Self Development courses – sinful?

[David Seargent]

In the opinion of that great saint of last century, Norman P Grubb, “self-development” is impossible and its  pursuit is sinful! His reason for saying this is because the belief that there is a (more or less) neutral natural human ego (fallen, but able to be redeemed) is an illusion. On the contrary, we are either governed by “the sin that is in me” or “Christ in me”. The former is, ultimately demonic. This has echoes of Tertullian’s belief that we are all born demon possessed. It also has similarities with the findings of psychiatrist Wilson Van Dusen who concluded (as against mainstream psychiatry) that the “voices” heard by his patients were not mere inventions of their minds, but actual spirits from the infernal regions! More than that, he also concluded that, for non-psychotics, these same spirits are experienced as ideas in “our” minds. In short, he concluded that we own very little of our mental life!

Be that as it may, Grubb developed his ideas from Scripture (Paul’s letter to the Romans mainly) and not from Church fathers or psychiatrists, but the similarities are interesting. According to Grubb, self-development (so-called) only plays into the hands of “sin within”. Even apparently “good” thoughts only strengthen the sense of ego and try to build this into an autonomous function. But by doing that, it isolates us from Christ, which is the root of sin. Instead of “developing” or “reforming” the self, we must allow it to be crucified with Christ. He took it upon himself and died on the cross as our Substitute. But the substitutionary aspect of the Atonement has two sides – Christ died on our behalf so that He can life on our behalf; so that He can be the true Fountain of our life. In Grubb’s startling expression, not just “Christ within us”  but “Christ as us”! Complete surrender of the self to Christ so that He can be our life, not self-development, is the answer.

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