What the Bible says about Individualism
(From Forerunner Commentary)
In the United States, we see the reorienting of culture around individuals. Culture used to be oriented around the family—around mom and dad and all of the siblings, cousins, and aunts and uncles. So the authorities to which people used to look have been diminished, and the traditions have changed.
Because culture has been reoriented around individuals rather than around family, community, or a respected central government, the individual becomes king. People stop looking to central authorities. They stop looking to the family and the cultural traditions, and instead, they set their own values. Goodness and evil become equated with what is pleasant and useful to the individual.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Submitting (Part 2)
The problem of Nannyism arises when the governments of men take on increasing responsibility and control, and the people relinquish their responsibilities to allow someone else to take care of them. This can take place in the sense of either a despot establishing control or a therapeutic state indulging the people by providing what the people can and should provide for themselves. A Nanny government—whether in the world or in the church—arises from a failure on both parts to recognize and uphold individual responsibility.
The greatest victim of Nannyism is character—and this is critical because, once regenerated by God, we become partners with Him in growing into His character image. When Nannyism intrudes, our spiritual progress is hindered because character growth stalls.
Character is born out of struggle—out of pitting ourselves against events and circumstances or against our own nature. Without something to struggle against, we will never develop discipline or self-control, nor hone our wisdom or foresight. Our prioritization skills languish and become muddled because they are unneeded. Perseverance atrophies from lack of use. We become self-indulgent if we never have to set aside what we want to do for the sake of what we must do. These conditions are destructive enough on the human plane, but in a Christian, who is training for eternity, they are far more serious.
Nannyism allows us to skirt consequences. It allows us to shift the burden of responsibility to someone else. If a government mutes the consequences of our actions and decisions or tampers too much with natural circumstances—witness the federal bailout of mismanaged institutions or infusions of cash to a supposedly struggling populace during economic downturns—it essentially rewards unrighteousness of various stripes (foolishness, greed, imprudence, impatience, etc.), allows nothing to be learned (setting the stage for the same thing to happen again), and fosters a tragically unrealistic understanding of life. What might it do to our view of eternal life?
David C. Grabbe
The Nanny Church (Part Three)Related Topics: Consequences | Individual Responsibility | Individualism | Nannyism | Self Indulgence | Struggle Builds Character | Victim Mentality
There comes a point in the lives of all of God's children when we are brought face to face with this fact, forcing us to acknowledge our utter powerlessness and inability to carry out God's will on our own. This can be very uncomfortable and humbling, as much of this world's culture is based on ideas of individualism, personal achievement, and living life under one's own power.
So, we tend to avoid acknowledging our weakness, our helplessness, and our absolute inability to accomplish spiritual things—on our own. Our human nature is disposed to glory in what it has done and can do on a physical level, yet that nature is wholly insufficient for producing spiritual fruit. But wherever pride remains, we bristle at the suggestion that we are not up to any task. All too often, we may mentally—or even verbally—agree with Jesus' words here, but at the first opportunity, we try to do things without Him.
A strong, dramatic contrast to this appears in the example and words of Christ. We know that He was God in the flesh, and that He had all the resources of the universe at His disposal. Yet, the details and structure of that reality can easily slip from our minds. Consider this sampling of verses showing that Jesus harbored no notion that He was doing things by His own power:
» Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." (John 5:19; emphasis ours throughout.)
» I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:30)
» Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things." (John 8:28)
» For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. (John 12:49)
» Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. (John 14:10)
Clearly, while Jesus was in the flesh, He had no ability in Himself that was different from any other man's. He was flesh and subject to the same limitations as any other fleshy human. What He did have, though, was a perfect union with the Father, which was the source of all that He accomplished. The source of His authority, His power, His life-giving words, His rebukes, His judgments, the miracles, His responses to carnal men, His ability to submit to all kinds of evil without being overcome by it, and His willingness to be tortured and killed by His own creations—everything that He said and did was a result of His being in perfect alignment and agreement with His Father. Because He knew the Father's will, all He had to do was ask the Most High God to do something that human flesh could not, and it was done.
However, as we read, He could do nothing of Himself, making us exactly like Him in this regard. We are made to depend on God. We are made for union with Him, and nothing works properly without that. Our carnality tries to assert and maintain a measure of independence, but Jesus did exactly the opposite.
Not only did He proclaim that His Father was doing these things, but He also declared frequently that He and His Father were one. There was perfect union. In Him was no independent spirit, and consequently, the Father accomplished tremendous things through Him.
Jesus really means that without Him we can do nothing. Within the immediate context, the "doing" refers to bearing fruit that will glorify God. If we expand the context all the way back to the beginning of His discourse in John 13, we find other things He told them to do that cannot truly be done without Him. He instructed His disciples to keep His commandments, to keep His words, and to love one another as He had loved them. Trying to do those things without Christ will result in fruit that does not glorify the Father, because we are incapable of doing them correctly or fully on our own!
Consider verses 4-5 in the Phillips translation:
You can produce nothing unless you go on growing in me. I am the vine itself, you are the branches. It is the man who shares my life and whose life I share who proves fruitful. For apart from Me you can do nothing at all.
This clarifies that producing spiritual fruit is not simply a matter of believing Jesus or being forgiven through His blood. He says we will not produce anything unless we "go on growing in [Him]."
David C. Grabbe
Without Me, You Can Do Nothing (Part One)
This apostolic pronouncement, confirmed in numerous passages throughout the Bible, runs counter to the prevailing philosophy of this age. Our American society is built on the concept of individualism. Just a few centuries ago, people believed that "no man is an island," but over the intervening decades a spirit of personal independence has grown to become a central tenet that influences every facet of life.
Perhaps the last two remaining vestiges of the older way of thinking exist in family ties and teamwork, and both of these are slipping away at a frightening rate. Progressives have sought and succeeded in redefining family to include just about anyone living under a single roof, no matter how they might be related by blood or marriage—or not. As for teamwork, all one has to do is watch just about any team sport and the trend becomes readily apparent. Business has kept team spirit alive, but the fundamental reason for it comes down to individual profit.
It would be interesting to ask a significant sample of the population, "What do you live for?" The answers, of course, would be many and varied, but it is probable that they would boil down to a few major categories:
- Self
- Family
- Wealth
- Power
- Fame/Prestige
- Excitement/Risk/Adventure
- Knowledge
- Altruism/Philanthropy
- Nothing/Uncertain
- Spiritual/Religious Reasons
Obviously, some of these overlap or go hand-in-hand, but most of them are fundamentally self-centered and self-aggrandizing. Even "family," "altruism/philanthropy," and "spiritual/religious reasons" have selfish angles. Because we are human, we have a terribly hard time—perhaps an impossible one—extricating our baser selves from even our highest aspirations. In even the most altruistic among us is a desire to satisfy one's own desires.
Yet, through the apostle Paul, God lays down a guiding principle that human nature makes almost impossible to live up to: "We live to the Lord." Perhaps had God called us out of a culture of slavery, as those in the first century were, we would be better suited to do this. But He did not. He called us out of the most individualistic, materialistic culture that has ever existed on the planet, perhaps rivaled only by the days before the Flood (Genesis 6:5) and the chaotic period of Israel's judges when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).
God must think that it is possible, even for us. This is not to say that it is easy. It takes faith, courage, perseverance, and a great deal of vision to wrench one's thoughts, words, and actions out of the raging current of this world (Ephesians 2:2) and to paddle in the opposite direction. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting, and progress is often slow—and sometimes nonexistent and even retrograde! However, the effort is beneficial in itself, teaching us valuable lessons and building essential traits of character.
So, how are we doing?
Do we "do all to the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31)? We should not consider this in just the major matters of life but in the minor details, for if we set our minds to honor God in the little matters, we will already be in the habit of doing so when the big ones arise (see Luke 16:10). As His representatives on earth, it is vital that whoever observes us sees a reflection of Him in us.
Do we give "thanks always for all things to God" (Ephesians 5:20)? In this day of rudeness and incivility, gratitude is a misunderstood and often undervalued virtue. However, gratitude teaches obligation and acknowledgement of providence. Being thankful keeps our minds trained on the fact that, without God, we would have nothing, and thus we owe Him our obedience as our kind Benefactor.
Do we "live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself for [us]" (Galatians 2:20)? Living by faith means that we follow Jesus' teaching no matter where it leads us because He owns us wholly and completely by His redemptive work. So, if God's Word says, "Come out from among them and be separate" (II Corinthians 6:17), we should be doing our very best to reject the anti-God practices of this world, no matter what they are and what may result. We do this because we implicitly trust our Savior.
Paul writes in Philippians 1:21: "For to me, to live is Christ." Do we think this way? Do Jesus Christ, His teaching, and His desires for us fill our lives to the extent that they are our lives? That is what Paul means: His every waking moment was lived with Christ foremost in mind: obeying Him, glorifying Him, thanking Him, pleasing Him. If we do this—if we try to do this—we will make great strides toward being prepared for (Revelation 19:7) and hastening (II Peter 3:12) the establishment of God's Kingdom.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
'We Live to the Lord'Related Topics: 'Progressive' Culture | Altruism | Faith , Living by | Family Ties | Glorifying God | Glorifying God by our Conduct | Honoring God | Individualism | Materialism | Reflecting God in Our Behavior | Self Centeredness | Selfish Attitude | Selfish Desire | Selfishness | Teamwork in Discipleship
Paul puts love "above all," showing that love is the epitome of virtues. Here, its importance is as "the bond," something that binds or holds things, like a congregation, together.
Eventually, all groups tend to fly apart. They do not remain united by magic. Generally, a group maintains its unity through a common cause. As each person contributes to attaining that cause, unity is generally served. However, even though individuals expend effort to achieve the cause, frictions arise from a multitude of reasons. Love is the supreme quality that enables the members of the group to maintain unity and keep it from flying apart. This is achieved by each person constraining or restraining himself to act in love.
Interestingly, qualities that we normally think of as being manly—like drive, courage, determination, and aggressiveness—are missing from this list in Colossians 3. Though they are not inherently evil, they play directly into the human ego, frequently resulting in crass individualism.
Because it tends to produce division, individualism is not what Paul is aiming for here. Without strong spiritual control, those traits tend to descend into competitiveness, anger, wrath, malice, dissembling, accusation, slander, and foul talk. These in turn are nothing more than unashamed self-seeking, traits that split and divide.
Each virtue Paul lists is actually an expression of love, traits that make it possible to live in a community. There is nothing weak and effeminate about them: It takes a strong person to resist what comes naturally and do what God commands rather than go along with urges of our carnal feelings. Paul lists love as a separate attribute here to show that it is not limited to the qualities he names.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: LoveRelated Topics: Anger | Competition | Disunity | Division | Friction | Individualism | Love | Self Seeking | Slander | Unity | Wrath