Controversy FAQ Interview Question 14

What distinguishes your notion of transformation from secular or New Age or humanistic teachings of self-actualization?

If you've seen that movie called The Secret, it is a perfect example of actualization. They take the law of attraction and break it into a quid pro quo relationship, as if, if I get my mind right and I have the right positive attitude, I can change the whole physical universe. I can be God, basically. I can determine how my life's going to turn out and what's going to be in it and what's not.

How do we differ from that? We would say no, we don't see sowing and reaping through that light. Our point of view about sowing and reaping is that it's a way of being. So if evil's done to me, the way I respond to it and what comes out of it is can produce goodness, can produce life. Like Jesus' being crucified on the cross. If we took that point of view of sowing and reaping, then Jesus basically did something to deserve what He got. But, actually, Jesus was willing to do what He was doing because He was sowing redemption into the world. There He is on the cross and they're taking His life, and He turns and tells one of the thieves that in that day, the thief would see Him in Paradise. Jesus is bringing blessing even in His death and His crucifixion. So as horrible as the crucifixion was, what comes out of it is life because of Jesus' dependency on God and because of His willingness to give Himself, trusting that God is faithful.

Sowing and reaping is a way of being in the world, so that no matter what happens towards you, life and legacy are what the fruit is. In other words, you can't control what the outcome's going to be, but you can control how you relate to it.

Self-actualization puts man at the center as the causal agent of all that occurs. Ironically, we would suggest that there's a whole brand of Christianity that believes the same thing. It is suggested that if you have enough faith you shouldn't be sick, and that if you get sick it's really because you don't have enough faith, and that if you just had the right attitude, you'd attract all the abundance and blessings of the kingdom. Essentially, God is made out to be man's personal butler to do and be whatever man deems Him to do and be, which is basically the opposite of our view. We believe that God's ways are beyond our ways, that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and that He's continually calling us into waters that are, for us, uncharted. There's no quid pro quo about it, because God and His ways can't be reduced down to some formula or program.

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