Christian faith has a long track record of commentary on entitlement and specialness. It hasn't always found it easy to get the balance right - some spiritual traditions almost seem to divinise the self and its desires, whilst others too easily fall prey to an 'I am a miserable worm' sort of theology which can be particularly damaging to the estimated 1 in 4 churchgoers who already struggle with depression or low self-esteem. In reality both extremes are theologically questionable. A more balanced view arguably emphasises and holds in tension a view of the human person as fundamentally created in God's image and loved by God (something which should shape our identity more than any other consideration) with a view of the human person as marred by sin and in need of grace. True humility consists in knowing 'of what we are made', having neither artificially inflated expectations of ourselves or the world, nor harmfully imagining we are worth nothing. The question is: how to help people, through prayer, support, worship, and learning opportunities, to discover this strong centre in God which will prevent us from flipping and flopping between two more harmful extremes?
There's an interesting and entertainingly illustrated article in the Huffington Post from 15 September 2013 suggesting that high expectations of entitlement and specialness are at the root of much contemporary discontent amongst young adults. Such self-perceptions are not at all unique to those alive today (I'm currently reading George Eliot's Middlemarch, and there are several characters who exhibit similar traits - Rosamond Vincy is disappointed due to her expectations of her material and social standing in the community, whilst Edward Casaubon is ultimately deluded in thinking he has found 'the key to all mythologies' when in fact his thinking is not only wrong but not even terribly original). However, unhappiness due to feelings of entitlement and unusual specialness does seem pervasive at present (although Generation Y readers may wish to comment on whether the Huff Post article accurately captures what is going on for their generation).
Christian faith has a long track record of commentary on entitlement and specialness. It hasn't always found it easy to get the balance right - some spiritual traditions almost seem to divinise the self and its desires, whilst others too easily fall prey to an 'I am a miserable worm' sort of theology which can be particularly damaging to the estimated 1 in 4 churchgoers who already struggle with depression or low self-esteem. In reality both extremes are theologically questionable. A more balanced view arguably emphasises and holds in tension a view of the human person as fundamentally created in God's image and loved by God (something which should shape our identity more than any other consideration) with a view of the human person as marred by sin and in need of grace. True humility consists in knowing 'of what we are made', having neither artificially inflated expectations of ourselves or the world, nor harmfully imagining we are worth nothing. The question is: how to help people, through prayer, support, worship, and learning opportunities, to discover this strong centre in God which will prevent us from flipping and flopping between two more harmful extremes?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorsIan Jones is Director of St Peter's Saltley Trust. Archives
October 2017
Categories
All
|