The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self - Carl R. Trueman

As I'm reflecting on the passage I preached on Sunday, I am really thankful for the Lord's mercy to so clearly remind us of our true identity in our current culture.

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

After reading Carl Trueman's book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self this past week I felt existentially depressed. He catalogues how humanity has gone through three cultural stages to be where we are today: the psychological man in an overly therapeutic culture. According to Trueman (based of work by Philip Reiff) in this age we are all victims of an oppressive society in one way or another. 

He basically traces the rise of this modern man back to the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who argued that the self is basically good and it is all the cultural constraints (including the church's prohibitions) that suppresses the self's true identity. Sigmund Freud then picked this up and applied it to liberated human sexuality as an expression of this authentic personal identity. Our culture is currently taking this approach to the utmost. 

I suspect there will be much more suffering in our society because of this flawed approach to identity. The Bible has always maintained that we are by nature unable to build a safe and secure society and are desperately in need of Christ's radical intervention. 

In 1 Peter 2:9-10 we read about the fruit of God's intervention in and through the person of Jesus Christ. The church's identity is fundamentally affirmed - enabling us to serve and love and care for a broken world with confidence. It is in this confidence that I believe we will need to grow. 

Of Trueman's three appeals to the church at the end the book I want to bring the following one to your attention: The church is fast becoming a marginal sect in a dominant pluralistic society. Like the church in the 2nd century we will soon also be viewed as anti-social, even immoral by the broader society. Trueman's advice for the church in this environment? Only by existing as a close knit, doctrinally bounded community where her members act consistently with their faith can we build the kind of church that will be able to not only weather our generation's storm, but build the foundation for future flourishing (as the 2nd century church paved the way for the church's success in the 3rd and 4th). This will mean we will have to nurture our love for one another, work hard at understanding the truths we are built on and hold ourselves to a high moral standard in how we live.

I pray that knowing that we belong to Christ, the chosen race, the true royal priesthood, the actual holy nation and God's ultimate treasured possession, we would be able to build this spiritual house that will give refuge to us and to our culture. 

P.S. In my ministry I often refer to books and authors I'm reading or have read. Quoting or referring to someone doesn't mean I agree or endorse everything they say. Please read the authors for yourself and come back to me with questions or comments.