does not make the human agency unessential. Humanity lays hold upon divine power. Christ dwells in the heart by faith; and, through co-operation with the divine, the power of man becomes efficient for good.” The Signs of the Times, April 6, 1904.

“It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. ‘Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.’ ‘The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.’ Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.” [Emphasis supplied.] Steps to Christ, 18.

The Futility of Self-esteem

A few years ago the California legislature passed a bill creating the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility. The legislature funded the bill with $245,000 a year for three years, for a total of $735,000. The twofold title of the task force was quite an assumption. No one has ever demonstrated that promoting self-esteem is in any way related to personal and social responsibility. Nor has anyone proved that all those who exhibit personal and social responsibility have high self-esteem. Self-esteem and social and personal responsibility actually appear to be negatively rather than positively related. The mission statement of the task force is as follows: Seek to determine whether self-esteem, and personal and social responsibility are the keys to unlocking the secrets of healthy human development so that we can get to the roots of and develop effective solutions for major social problems and to develop and provide for every Californian the latest knowledge and practices regarding the significance of self-esteem, and personal and social responsibility.

The task force believed that esteeming oneself and growing in self-esteem would reduce “dramatically the epidemic levels of social problems we currently face.”

Is There a Positive Relationship Between High or Low Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility?

In order to investigate this relationship the state task force hired eight professors from the University of California to look at the research on self-esteem as it relates to the six following areas:

  1. Crime, violence and recidivism
  2. Alcohol and drug abuse
  3. Welfare dependency
  4. Teenage pregnancy
  5. Child and spousal abuse
  6. Children failing to learn in school

The Result of the Research

Even though they searched for a connection between low self-esteem and problematic behavior, they could not find a cause and effect link. However, more recent studies indicate a definite relationship between violent behavior and high self-esteem. (See www.psychoheresy-aware.org/selfestm.html)

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14:7, 8, “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

Horatius Bonar the great preacher and hymn writer wrote concerning the importance of laying self aside. “The words ‘none of us’ show that the apostle is speaking of those who have been delivered from a present evil world. He is contrasting them with the men of earth. Once, our life, he means to say, was the same as theirs; now all is changed; and instead of resemblance, there is unlikeness in every feature. He does not count it pride to say, we are unselfish, they are selfish; we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness. …

“I do not mean annihilating self, as some speak. There is no such thing, except in the dreams of a vain philosophy, or a self-righteous mysticism. I speak of giving self its proper place—the place recognized by our Lord, when He said, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 19:19 NASB). Lawful self-love is not selfishness; yet we may say that selfishness is diseased self-love; and, as such, is the master-sin, the master-curse of man. He lives for self; his estimate of everything is its bearing upon self; the gloss which he casts over everything is one derived from self. Self is the horizon which limits all his views.” [Emphasis author’s.]

Accordingly, Horatius Bonar continues, “The Christian is done with self, at least, in the way in which we have hitherto been connected with it. Self is displaced. It is brought down to its true position and level; it is set aside entirely as an end, or motive; and this, not in one thing—but in everything; … This displacement of self, then, is carried through man’s whole being, from one extremity to the other. From his life and from his death, as well as from all between, this self has been displaced.”

Ellen White also fully understood the importance of the setting aside of self; that is why she wrote, “Selfishness and self-esteem should be guarded against as your bitterest enemy. But how easily self finds opportunities to exhibit itself, and how Satan exults at the exhibitions, and how sorrowful and ashamed are the angels of God of man’s foolishness.” Upward Look, 250.

She also admonishes us: “… the more self-esteem we have, the more we are puffed up by the devil. May God help us to put away self and cling to Jesus; then we will spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 104. “Ye cannot serve self and at the same time be servants of Christ.” The Review and Herald, August 10, 1886.

  1. E. Green in The Youth’s Instructor, January 18, 1894, page 158 wrote this beautiful poem:

“Strip Me of Self”

Strip me of self and make me mild –
Obedient as a little child;
For none but such can hope to win
a home the pearly gates within.
Strip me of self, and let me be, my
Blessed Saviour, just like Thee;
Strip me of self, and let me show to
others, Christ in all I do.
Self has in me too long held place, but
now I am a child of grace;
I long to be from sin set free and
serve, Dear Lord, not self, but thee.

Horatius Bonar explains further the necessity of setting self aside. “The first setting aside of self is in the matter of justification before God; for, previously, self was the main ingredient in man’s theory of justification. His object was to amend self, to improve self, or it might be, to mortify self, in order that thereby he might recommend himself to God. Thus self, in the matter of his justification before God, occupied the chief place. The first thing which the Holy Spirit does, when He convinces a man of sin, is to show that this cannot be; that self can contribute nothing towards his acceptance with God.”

Then he shows the comprehensive nature of this setting aside of self. “From that point it proceeds onwards throughout a man’s whole life. From life, in all its parts and movements, great and small, his inner life, his outer life, his domestic life, his social life, self is displaced. Life is no longer tinged or shaded, or discolored by self as it had once been. And then the close of his life, in like manner, exhibits the setting aside of self. On a sick-bed self is set aside; in dying, self is not allowed to come in.

“Nor in dying, are we to exhibit self or turn the eye either of ourselves or others to it; or to think merely of enjoyment, or comfort, or reputation among men, our good name, our fame after death—posthumous fame, as men vainly call it. In reference to all these points self is set aside—‘None of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself.’ Others may live to themselves—but not we who have been ‘bought with a price’ 1 Corinthians 6:20. Others may die to themselves—but not we who have been ‘redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.’ ” Self or Christ; Which Is It?, Horatius Bonar, 1867.

The self-esteem doctrine is to promote self and as we have seen this is not of Christ. Significantly Ellen White wrote, “Let no one deceive his own soul in this matter. If you harbor pride, self-esteem, a love for the supremacy, vainglory, unholy ambition, murmuring, discontent, bitterness, evil speaking, lying, deception, slandering, you have not Christ abiding in your heart, and the evidence shows that you have the mind and character of Satan, not of Jesus Christ, who was meek and lowly of heart.”Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 441.

Mortifying Self Yet Valuing Self

How are we to value ourselves? “The Lord is disappointed when His people place a low estimate upon themselves. He desires His chosen heritage to value themselves according to the price He has placed upon them. God wanted them, else He would not have sent His Son on such an expensive errand to redeem them.” The Desire of Ages, 668.

“The worth of a soul cannot be fully estimated by finite minds.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 15, 144.

“The worth of a human soul can be estimated only by the light reflected from the cross of Calvary. So terrible was the doom of the lost race, so great the glory to which the redeemed might be exalted, that the Father is satisfied with the infinite price which He pays for their redemption.” The Signs of the Times, February 24, 1887.

“We should better appreciate the worth of the soul; for every soul converted to God means a vessel dedicated to a holy use, a depositary for truth, a bearer of light to others.” The Review and Herald, November 24, 1891.

“The redemption of the soul is precious. Christ has paid an infinite price for our salvation, and no one who appreciates the value of this great sacrifice or the worth of the soul will despise God’s offered mercy because others choose to do so.” Conflict and Courage, 54.

The Church of Laodicea Has a Problem

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” [Emphasis supplied.] Revelation 3:17.

Ellen White wrote concerning what blinds our spiritual eyes: “The people of God should be firmly united in love, strengthening one another against temptations and trials; but how often Satan diverts the mind to selfish objects. He knows our wrong traits of character, and he takes advantage of every opportunity to arouse them to activity. He excites contention, and leads professed Christians to seek for the supremacy, while through pride and self-esteem he blinds their eyes to their own defects of character.” [Emphasis supplied.] The Signs of the Times, January 15, 1885.

Those Only Who Will Enter the Pearly Gates

“Everyone who enters the pearly gates of the city of God will enter there as a conqueror, and his greatest conquest will have been the conquest of self.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 183.

Yet there will be bitter disappointment for many. “Among those to whom bitter disappointment will come at the day of final reckoning will be some who have been outwardly religious, and who apparently have lived Christian lives. But self is woven into all they do. They pride themselves on their morality, their influence, their ability to stand in a higher position than others, [and] their knowledge of the truth, for they think that these will win for them the commendation of Christ.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 81, 82.

Our Perfect Example of Selflessness

Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28–30.

“My brother, the lesson of meekness and lowliness of heart you must learn more fully than you ever yet have done, or you will never see the kingdom of heaven. In your present condition you would even think in heaven that you could improve upon the management of Christ. In learning in Christ’s school, ambition, pride, self-esteem, will all be subdued, self will be hid in Christ, and you will find peace and rest to your soul. We are to look constantly upon the meek and holy Sufferer who in His own body bore our sins, who knew our griefs, who has carried our sorrows.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 20, 94.

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at: 718-882-3900.