More Than I Deserve Series

Since the early 1970’s there have been dozens of books and hundreds of articles written from a supposedly Christian perspective that tell us how to build our self-esteem, our mate’s self-esteem, and our children’s self-esteem. We have been assured by the supposed “experts” on human behavior that low self-esteem is at the root of all our emotional and relational problems. The self-esteem movement has transformed much of America, but this is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the schools. A brilliant article, titled “When Praise is Dangerous,” in the February 2007 edition of New York Magazine provides a fascinating glimpse into why the movement crashed and burned.

Since the 1969 publication of The Psychology of Self-Esteem, in which Nathaniel Branden asserted that self-esteem was the single most important facet of a person, the belief that one must do whatever he can to achieve positive self-esteem has become a movement with broad societal effects. Anything potentially damaging to kids’ self-esteem was axed. Competitions were frowned upon. Soccer coaches stopped counting goals and handed out trophies to everyone. Teachers threw out their red pencils. Criticism was replaced with ubiquitous, even undeserved, praise.

Author Melanie Phillips offered a devastating critique of the movement in her book All Must Have Prizes. As she revealed, achievement in all areas was being replaced with exercises intended to boost self-esteem. Every player on the team has to receive a prize and all prizes have to be equal. She put it this way:

“Surely, in the immortal words of John McEnroe, they cannot be serious? Alas, the latest pronouncement from those in charge of our exam system is truly beyond satire. Their new idea for boosting examination success is to abolish the very idea of failure, along with the difference between the right and the wrong answer to a question.”

Parenting Magazine had an article on the subject as well. Here’s what it said, “There is a line where self-esteem tips over into superiority and dominance and the false assumption that one is better than the other. Those squelched weaknesses get covered up with braggadocio and creates false esteem that leads to condescension, superiority, and power struggles in friendships and other relationships. Self-esteem without self-knowledge is arrogance. It can stop children from persevering towards a defined goal when the ‘going gets tough’ because false self-esteem is superficial and doesn’t allow one to access the deep reserves that true self-worth can provide.”

Today, we find ourselves back in Philippians 2 for one of my favorite passages in the Bible and we’re going to contrast the wisdom of culture and its self-esteem movement against the wisdom of Scripture. Did you know there’s not a single verse in the entire Bible that tells us we need to build our self-esteem? In fact, in Scripture we often see exactly the opposite…that we need to LOWER our self-esteem and grow in humility (in older translations, the term for humility is sometimes “lowliness of mind”).

Now, listen closely, at first glance, there doesn’t seem to be a natural connection between humility and joy. As a matter of fact, at times, they seem to be moving in opposite directions. But, stick with me and I promise you there will be a clear connection between an increase in humility and an increase in joy.

Philippians 2:1-8

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. How many recent books or articles have you read on how to lower your self-esteem and grow in humility? This is what Paul is clearly teaching here: in verses 1-4, he is issuing a call to humility, and now picking back up in verse 5 he’s going to highlight the greatest example of humility ever recorded in human history.

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We could literally preach a series of messages just on these eight verses. These verses alone have literally produced hundreds of books and articles expounding on the theological implications of what is being taught. But lest we turn this back into a 30 week series, we’re going to have to double-time our way through this passage this morning.