Here’s another great video from Prager U which illustrates the self-defeating aspect self-esteem ~
What Matt Walsh is basically saying is that the main problem with an inflated sense of self-regard is that it prevents you from facing reality. In his article “Jesus Smashes the Gospel of Self-Esteem,” Dr. Michael Brown points our that Christ himself reminded us of our essential worthlessness – we’re truly nothing without His saving grace ~
The Gospel of Luke tells us that, at one particular time, “There were some present . . . who told [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.”
In other words, these were Jewish men doing what the Law of Moses required, offering sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem. Yet Pilate murdered them and mixed their blood with the animal sacrifices.
How could something so bad happen to such good people? Doesn’t God protect His own? Perhaps they were guilty of secret sin?
Jesus anticipated these questions and replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” What a piercing statement!
“No,” Jesus was saying. “These men did nothing out of the ordinary to deserve such a dreadful fate. All of you deserve to die a horrible death unless you repent.”
How this undermines the gospel of self-esteem. How this smashes all self-righteousness. How this reduces all of us to sinners needing repentance and mercy. Without God’s grace, we are all lost and doomed to destruction.
The good news is, Jesus didn’t come to make us feel better about ourselves. He came to save us from ourselves. Despite our own best efforts, we’ll always be sinners in need of a Savior. And in Christ we have one ~
We sinned, He died. We were guilty, He took the punishment. We deserved damnation, He cancelled our debt. What extraordinary, matchless love! Then the Heavenly Father takes us into His own family as dearly loved children. What a wonder!
