“To be shaped by grace in a culture of self, the most countercultural act one can commit . . . is to break its only taboo: to commit self-disobedience. To acknowledge that authority does not lie with us, that we ultimately have no autonomy. To admit that we are broken, that we are rebellious against God and his rule. To admit that Christ is ruler. To abandon our rule and to collapse into his arms of grace. To dig deep roots into his love.“
Mark Sayers, Disappearing Church
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AUGUST 15, 2024
American culture values individualism. We admire the individual who overcomes great obstacles through superior intellect, cunning, or strength. Rugged individualism, the Protestant work ethic, and self-reliance are at the heart of American culture and credited with building the United States into the wealthiest and most powerful nation in history.
In his book Habits of the Heart: American Individualism and Commitment in American Life, socialist Robert Bellah writes,
We believe in the dignity, indeed the sacredness, of the individual. Anything that would violate our right to think for ourselves, judge for ourselves, make our own decisions, live our lives as we see fit, is not only morally wrong, it is sacrilegious. Our highest and noblest aspirations, not only for ourselves, but for those we care about, for our society and for the world, are closely linked to our individualism.
Once individualism runs its course, defeating all opposition, staying true to whatever it believes honors itself, a person is left with a “freedom” marked by isolation, loneliness, and regret. Individualism is an ever-hungry idol to which we sacrifice everyone else. In this type of society, God is still present but the individual, “I,” sits on the throne.
Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, historian, and sociologist who visited the United States in the 1830s observed,
Individualism is a calm and considered feeling which disposes each citizen to isolate himself from the mass of this fellows and withdraw into the circle of family and friends; with this little society formed to his taste, he gladly leaves the greater society to look after itself.
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
In scripture we read that while God loves us individually, He has a special love and special role for us corporately. In fact, it can be claimed that Jesus’s instructions, and the teaching of the apostles, were directed more to the Church as a group of believers, than to individuals.
When we decide to withdraw from the Body of Christ, to retreat, as de Tocqueville wrote, to a, “little society” formed to our taste, we abandon the role God has given to us in the life and mission of the Church.
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:1-8
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- Why is individualism wrong?
- What is God’s vision for Christians in the Church?
- What steps have you taken in your life to be an active member of a body of believers?
Church Reading Plan: Jeremiah 43; Psalms 19