John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Faith, wrote:
“Our wisdom . . . consists
almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as
these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of
the two precedes and gives birth to the other.”
In other words, we need to know
ourselves in order to know God, and we need to know God in order to know
ourselves.
It’s easy to see the hang-ups we have
from having too low or two high an opinion of ourselves. If we have a poor sense of our own worth, we may
try to overcompensate destructive ways. But if our sense
of identity is too high of
self-esteem, we wind up self-centered and inconsiderate of others.
But how does this connect with the
knowledge of God. If our self-identity
is too low, then it is difficult to see how God can love us. But if our self esteem is too high, we can
easily forget Him. Either way, an
improper sense of identity can cause us to fall off that tightrope balance that
is the “narrow way” righteousness. To fall of doesn’t mean death, since we are
in God’s hands, but it does make it difficult to know him and have faith in
Him.
Our sense of identity has two
parts. We are aware of ourselves as
belonging to a community, giving us a
place in a wider world. An American sees himself as belonging America,
just as a Roman saw himself as belonging to Rome. A Christian equally defines
herself being in Christ, which is what the word “Christian” originally meant.
We grow faster in our faith when we
live it inside a supportive community.
It also gives us a place to express and communicate our faith with
others. Love calls us to togetherness,
while self-love (which is of equal importance to love of others) calls us to be
alone.
We are also self-aware, having a personality
that is different from the rest. We are not just American, British, Australian,
Catholic, Baptist, or Christian, but we are also individually different. This self-awareness means we can stand alone
without external support from others. We can support others and join the crowd,
but we can also choose to go our own way.
Our faith defines our community and
our inner knowledge. We need to be part of a group, but we also need to be away
from that group. If we lose ourselves too much in group awareness, we risk
becoming blind, overly dependents followers of a cause or cult. If we lose ourselves in self-awareness, we
can become unable to see ourselves properly, and are prone to arrogance. If we
go too far in either direction, we will
not be a whole person.
Michael Kerr tells the story of a porcupines
living in a common burrow while trying to endure a hard winter. If they huddle closely for warmth, they will
get stuck on each others’ quills. If they stay apart, they freeze to death. We have to live close enough to our fellow
people to share their warmth and far enough away to keep from being stuck. [1]
Independence keeps us from being led astray, while community spares us from
loneliness.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously wrote
“Let those who will not be alone fear being in community. Let those who will
not be in community fear being alone.”[2] In order to have a close relationship to God,
we need to build bridges to fellow believers, as well as a strong understanding
of who we really are. This is a hard
balance to strike, but it is worth the effort.
Are you more comfortable being
alone, or being with others? We are all
think, act and feel differently about what part of this balance of identity is
the most important to us.
Think about when you feel closest to
God. Is it when you are worshipping in a
crowd or alone in prayer?
How can you use both your alone time
and together time to draw closer to God, who is with us at all times? Write me
and let me know what your think. If this
makes you think share it with others, or better yet, take a moment to subscribe
to this blog. Write me a note or a
comment. I’d love to hear from you.
[1][1] Quoted
in Creating Healthier Churches: Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and
congregational life From the Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling Series,
Fortress Press, Minneapolis, Min, 1996, p. 66.
[2]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together.
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