Page 18 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 16
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ding so we might fully depend on him, tru- For people who have become willfully mo-
sting him as our perfectly loving and under- ral agents and can consent to the false self,
standing Father, realizing our identity as his the driving force motivating them to false
children. This is a process, beginning with self-understanding is no longer just pro-
parents and other caregivers who establish tection from other people (as in the above
a solid base of support and build up a sense example with children), but from the sha-
of competence, enabling us to successfully me of falling short of our created purpose,
discover more about the world and oursel- choosing instead to live without God in pri-
ves, and continuing through every stage of de, self-deception, and despair.
development as we construct an increa- Uncovering the true self is about people
singly vivid and accurate understanding of coming closer to the perfect knowledge
reality and our place in it. that God has about them. While a daunting
In God’s good creation, before sin entered, task for fallen human beings, it is possib-
we were intended to grow to recognize le through God’s grace. The true self is a
ourselves as the people God always meant mental construct representing who people
us to be, that is, as selves constructed not actually are, and it is based on knowledge
merely through our own self-representati- gained from self-reflection, experience,
ons and the support of others, but as selves and outside authorities.
created by God. The true self is reflected completely only in
However, we have distorted our self-under- God’s omniscient comprehension, and so,
standing into a false self, in order to hide it is not merely who people perceive them-
from sublime and paradoxical dynamics in selves to be—which constitutes the false
our hearts: the innate desire for wellbeing self—but who they actually are in God’s
and the unavoidable despair over weakness understanding.
and sin. People no longer naturally grow to To foster true self-understanding in oursel-
depend upon God as their Father, because ves and others, we need to focus primarily
their self-understanding is rendered false on what God says about us, filtering every
either by their enslavement to moral and self- and other- description or evaluation
epistemological self-sufficiency—various- through God’s meta-perspective. Of par-
ly referred to in Scripture as “foolishness,” ticular importance are the following ethi-
“hypocrisy,” and “confidence in the flesh”— cospiritual truths revealed about the true
or by psychological damage they have suf- self in the gospel: that one is created by
fered. God for sonship, fallen from glory, loved by
People use the false self to conceal and God in Christ, and incomplete.
protect themselves, but in two distinct As the true self is revealed, people expe-
ways that must be recognized: on the one rience greater authenticity, enhanced fel-
hand, in innocence we may use the false lowship with other human beings and the
self to defend ourselves from real or percei- restoration of communion with God. The
ved danger from other people (as a case in true self is ultimately a gift of God, revealed
point, children who have not attained the to his children for their benefit.
capacity to willfully account for their ac- Fostering the true self is fundamentally a
tions are not morally responsible for having task of forming and reforming individuals’
a false self-understanding that others have values and beliefs. The values and beliefs
coerced upon them), and, on the other that effectively promote true self- un-
hand, in sinfulness we may use the false derstanding are those that direct peop-
self to hide from God and the truth. le toward what they truly need: life and
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