Continuity in the fifth decade leads to thankfulness

In Twilight of the American Enlightenment, which I reviewed last week, George Marsden describes one of the key components of the emergence of the therapeutic society we now live in. It is a culture of self-fulfillment, and at “center is the autonomous individual.”

For most Americans, freedom is synonymous with choice. One can choose a line of work to do as a way to sustain the desired lifestyle that leads to greater fulfillment. If one has the attractiveness, charisma, or skills needed to climb the corporate ladder, the door is opened to even more to wealth and power and a better and more sustainable lifestyle. It is a system where the most prosperous are the most free.

In a culture of self-fulfillment, individual choice and being a prosperous and discerning consumer is the ideal. It is February, and the Super Bowl is upon us, and undoubtedly, the commercials will be dominated with appeals to the autonomous individual and his psychological comfort.

Reading Marsden’s analysis of the autonomous individual in American culture sticks out to me, because it presents an idea I have collided with for much of my life. At one time, autonomy was a preeminent goal, and my lifestyle choices and career pursuits were part of an objective of self-fulfillment. I am an American, and growing up in a consumer driven culture with notions of independence is not without consequences.

One reoccurring theme in my blog thus far is the question of authority. For example, it is Scriptural authority over individual autonomy which provides direction for my recent artistic achievements.

Last week, I turned 41, and I am left to ponder such an issue of authority once more.

This time, I turn to God’s Word. Psalm 12 frames God’s authority and decree over against the haughty pomp of man. First, man’s words are described, “With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?” It is almost as if I’m hearing the words “autonomous individual” yet again.

Words of “vanity” with “flattering lips” and from a “double heart” are contrasted with the words of the Lord: “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Even the base description of man and his words pales in comparison to the heightened sense from the poetic language used to describe God’s decree.

As I continue through the fifth decade of my life, I am thankful for being called out of a meaningless existence. Individual autonomy is only a feeling. In fact, it only lasts for a little while and gives the illusion that we are the masters of our own destiny.

The Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” The right response for the Christian is: “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.” In a therapeutic society, that is counter-revolutionary.