Individualism’s Looting of Our Joy
by Christopher Hendrix
“It’s all about unity,” “The most important thing is the fundamentals of the Gospel,” “We can’t know some of the meaning of Scripture, so let’s just not debate about it.” These statements, and others like them, saturate our Christian culture. Though these statements sound good, they are another sign of individualism. In this final installment, I aim to exhort us, as Western Christians, to recognize the radical individualism that has infiltrated our approach to the Word of God, a danger that we cannot afford to ignore.
The statements mentioned above typically occur in the context of discussing certain verses or doctrines. There’s usually some disagreement between the parties, and one or both quickly jump to one of those statements, or something akin to them. Instead of engaging with the content of an argument or examining what’s being said and accepting or rejecting based on evidence, a deflection happens. The deflection sounds pietistic, but really, it’s anemic. In other words, what you believe is good for you. What I think is good for me. So, we don’t need to engage in debate. This sentiment reeks with the stench of radical individualism.
Individualistic Ignoramuses
Individualism has created Christians who refuse to engage with the Word through sharpening one another. Christians have become lazy in that they don’t want to do the hard work of thinking through arguments and examining the Word. Christians have become cowards in that they don’t want to be firm in their convictions and want to avoid offending anyone. Christians have become relativists in that the Word doesn’t necessarily have a single, definitive meaning. And if it does, we can’t get to it anyway and fully understand what God has given to us. Therefore, let’s not even engage in dialogue about truth. Individualism undergirds this faulty foundation. It has crashed down upon us.
God’s Nature is True
Denying the ability to understand the true meaning of the Word hits at the core of God’s nature. It’s blasphemous. How? Because the Word reflects the very nature of God revealed to us. Either you would have to say something is wrong with God’s nature, or something is wrong with the way God revealed Himself. Both are dangerous territories to tread. God’s very nature is truth. John 3:33 says, Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. All that God is provides the very definition of truth. This means that anything contrary to God’s nature is a lie. He defines truth. This is why Jesus lays claim to being the truth in John 14:6. He’s God, therefore, He is truth. God’s nature is truth. So then, the Word He gives cannot contain untruths. This means His Word is not only right in everything it says, but it also doesn’t contradict itself and does not contain errors. If we disagree on a doctrine or passage, the goal isn’t to dismiss it, but to understand and study harder. When we do this, we learn more about God’s nature.
God’s Word is True
In addition to God’s nature being true, God’s revelation of Himself is true. It is clear (the perspicuity of Scripture) and given in such a way that we can understand it fully. He is not a God of confusion. He has given us everything in the Bible to know Him. He has given us enough to understand who He is and what He has done. If His Word weren’t understandable, then places like Psalm 119:4, which says, 'You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently,' would be impossible to obey. How can we follow His Word if we can’t know the true meaning of it? If we can’t know the true sense, then our conclusions about God will be wrong. God does not deceive us into thinking one way about Him when He is an entirely different being. This is not the case with God’s Word. If our conclusions are faulty or we hesitate to be decisive in our beliefs, then that’s our fault. And if we refuse to remedy our ignorance, then we show our hearts. Lazy and cowardly, not really desiring to know God.
God’s Great Joy
God’s revelation of Himself and His works through Scripture has allowed us to know God. Not pursuing this because of laziness or cowardice causes us to miss out on the greatest joy. God has given Himself to us, and our ignoring His Word has cost us severely. We have paid the price of the joy of knowing God in our lives. A refusal to sharpen one another in the Word is a loss of immense joy that doesn’t stem from winning arguments, but from growing in the grace and knowledge of God. Radical individualism doesn’t strengthen humanity; it robs us. It robs us of the joy we could have in knowing God more deeply, a joy that surpasses all other worldly pleasures.
This is the issue with most Christians today. We’ve been robbed of the joy in knowing the Lord. So, instead of pillaging the strong man by killing individualism, we’ve run after other sources for our joy. Maybe it’s success, accomplishments, sex, money, our health, sports, vacations, or hobbies. We seek our joy in things other than ourselves. A temporary high occurs, but then leaves us empty. The vicious cycle of filling that emptiness with something else propels the toxic situation. All the while, our bookshelves with our Bibles collect dust. Joy sits ready to be had, but in the name of individualism, it escapes us.
So, let us repent of individualism. May we stop thinking with this worldly mindset and put on the mind of Christ. May we look to the King who has given Himself to us and learn from His Word. May we cherish and take joy in knowing our God. Let us recognize the individualism that influences our way of thinking from the culture and seek to renew our minds in truth —God’s truth.