“Even modern worship music has been hijacked by this self-esteem gospel. Songs that should exalt God instead turn the spotlight inward, celebrating the individual’s worth and potential. Lyrics are crafted to evoke an emotional high, a sense of personal affirmation that leaves one feeling good but spiritually malnourished. It’s a far cry from the hymns of old that directed our gaze heavenward, reminding us of our utter dependence on God’s grace.”
(The Dissenter) Continuing our series on confronting modern idols, today I’m going to talk about the idol of self-esteem. Seemingly subtle, it towers above all else. The focus on “me, myself, and I,” it’s a mantra instilled in us even in the very curriculum of elementary school. It’s as pervasive as it is pernicious, yet we perilously overlook it as second nature.
We’re constantly bombarded with the mantra that happiness and contentment spring from within, that we must love ourselves first and foremost. This pervasive ideology, rooted in self-idolatry, and popularized by Freudian pop psychology, has infiltrated every corner of our lives—even our churches. It’s a doctrine that preaches self-love and self-worth as the ultimate paths to fulfillment, yet it is utterly devoid of the gospel truth that humanity so desperately needs.
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If Satan himself wrote biblically sound worship music, would you sing it in church?
CRN has compiled a list of false teachers and several other professing Christians we’ve warned you about over the years. The list also contains those we must keep an eye on plus movements, organizations and “frauds, phonies and money-grubbing religious quacks” to mark and avoid as per Romans 16:17-18