Elisabeth Elliot: I think what Francis Schaeffer said before he died was true. He said, "Tell me what the world is saying today, and I'll tell you what the church will be saying seven years from now."

Lisa Barry: Self-esteem is one of those topics that nobody heard of 20 years ago. These days not only had we better know what it is, we'd better have plenty of it if we want to be emotionally healthy. As a result, it's given everyone a license to dwell on self and to put one's own desires and needs ahead of others. For the next two weeks, Elisabeth Elliot will be taking us through a series that reveals what the Bible says about self. Is self-esteem a concept that's supported in Scripture? Let's look at the issue together as we embark on another Gateway To Joy.

Elisabeth Elliot: "You are loved with an everlasting love." That's what the Bible says, "and underneath are the everlasting arms." This is your friend Elisabeth Elliot, beginning today a series on "The Two Selves."

It's very interesting to me that I received in the same mail, two different magazines. One containing an article called "Learning to Love Yourself." The subtitle of that one was "How to Stop Doing So Much and Start Being Who You Really Are." And the author says, "Self-esteem, it's that intangible, essential ingredient of personality that determines how one does or doesn't function in every area of life, at work or at leisure, in a relationship or in quiet solitude. How we regard ourselves influences everyone around us, and everything we do and how we do it."

You know what? I think that's a lot of baloney. I think it's, let's say, it may be true that how we regard ourselves influences others around us, but it certainly isn't what determines how a Christian does or doesn't function. It seems to me, everything depends on how we regard God. That will be the greatest influence, and certainly the most salutary influence.

Well, the other magazine, guess what? Was a secular magazine, in fact, it was Newsweek. And the cover story was called "The Curse of Self-esteem." What does this tell us? That the Christian world is hooked on this notion of self-esteem, which comes from pop psychology, I think. It's certainly not a matter that was ever a concern 50 years ago or so. And the world, on the other hand, is recognizing the fact that the emphasis on self-esteem and self-image has gone way too far. I think what Frances Schaeffer said before he died was true. He said, "Tell me what the world is saying today, and I'll tell you what the church will be saying seven years from now." That is a serious indictment.

The world has been talking about self-esteem and self-image for quite a long time. And from this Newsweek article, I gather that people are up to here with that, realizing that it has been carried to an absurd extreme. And there's an interesting editorial in this issue of Newsweek, which was Feb. 17, 1992, and this is by a Britisher named Carol Sawlor. It's called "Stiffen Your Lips, Yanks. No Self-esteem, Please, We're British." She says, "If television is any barometer, self-esteem is approaching hurricane force. Not long ago I saw seven women of well past forty sit on Sally Jesse Raphael's stage, clad only in bikinis, to describe how good they felt about their aged bodies. If these women actually had a dab of self-esteem, they would have put some clothes on in public. Didn't their children die of embarrassment? Nobody said so. This nonsense is selling wholesale."

Well, I'm with Carol Sawlor on that. One minute, America was a great defender of faith and freedom; the next minute, it's all over. We had to come up with something to make ourselves feel better, hence the national obsession with something called self-esteem. "Your quest is dangerous, childish, and incompatible with adult responsibility," says Carol. "We British," she's saying, "would feel more comfortable if you opted for self-doubt. Just grow up."

The Apostle Paul said, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." We are being told that we're all children inside. You know, there's that inner child that we must all listen to and learn from. Paul said, "Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

I don't want you to misunderstand me. I believe there is such a thing as self-esteem and self-image. But I do not think that it's something that you and I ought to be paying much attention to. Life is too short for that, as far as I'm concerned. I would much rather use the energy and the time that I have and direct it toward knowing God, worshiping God, loving God, finding out who He is, and daily praying that He will make me much more like Himself. When I think of His standard, there's not very much room left for self-esteem. Not in my life there isn't.

Well, the author of the article in the Christian magazine (and her name was Judy Tucker and the magazine was Today's Better Life, Spring 1992 issue) Judy Tucker gives us some clues for how to improve our self-esteem. Now listen to this and think about it. Hold it up to your idea of what the Bible teaches. Judy Tucker says, "Recognize your feelings. Accept praise. Listen for positives. Think and talk positively. Be realistic. Praise yourself. Speak up for yourself. Don't put yourself down. Think for your self. Believe in yourself. Be proud of yourself. Don't be envious of anybody else's possessions, opportunities or position."

Now some of those things I would not scratch, but I think there is an attitude behind that with which I would have to rather radically disagree. And there's a cartoon of a child in a messy room. It says, "Who wants to be bothered teaching a child to do right when it's easier to praise all the time?" That cartoon, I hasten to say, was in Newsweek, not in the Christian magazine. "Who wants to be bothered teaching a child to do right when it's easier to praise him all the time?"

You come in and you find the child's room looking as though a cyclone had struck it, and you say, "That's lovely, Johnny. That's nice. I like your room this way." No. You wouldn't be so silly as to say that. But you might not say anything. You might think, "Well, if this is the way Johnny wants to keep his room, this is the way Johnny's going to keep his room because I would not want to invade his self-image."

H. L. Menken, who was certainly not a Christian as far as I know, said that, "Self-respect is the secure feeling that no one is yet suspicious." I think that's true. And you know what Goethe said? The German philosopher said, "I do not know myself. God forbid that I ever should."

Is self-esteem really, as Judy Tucker put it, an essential ingredient of personality? Or is it a curse? Do we give our children awards, gold stars, happy face stickers for routine accomplishments? This article also quotes Robert Schuller as saying, "People who don't love themselves can't believe in God." People who don't love themselves can't believe in God.

Well, how would we ever start to come to Him if we haven't learned to love ourselves? Do we have to learn to love ourselves before we can come to Him? I don't think so. I think God, as a loving Father, waits for us to simply fling ourselves into His arms, no matter how rotten our self-image may be. In fact, the rottener one's self-image, the more aware we are that we need divine help. Isn't that true.

I love that hymn "Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me. And that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I Come. Just as I am, and waiting not, to rid my soul of one dark blot. To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come."

An ancient Greek maxim was "know thyself." Is it possible for me to know myself? Is it desirable? Is it beneficial? I would say "no" to all three. It's not really possible for me to know myself, and I'm with Goethe when he says, "God forbid that I ever should."

Dietrich Von Hildebrand says that, "There are dangers in a false self-knowledge. One, it gives me a viewpoint of neutrality where there is no good or evil. My self is viewed as a character in a novel and I have no responsibility for its defects. And this false self-knowledge is not rooted in a willingness to change. My vices are merely interesting and psychologically absorbing. Psychoanalysis is a destructive and sterile conception of self- knowledge. It provides us with no decisive knowledge as to whether an attitude, a quality or disposition can stand the test of confrontation with God."

Think about the fact that God sees me. He knows me through and through. If I am concentrating on myself, rummaging around in my emotional entrails, I will be completely distracted from looking at God. We are to learn to know Him and be at peace. "Be still," He said, "and know that I am God."

Lisa Barry: That's a great point. A person who has bought into the self-esteem philosophy hook, line and sinker might never find the need to look to God for direction. This is a big issue, and I'm sure many of you would like to do a little more investigating on the topic. Let me recommend purchasing a copy of the tape series. It's called "The Two Selves." The cost is $11.50 and that includes shipping and handling. Here's our address:

Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, NE 68501. That's Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, NE 68501. Or, call 1-800-759-4JOY. That's 1-800-759-4569. Our Internet address is gatewaytojoy.org.

I hope you'll be with us again tomorrow as Elisabeth Elliot talks about cultivating an obedient heart. Find out how that's done the next time we meet for Gateway To Joy.