Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The Liberating Nature Of Individualism

Although, in my experience, this is seldom acknowledged, Christianity is a highly individualistic religion [1].  This fact is not the birthplace of selfishness when rightly understood; selfishness is a focus on the self that hinders the right love of others [2], and individualism is the recognition that people have their own unique individuality and that they are valuable as individuals.  The two are nowhere near identical.

Individualism is not only a fact of reality and something Christianity embraces--different people really do have their own respective personalities and God is not displeased by this--but it can also be deeply liberating for people to realize that they can be themselves.  There is no need or obligation to sacrifice our personalities on the altars of social expectations.  Reason and reality can give individuals the strength, as well as the desire, to both know and accept themselves even if others are confused and ensnared by herd behavior.  It is only out of ignorance or irrational fear that some people might fear individualism as a destructive, sinful, or dangerous.  The truth is that individualism is both true and liberating.  It liberates from non-obligatory social pressures and the misunderstanding of one's own nature.

Other than abstaining from sin, there are no restrictions that God places on how someone can express his or her personality (Deuteronomy 4:2).  Jesus never demands that we give up our unique personalities in order to follow him.  What his teachings do demand of us is that we use our personalities in service of righteousness in a way that glorifies God.  Consider the Apostle Paul--his strong personality existed both before and after his dramatic conversion.  Conversion, time, and his experiences with suffering did not extinguish his fierce passion.  Even when Paul persecuted Christians out of intense but misplaced theological zeal, it was not the forcefulness of his personality that was sinful, but the end to which he directed that forcefulness.  Once he became a Christian himself he was free to channel his intensity and ferocity into a new pursuit.

I am who I am, and I not only am intimately familiar with my own personality but I also have accepted it.  I do not pretend to have a personality that I do not actually possess.  And I am morally free to be myself and to express my personality however I wish as long as I do not engage in any defined sin.  Because I know myself, I am able to avoid a great deal of personal confusion; because I have accepted my personality, I have a vast confidence that energizes me.  Self-knowledge and self-acceptance, when oriented towards truth and righteousness, are powerful things indeed.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/12/individualism-in-christianity.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-biblical-command-of-self-love.html

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