… and to godliness, mutual affection …
Summary: The humanist approach to life is very different that the direction we get from God.
When I was in college I was introduced to a concept called “Maslow’s Pyramid.” Maslow did not actually use a pyramid to illustrate his ideas, but someone decided to illustrate his hierarchy of needs with a pyramid and it stuck.
At the time I first studied Maslow’s work I was unaware of how people’s personal view of life could color their thinking. Maslow, for example, was a secular humanist. His thinking did not have room for God. Everything was based on the premise of “cause and effect” which is modeled after the physical laws of our physical existence.
For Maslow, the goal of humanity is to become ‘self-actualized.’ When we are done chasing all of our needs when every single one of them is met, then we can turn out attention to fulfilling our ‘highest potential.’
Notice that there is no moral compass involved here. In this model, each person determines their own definition of good and evil. Under this model someone like Hitler, who achieved incredible things, was successful. He became fully self-actualized until, of course, he lost the war and committed suicide. Then, I suppose, he was fully de-actualized.
The point here is that mankind is not capable of defining good or evil on its own. We do not have the capacity, either individually or collectively. Only God, existing outside of time and space, aware of all things and knowing every heart, can objectively assess such things.
It is interesting to me that while the humanistic counterpart to Peter’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ is based on feeding our unlimited appetite for all things desired by the flesh, Peter’s list is all about submitting to God and giving to others.
Today, on top of godliness we add ‘mutual affection’ (philadelphia in the Greek). Such love is the kind we show to family members, people we are forever bonded with by virtue of our birth.
Application: Know that the ways of God are not the ways of man. They are far superior.
Food for Thought: What would be the end of focusing on meeting every perceived need you ever had?
Thank you for the devotion. Maslow’s pyramid is taught to middle schoolers now in Washougal. It is repeated often in the secular school system and it is damaging at best. It is truly counter biblical truth. It is counter Matthew 22: 37 – 40.
If we feed the flesh and self-actualize we become complete narcissists. Galatians 5: 19 – 21 is the result.
Rich,
I had no idea that had been pushed down to the middle school level. How sad! I would love to ask someone teaching that to point to a person they believed was totally “self actualized.” They don’t exist. The human capacity for consumption is endless. No one ever has all of their “needs” met in the flesh.
02-17-2021, What would be the end of focusing on meeting every perceived need you ever had?
1 Peter 1:9, 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
To dwell in the presence of God for all eternity by the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thank you, Ron!
I like your take on this. Trusting our Lord to meet our needs leads to peace, fulness and satisfaction. It is an amazing thing!