Me, Myself, and Madness

Me, Myself, and Madness
“The men who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums.” -G.K. Chesterton

 I have discovered a new favorite book – and if you know me, you know that’s no small statement. Last week I began reading Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton. The book is his account of his personal journey to faith. Although it was published in 1908, I believe it may contain the best Christian apologetic for our time.
 
The first chapter in Orthodoxy is entitled: “The Maniac.” In that chapter, Chesterton realizes that one of the most common sayings of his day – and of our own – is quite literally lunacy. Here’s the saying in its 20th century British form: “that man will get on; he believes in himself.” Here’s the 21st century American version: “follow your heart” or “the only thing holding back you is you” or “you can do anything you want to do, if only you believe in yourself.”
 
At precisely the moment one of Chesteron’s friends repeated this maxim, Chesterton happened to see a sign on the street for the local insane asylum. In that moment, he put two and two together: “The men who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums.” He goes on to say: “Actors who can’t act believe in themselves; and debtors who won’t pay. It would be much truer to say that a man will certainly fail, because he believes in himself. Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness.”
 
I believe that complete self-confidence is the sin and the weakness of our day. For decades, we have been told to “believe in ourselves” and it has landed our society precisely where Chesterton said it would: in the insane asylum. Complete self-confidence says that I can not only be President, I can be a cat or a dog, a boy or a girl, or anything else I might fancy at the moment. Complete self-confidence says I don’t need a Savior because I am my own savior – if I need saving from anything at all. This is madness – plain and simple.
 
Yet in the midst of all this madness, there is hope. People exhaust the religion of me, myself, and I. It doesn’t work. Complete self-confidence does not satisfy. When they finally get to that maddening bottom, they ask, as one of Chesterton’s friends did, “Well if a man is not to believe in himself, in what is he to believe?” Christians have the answer to that question. There is only One who can rightly make the claim, in complete self-confidence, “I Am.” I Am is not you. That is good news. That is the gospel. That is sanity. I Am is the hope for our day and the solution to our madness.
Your Pastor and Friend,

John Knox Foster