Is Christianity a self-help program?

Photo by Delano Ramdas on Unsplash

Self help books have one thing in common. They place you at the centre of your quest. You are the hero who must take charge of your life—thinking and acting better, starting your day smarter, finishing your day wiser—thus unlocking your full potential. 

Christianity does bring many good things to a human life—experiential, existential and eternal. And these come as a by-product. Side benefits, on the way to something bigger, namely: a relationship with God. 

But it’s important to say, these good things come in a very unexpected, and paradoxical way. Jesus said: “Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it.” 

Here is a four step guide to how Christians—and those who become Christians—have helped themselves. 

1. I am the problem 

Every Christian has at some stage, in a posture of humility, pointed the finger at the person in the mirror. 

Sufjan Stevens sings a song titled ‘John Wayne Gacy Jnr’ about the serial killer who dressed up like a clown and hid his victims beneath his house. He unexpectedly concludes:

“And in my best behaviour
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid.”

Christianity teaches universal brokenness. Worse, it teaches we are in active rebellion against our creator.

Alcoholics Anonymous begins with a statement that:

“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Regular Christianity begins with a similar confession. We admit we are sinners—morally and spiritually bankrupt. We live ignoring God and his plan for us. And deep down, we like it a lot. 

2. I can’t help myself

The second step Christians have made is to acknowledge that we can’t do anything to help ourselves. Like an insect caught in a spider’s web, a sinner caught in sin can wriggle. But it only makes things worse.

We can’t stop how we live. We can’t fix up past mistakes. We can’t make it up to God or others. We’re in what the English call ‘a right pickle’. 

I remember getting onto a ride at the Easter Show and I’d consented to the whole thing. But the moment the cage clicked into place and I began to be flung at break-neck speed, with neon lights flashing in my eyes, and Beyoncé coarsing into my ears, I wanted it to be over. But I couldn’t do anything. I had to embrace the fact that I was stuck in a horrible situation. (And I had paid for the torture!)

Christianity says: you don’t have this. You never have and you never will. The outcome will not be good. We are all by nature headed for God’s throne, for a chat about how we have lived. The bad news is that we do not know the bouncer at the Pearly Gates, nor do we have a Fluro wrist band allowing us entry. Left on this trajectory, we’re set to be “without hope, and without God in the world” for everlasting days. By then, it’ll be too late to change anything. 

This is our fate, left to ourselves. And I personally can’t do anything about it for myself or anyone else.

Interlude…

Modern self-help books do not bring us this low. But Christianity does. The reason is not macabre but realistic. It is that only a healthy diagnosis can lead to a good cure. Being real about how much we’ve messed up our lives readies us to accept the solution. So are you ready?

3. God is very willing to help 

The good news is the creator of this universe is sometimes called a Helper. He is very willing to intervene for our good. In fact, he has done everything necessary to secure your place in his kingdom. He wants to befriend you. He wants to forgive you. He wants to bring you into the eternal experience of his love and life—beginning now. 

But remember, this is not about you. It’s about God. Not self-help, but God-help.

God, in his own being, has dealt with our mistakes and their consequences. Like the parents who clean up after their child’s party so that the child can enjoy the gifts, God has cleaned up his universe. He has taken into himself—at the cross of Christ—every evil thing ever chosen by anyone. By the way, he’s already done it. 

The Israelite prophet Isaiah, preaching 700BC, foresaw the coming of Christ. He wrote:

“…he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

There’s nothing left to pay on our part. God’s Son got the tab. He paid the debt. He tore up your record. He died in your place. You now never need to face a future without a relationship with God.

4. I receive his help

So the key to Christianity is this: it’s not a self-help thing. The help does not come from within—whether from your heart, or from a 4am run; from intermittent fasting or from cutting off toxic people; from having more self-confidence or more turmeric lattes. It comes from God. And I just throw up both hands and say: “Yes please God. I surrender. Please forgive me. Please let Jesus’ death be mine. Please change me. Please help me.”

When a human does this, God receives that person into his kingdom. 

Christianity brings a lot of help to your life and future—both now and in the world to come. But it gets there in an unusual way. 

Christians are more like the shivering person under blankets surrounded by emergency services than the influencer climbing another mountain to make another protein smoothie. 

Get this. You are not the hero. You are the villain. We all are. Should you get the help you need, you still won’t be the hero. You’ll be something far better: Rescued.