2 minute read
Not only is contemporary Western society the most radically individualistic in all of human history, but American society is at the apex of that hyper-individualism by a long shot. It’d be like building the Burj Khalifa skyscraper atop Mount Everest. Our lifestyle of relentless self-interest is truly unprecedented. Yet any call for the restoration of a healthy balance or harmony between the individual and the community is immediately dismissed as collectivist extremism. The cultural orthodoxy only tolerates appeals for ever-increasing freedom and autonomy.
This would be the perfect time for a prophetic critique of secular society, but Christian culture has instead largely embraced radical individualism. We’ve all been inculcated in a bottom-up understanding where it’s about personal faith, personal salvation, personal relationship with God, and personal conscience. Jesus is my Lord and Savior who I get to know through my private devotions. Meanwhile, sin is about an individual’s actions rather than collective injustice or corrupt institutional structures. In this framework, every facet of the faith is individualistic.
That schema would’ve befuddled most Christians in church history. We’re made in the image of one God existing in three Persons who are in perfect, eternal fellowship. Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs and invited people to be reconciled with God by finding their ultimate identity and citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Individuals are grafted into the covenant community via baptism. We experience unity with God and one another through Communion. Scripture was read and interpreted in community. We’re the Body of Christ… It’s all communal in nature.
It’s time we again follow The Way of Jesus. In an explicit appeal to the self-sacrificial model of Jesus, Philippians 2 teaches, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” These days most pastors act like the only way to get through to people is appealing to self-interest, but that’s not the New Testament model. Selfishness is out. We’re exhorted us to care about our own needs and the interests of others. It’s another both/and.
The original beatniks came down firmly on the side hyper-individualism. They were all about authenticity and self-expression. I can appreciate that as one one-half of the equation, but this is an area where I think the Beat Generation got it wrong by alleviating a crucial tension. It’s got to be authenticity with humility and self-expression alongside self-sacrifice. Reflecting Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, our culture talks a lot about self-actualization. I support that, but only with an important caveat: there needs to be an equal (i.e. both/and) focus on community-actualization.
