Again this week, I was reminded of the utter pervasiveness of self-worth/self-esteem/self-image teaching within American Christianity. Even though the Scriptures are replete with clear and straightforward instruction on who we are as fallen and marred imagebearers, many in America continue to preach, teach, and counsel from the bankrupt storehouse of self-worth doctrine. Although the Scriptures continually convict and death-sentence all love, esteem, and exaltation of self, it seems we are intent upon resurrecting, ad nauseam, the natural self-inclinations that biblical theology condemns. As if submitting to Christ is not difficult enough, we continue to peach, teach, and counsel the Church something that goes like this, “You are a sinner. You need the all-sufficient gospel. Take it. Eat it…but don’t forget to love/esteem/affirm yourself, because if you don’t you’ll never be full.” Of course, it isn’t typically put that way. It is instead, I assume unwittingly, veiled with some appearance of godliness so that the poisonous pill tastes like a vitamin.
And over the months of gobbling down a daily chewable of self-worth principles, we find ourselves saying things like, “I love myself because God loves me. I esteem myself because I am worth dying for. I affirm myself because God has affirmed me. My self-esteem springs from the Father’s love.” Yet when stopped on the street and confronted by the gospel we don’t have any defense for the way we unbiblically favor self. But instead of repenting, we duck down the alley between hermeneutics and heresy and pay our last two bucks for a bag of man-made wisdom to prove our point. Oh the lengths we will go to feel good about ourselves! All the while, the Scripture speaks perfectly true of Christ and perfect truth to sinners.
During some study this week, a striking insight from Jesus’ teaching on discipleship surfaced. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” He taught that the three requirements for discipleship are denial, death, and submission. What was most striking to me concerned this issue of self-denial. What exactly did Christ mean when he required everyone who would follow Him to “deny self?” Did He really mean “deny yourself?” Throughout the years, I have heard so many excuses as to why we should esteem, love, and affirm ourselves (and I once spent much energy to uphold them). “Esteem yourself. You’re special. You’re significant. You’re talented. You can’t love others until you learn to love yourself. The Bible says to love your neighbor as you love yourself. You’re a good person, and on and on and on.” But is that what Jesus says in Luke 9:23? He says, “take up your cross daily.” Obviously, this was a reference to crucifixion which was reserved for the most notorious of criminals.
It has been rightly said, “Christ is telling us not only to say no to ourselves and yes to Him, but He affirms that we must put self to death by “taking up our cross.” To take up the cross does not mean making some particular sacrifice, nor does it refer to some particular burden (”My husband is my cross”). Anyone in that day, reading those words, would know plainly that taking up the cross meant one and only one thing: putting to death an infamous criminal. Jesus, therefore, is saying, “You must treat yourself, with all your sinful ways, priorities, and desires, like a criminal, and put self to death every day.” That says something about the self-image that Christ expects us to have!”1
So what is Jesus saying about our natural selves by the words “take up your cross?” He is calling us (His followers) criminals. He is bidding us die daily. Of course, the paradox of the gospel is that death to self leads to richer life in Christ; an all-fulfilling, all-satisfying, all-consuming life. It is in fact, a great exchange. It is the exchange of counterfeit life and self-righteousness for true life and abundant Christ’s righteousness.
But what about this matter of self-denial? What is that all about? What was so striking to me this week was the word ἀρνησάσθω. It is the Greek word “to deny.” It means to utterly disdain, disown, abstain. It is the very word Jesus used to describe Peter’s denial of Christ shortly before His death. Remember how Peter denied Jesus in Matthew 26? While Jesus was under arrest, Peter denied Him three times, each more vehemently than the one before. The first time Peter was accused of following Christ he said, “I do not know what you’re talking about.” Again, the accuser said to those standing around, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Peter replied, “I do not know the man.” A little later, those standing around came up to Peter again saying, “Surely you too are one of them.” Then cursing and swearing, Peter said, “I DO NOT KNOW THE MAN!” Imagine that. Peter was in essence saying, “That man Jesus is a notorious criminal. I don’t associate with criminals, let alone notorious ones. I don’t even know him. I curse the thought of him! I swear I have nothing to do with him! He is dead to me.”
Muse on that. Let that sink into your self. When Jesus commanded His disciples to deny self, it was to say, “In the same way that you would deny allegiance to a notorious criminal, deny your notorious self. You are a criminal. Go to the cross and nail your “self” there. Say of your sinful self, with all your sinful desires, pleasures, wants, and traits, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know you. I curse the thought of knowing you. You’re dead to me!”
And the dissenters cry out: “No! You’ll only become depressed thinking that way about yourself. You can’t find significance with a self-image like that. Cheer up! It’s not so bad.”
Jesus’ taught quite the opposite. The way to life is not filling up on self, but the utter draining of self. Spit out that poison pill of self and drink to the dregs the gospel of life. I am not talking to the lost. I am talking to you and me, the Christians. The more that we are emptied of our futile selves and filled with the wonderful life offered in the gospel of Christ, the more we will rejoice with Paul, the chief of sinners saying, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”2
Oh if we would only cease this foolish talk of self and amplify the glorious gospel which has taken notorious criminals and made them worshippers of God through the Master’s cross! A bit more like heaven I imagine. A bit more like heaven. 
- Adams. The Biblical View of Self-Love, Self-Esteem, Self-Image, 106. [↩]
- Galatians 2:20-21 [↩]
Watchman Nee taught me that self-denial is not self-supression. Religious self can, and does, do works that appear to be righteous. Self can fast, can read the Bible, can witness to others et al. Looks good, but the fruit is not the fruit of the Spirit. True self-denial comes only from revelation of the cross, knowing the utter futility of doing ANYTHING apart from Jesus. When we walk in the Spirit, trusting the Spirit for our very lives, we cannot fulfill the lust of the flesh. Only the Holy Spirit can execute our old selves. Religion just gives us a false front.