Wash

We cannot save ourselves; we are hopelessly lost without Christ and any amount of self-reliance that
is expressed that includes merely placing a God-stamp upon human effort, is not Biblical Christianity. Ephesians 2 says:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Salvation comes to us as a result of a decision that we make - a decision to allow someone else to control our lives.  Jesus comes in, redeems our spirits, and transforms us into a new creations.  We begin the process of sanctification, of allowing His strength to be our own, His words to be our guide, and His new identity to determine who we really are.  He doesn't come in to be an additional source for happy living; He come in to be our life.

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One of the challenges of the Christian life is to put aside self-reliance and develop a sense of Christ-
reliance, realizing, as 2nd Corinthians 3 instructs, that He is sufficient for us. We can read:
5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

It's been one of the top books of the last several months, and still occupies a lofty spot on the book charts.  It's a book that was released by a Christian publisher and it was written by a lady named Rachel Hollis.  It's called, Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant To Be.

So, what's the lightning in a bottle here, what can be termed a self-help book by someone previously unknown it seems.  I decided to dig a little deeper, and have come up with some insight into the message that Hollis is attempting to communicate.

Blogger Alisa Childers' analysis has shown up at The Gospel Coalition and The Stream.  She is a Christian recording artist, teacher, and podcast host. On her site, she says:

She's carved out a nice little corner of the internet for herself, cultivating a community over a million strong and growing. She cooks, decorates, gives advice, and is known for her no nonsense honesty and humor. "I love Jesus, and I cuss a little. I love Jesus, and I drink alcohol. I love Jesus, and some of my best friends are gay," she recently posted on Facebook. She and her husband invite couples of all stripes (unmarried, married, same-sex) to take part in their couples conference, where the participants are encouraged to "learn some tangible advice. . .and make-out like a couple of teenagers."

Childers is direct in her critique, and she states:

Make no mistake, sisters. This book is all about YOU. In chapter one, she writes, "You are meant to be the hero of your own story,” and “You, and only you are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you are.” She plainly states, "You should be the very first of your priorities." The book is littered with references to "self-love" and "self-care." In fact, this theme is so pervasive that it forms the infrastructure for how she responds to everything from hardship to trauma to parenting to working out.

 This self-reliance is a theme that blogger and book reviewer Tim Challies picks up on.  He writes:

Here is the book in short: The great truth every woman needs to know is that she, and she alone, is responsible for her happiness. Happiness (defined as contentment, optimism, gratitude, the appearance of perfection, and enjoyment of 90 percent of life), depends upon identifying and destroying whatever lies she believes about herself. To do this, she must take hold of the power she has within. When she fails, she should take comfort that at least she made the effort and determine she will try harder next time. The big takeaway is this: Try harder! And when that fails: Try even harder! And when that fails, try again!

He believes this perspective is "antithetical to the Bible."  Challies states: "The Bible is clear that the greatest need of every woman is not happiness but holiness, not Rachel-likeness but Christ-likeness." He outlines the contrast:

Hollis says, “Good news! Tomorrow is a new day.” The Bible says, “Good news! Christ can make you a new person.”

Summer White Jaeger, a podcast host and blogger, is quite direct about the Hollis approach, which does seem to, as she states, regard Christianity as an "add-on;"

...there are people out there who believe a Christ-less Christianity is possible. Rachel has not turned from her sins to find life in Christ. She has turned to therapy, to “self-love”, to self-deception, to never letting the patriarchy get her down. To getting a tattoo so her pastor-dad couldn’t make her feel “small” anymore. Her “solutions” are not solutions—they are coping mechanisms for hopeless people. The Christianity she claims to believe is an add-on, a prop. It has nothing to do with how she views herself, her marriage, her children, or her “god”.

I have not read the book, but I think these reviewers identify what I see as a fine line between self-help and God-help, between self-esteem and identity in Christ.  God doesn't help those who help themselves; that is not in the Bible, but He does help the child of God who relies on Jesus as his or her hope.  He offers a new identity that cannot be manufactured by human effort, by symbolic "face-washing."  God gives us a new heart, a new outlook - a new face!   As Childers writes;

Rest from striving, my friend. Yes. Wash your face. Take care of yourself. Make good choices. But know who you are in Christ. If you let this truth become the foundation of how you see the world, you will be content to glorify Him in every situation, whether you're cleaning bathrooms or relaxing at your beach house, changing diapers or crushing your career goals.

Jaeger's pointed critique includes these words of hope:

God has something to say about what kind of woman you are. What kind of mom you are. What kind of goal-achiever you should be. He says that you must lay down your life, take up your cross, and follow Him. God requires our obedience, and that is a truth that Hollis has not bowed down to.

To me, the contrast is stark: Hollis says, essentially, that it's all about you.  Rick Warren, in the Purpose-Driven Life, says it's not.  And, I believe that lines up with the Biblical concept.  Our identity is not found in our humanity, but in how we embrace His divinity.  We can try to help ourselves, but that shuts out the accessibility to the power of God.

We also recognize that it is ineffective to rely on human effort and place a "God-stamp" on it.  There are those who dabble in religion and say spiritual-sounding platitudes, but as Summer Jaeger points out, we have to lay down our lives.  Period.  To release the life of Christ, the power of the new creation, self has to die.  Self doesn't need to be "helped," it needs to be crucified in Christ.

Change is possible; and if we want to change, we have to acknowledge not only that need, but also the Savior who is capable of making that lasting change.  I think it's counterproductive to parade our sins for all the world to see - that's not who we are; we are new creations in Christ and can testify to what He has done in our hearts.  He's more than a crutch we lean on when the going gets rough; He is our Comforter and Counselor we trust as we go through life.