April 30, 2008

“Dobson’s Law” has always agreed with Robert Schuller

Paul Tautges

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. (2 Cor.10:3-6)

Scripture has always been abundantly clear that the battle for truth is not physical, but philosophical—in the realm of ideas. Therefore, the weapons used to pull down the mental prisons that enslave people must also be philosophical. That is, they must be in the form of spiritual teachings, ideas, concepts, theories, and principles. By consistently teaching the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and the application of His Word to every area of life, we destroy speculations, or reasonings or thoughts. We must actively oppose ideologies that glorify man rather than Christ. We must combat every lofty thing, every arrogant obstacle which Satan, the deceiver, uses to keep people from fullest devotion to Jesus. We must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. There is only one sure way to do that. We must judge every teaching by the standard of the written Word of Christ. We must test the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1). As we do so, those we minister to will grow to maturity and have their senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:14). We must also be ready to call those who promote false teachings to account for the error of their disobedience. David Wells’ assessment of the current state of the church is correct: “many in the Church have now turned in upon themselves and substituted for the knowledge of God a search for the knowledge of self.”[i] Exposing the self-esteem gospel is necessary for the health of the church.

In response to recent articles concerning Shirley Dobson’s commendation of the ministry of Robert Schuller, I must confess there is no surprise here. Nothing has contributed more to the current preoccupation with self than the propagation of the psychological gospel. And perhaps no man has popularized this man-centered approach to Christianity more than radio psychologist, James Dobson. Setting aside any question of his sincerity (man cannot judge the heart), it must be recognized, however, that his media ministry has been more responsible for spreading the false gospel of self-esteem, self-love, self-respect, and self-acceptance than many others. For over three decades, Focus on the Family has been beating the self-esteem drum with a passion. As much as Dr. Dobson’s enduring fight for morality, political conservatism, and the preservation of traditional family values is appreciated by all of us who serve Christ, his fundamental view of man’s need is erroneous and, therefore, undermines biblical foundations. In his book, Hide or Seek, How to Build Self-Esteem in Your Child, he clearly states that a low view of self, not the total depravity of man, is the fundamental cause of the problems in our society. Dobson writes, “In a real sense, the health of an entire society depends on the ease with which its individual members can gain personal acceptance. Thus, whenever the keys to self-esteem are seemingly out of reach for a large percentage of the people, as in twentieth-century America, then widespread ‘mental illness,’ neuroticism, hatred, alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and social disorder will certainly occur.[ii] Later in the same book, he adds “social chaos of all varieties is rooted in feelings of worthlessness during the early years of childhood.”[iii] Finally, he is convinced: “Many of the seemingly unsolvable social problems we are now facing represent desperate but unsuccessful attempts to cope with inferiority. When the incidence of self-doubt is greatest, accompanied by the unavailability of acceptable solutions, then the probability of irresistible social disorder is maximized. Call it Dobson’s Law, if you wish.”[iv]

The question every believer must ask is; how does “Dobson’s Law” measure up against the law of God in Scripture? Is a lack of self-esteem the root cause of social chaos? The Apostle Paul responds, “Hardly!” Instead, the Word of God incorporates self-love into its list of the evil ways the total depravity of man will display itself in the end times. Second Timothy 3:1-5 says,

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these.

When comparing “Dobson’s Law” (man’s root problem is a low view of self) with God’s law (man’s root problem is his idolatrous self), it is obvious they are solar systems apart. Rather than identifying self-doubt, or low self-esteem, as the source of society’s ills, the apostle says the problem is that men are lovers of self. And depraved man is not filled with self-doubt, he is boastful and arrogant. Self-love is nothing short of idolatry, the worship of self, the core problem that Jesus came to deliver us from.

Someone may well say, “Surely you do not believe Dr. Dobson is solely responsible for the spread of integrationism!” No, I do not. There are dozens of other prominent speakers and writers preaching different angles of the same self-fulfillment gospel. However, it must be acknowledged that the popularity of his media ministry has without a doubt provided a worldwide platform for the spread of Christian psychology. As a result, Dobson serves as an effective illustration of the modern shift away from a biblical emphasis on the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ toward a message that addresses man’s alleged psychological needs, which glorify self—not Christ. In short, the psychological gospel has changed Jesus our Savior into Jesus our therapist.

(Since this article is adapted from my forthcoming book, Counsel One Another, being published by Day One Publications in the UK, please be sure to use it only in its entirety with proper acknowledgement. All rights reserved).

By Paul Tautges Click here for bio and archived articles