Self Actualization

Recently in Bible study we've been watching a video series called "The Truth Project". This series is designed to challenge the Christian world view and hold it against the Biblical view of the world. The idea of the series is to allow us to question how much of the world we've allowed into our faith and to realign our beliefs with what is really true. If the series sounds confusing and difficult then I've accurately portrayed it.

I've been catching up on the series and today I watched the video entitled "Who is man?" This particular class called into question more of what I have accepted than any other thus far. It's interesting because I absolutely believe the tenets that he communicates as true about man: 1) Man is dual nature (sinful and Spirit-filled) 2) Man is fallen 3) Man needs to be redeemed. Check, check, check. All truths that I accept to be true. But then he discussed the world's view of man, partially through the lens of Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs.

The hierarchy of needs is a much discussed and believed principle in education. The idea behind the hierarchy is that in order to educate man's mind, one must first tend to his more basic needs (food, rest, shelter). I still don't disagree with this idea, but what the teacher did call into question is the final rung of the hierarchy: self-actualization. The philosophy is that to achieve the highest stage in life one will fulfill and act on all of their wants, needs and desires. When we studied this in college, this made sense, the idea that we've gotten far enough to not let anything hold us back from what we want to be doing. And I even "Christian-ized" it: when we got to the highest stage in life we could follow what God wants us to do without questioning. Sounds good and I managed to combine my two worlds.

What I didn't know, that I learned from this series, is that Maslow was a humanist, a group who believes man is inherently good and that evil does not come from him. So when he is referring to self-actualization, the humanist's interpretation would say that it's man's ultimate state of being to serve his own needs and to do whatever he wants to make him happy. This idea of self-actualization is seemingly the foundation of American perspective. We work hard to get what we want to make us happy; we will cheat, steal and slander to get the job we want to make us happy; we will bulldoze over the feelings of others to make ourselves feel more self-important and make us happy. But truly this idea flies in the face of what God tells us about ourselves.

Our purpose is not to make ourselves happy, but it is instead to glorify God in word, action and deed. If we live our lives according to God's will, we won't be living for ourselves at all but rather we'll be living to serve others and God. It is SO not about us because if we did what we want all of the time, if we were self-actualized, then sin would run rampant and so much evil would pervade the world. Don't we see the fruits of that already? We are plagued with poverty and hunger because those who have want more. We lose new life to abortion because women don't want to have a child. It is not about our wants, our desires, because not only are those selfish, they are a reflection of our fallen selves, not our redeemed selves.

Our fallen selves, our flesh, are in opposition to our redeemed selves, our spirit. This conflict is depicted in Galatians 5, and this passage speaks directly against self-actualization.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (v. 16-17)
The first thing I notice is that the word desire is not coupled with Spirit, only with flesh, indicating that our wants are drawn from our fallen selves. Secondly these two forces are opposed to each other so that we may not do the things that we please. God provided us with our redeemed spirit so that we might not be self-actualized. Self-actualization is easy, it's natural to us, whereas being redeemed is hard work, we must go against our fallen instincts and desires.

We already knew that we live in a society opposed to Truth. It is apparent in how people speak about Christians and God. But it is easy to forget to be mindful of the subtle ways our society opposes truth. It is not necessarily in the blatant confrontations that we could be in danger, but rather in the subversive, quiet messages delivered to us as truth, that it is easy to be taken in.

I am not at all saying I wish I had not sat in the classroom, that I wish I had abstained from the experience of learning about Maslow and his hierarchy, or that I even disagree with all aspects of it, but rather I am saying that I need to be aware and vigilant. I need to hold learned truths against the Truth. I need to know the Truth so that I can do that. I need to be Truth-actualized so that I can act on the tenets of Truth rather than the desires of self.