Rugged Individualism and the Gospel

I think Jack Bauer is so appealing because, other than being such a B.A. (that's "bad ass" if such writing doesn't bring down the stature of my blog), he can handle what nobody else can and can do so no matter how inept or corrupt are the people around him.  As Americans, in particular, we eat that up.  As Christian Americans, we have somehow married that self-sufficient, I-am-not-dependent-on-anyone-anywhere-at- anytime modus operendi with select verses in Scripture.  The slippery slope of rugged individualism and absolute self-reliance is that ultimately, we start to believe it about the person and work of Jesus too.

Tim Keller spoke of our "middle class" perception that we are where we are because of hard work and sacrifice and others struggle because they are just not working as hard nor as disciplined.  It is our basic assumption that poor people are poor because of irresponsibility and laziness.  Conversely, those able to live within their paychecks can take the credit for their excellent choices, wise money-management, and exceptional work ethic.  What I've got, I earned and what they don't have, they ought to earn.  How glad am I that this is not how God treats me!

Yet, this self-made righteousness is how I always felt (and am continually tempted to feel) about my position before God.  Its why I am such a good Pharisee, an expert in the field of white-washed tombs.  I like rules and want to obey them, I enjoy the challenge and victory of self-denial, I hear the standard for good health and will one up it, you will be hard pressed to find any good dirt on me for a roast, my outward reputation is above reproach!   I, I, I, me, my...but interestingly, no indication from those realities that I have any need whatsoever for the person and work of Jesus.  And if I have no real felt need for His changing work in my heart (such as my critical spirit, judgmental attitutude toward those who don't do it like me, impatience with those who won't do it my way or see it my way, disdain for any who criticize me or my way, desperate need to be praised and found without fault, desperate need to be right, total lack of compassion or love for others...) then why on earth would I ever begin to see my need for other people?  If I don't really see my fundamental need for God's work in my heart, even as one who is a believer, I can never see my need for the help of others either.  (My need before others is shameful if I don't understand that my need before God has been covered in dignity, clothed in the entirety of the person and work of Jesus.)

I am so grateful to be a part of a church that understands the "body of Christ", even if imperfectly.  Our sweet little church aims to be one that sees each body part as it belongs to the whole, both in benefit and need.  We need each other's gifts and talents (from technology to cake baking, teaching to beer brewing) and we need to carry one another's burdens.  I like the gifts and talents part, not so much the burdens part.  And, I don't really want anyone to be burdened by me - thats just embarrassing.  I like to be needed, not needy.  But its this very shame of nakedness in the Garden that was covered by God with dignity in the person and work of Jesus.  It is our dependence upon help from others (emotionally, financially, physically, etc.) which points our hearts and the gaze of others to the reality that our sufficiency is not in self but in His grace.  There is no longer shame in need when my dignity isn't resting on my accomplishments but on His alone!

Once I begin to see my own poverty in spirit (not that I am down because nobody "gets me", but that I start to see my need to be "gotten" is a sign of my very poverty), I start to see God's generosity toward me.  Paul Miller created a great chart depicting the two-sided reality:  the more I see of my sin, the more I see of God's holiness, love, grace, etc. and the more I see of God's holiness, love, grace, etc., the more clearly and honestly I am able to see my sin.  Its why Isaiah cried out "Woe to me a man of unclean lips!" rather than only confidently declaring, "Here am I, send me!"  As long as we only have a tiny bit of need, we only need a tiny bit of Jesus.  The more vividly we begin to see how great our need actually is, we grow in our need for a greater Jesus.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5

We belong to Jesus and therefore we belong to one another, no longer to ourselves alone as orphans.  "Self-made" is a deception and one that worked really well on Adam and Eve and continues to work really well on me each day.  The goal of my work, according to American ideals, is to retire at 40 and live a resort lifestyle.  Is that God's goal for our work?  The goal of money, according to rugged individualism, is to spoil myself with luxuries that I deserve from my efforts?  Is this God's goal for money?  My life is my own and your life is your own and we will live parallel lives, crossing paths in ways that inconvenience neither of us.  Was this God's vision for His people?  Is this how I image what He has done for me and how He daily responds to me?

Its becoming more and more clear to me that rugged individualism is in direct opposition to the message of redemption, the person and work of Jesus.  My life points my own heart and the gaze of others to sing my praises or to sing His.  When my need is kept hidden, His meeting of that need is kept hidden.  When my need for change is ignored, His power to change is ignored.  When I won't see my own heart's corruption, I won't see His gracious, effective and powerful redemption.  Life in the body, particularly the rub of community, exposes my need and then provides strong arms to carry my mat to the One who will meet it.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:16-20


Oh that I would quit hiding in the fig leaves of my self-reliance and self-sufficiency to instead be clothed in Christ alone, joyfully and unashamedly dependent on Him and His body here on earth.