Dr. Eric W. Gritsch

Justin Tigerman, Student at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

On the Futility of "Self-Help"

In addressing the essay question, I took the approach of responding from the perspective of Martin Luther, hoping to remain faithful to his theology and humor. 

To the self-proclaimed "gurus" of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. 

I write to implore you to put a Inn end to these miserable treatises which forsake the just and merciful nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. deed as I write to refute this Sophistry, I implore you to redirect your concepts of the self into more meaningful outlets, like dog-training, since you know nothing of the self.  Even the papists know something of the self in understanding the corruption of sin, but in your eyes, corruption is simply correctible after a few smacks on the nose or a few treats as a reward.  Therefore, dog-training is more your talent than writing to uplift the human condition, a feat only possible and already accomplished by our Lord, Jesus Christ. 
You say things like "do your best" and "do such and such" or "don't do this or that" but you are denying the truthful reality of human sin as Paul makes quite clear in Romans 3.  Your commands for a human to simply "do" something assume the idea of a "free" will, namely that we might incline ourselves to will good or evil somehow by guidance of some sort of “law.”  As I have spoken to Erasmus and now shall speak to you, the idea of free choice is pure fiction because, in asserting its existence and agency, we make Christ “either superfluous or the redeemer of only the lowest part of man, which would be blasphemy and sacrilege.”(1) Correction cannot and does not occur through the good work of “free choice,” of which there is no such thing.  Correction necessarily happens through the work of the Holy Spirit. (2) I continue to affirm that "God is alone just and wise and does no wrong to anyone and can do nothing foolishly or rashly, though it may seem far otherwise to us"(3)and that God has assuredly promised grace to those who are lamenting and despairing of themselves in the promises of Scripture especially in 1 Peter 5.(4)
Thus, this obsessive need to correct one’s self and to direct one's future by means of the self is not only utter foolishness but a futile effort.  For it is only by God's grace that we can know any peace in this world and the only thing we ought be "mindful" of is God's good gifts and Scripture.  God's Word is more than enough for any individual to find meaning for a lifetime!  Instead of wasting time reading ridiculous self-help books and turning to false spirited gurus, one should use his time studying the Scriptures!  As Isaiah 55 says, God's Word never returns to Him empty.  So, for all the useless hours reading nonsense, you could have found joy, grace, and fulfillment in God's very own words!
But alas, perhaps we touch on the real problem: that in this atrocious individualistic society all are puffed up with their own knowledge and confidence in themselves to solve any problem which comes their way.  What this society truly lacks is humbleness and, as I have said before, it is humility that allows God to work in and through us.  "But no man can be thoroughly humbled until he knows that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, devices, endeavors, will, and work of another, namely, of God alone."(5)  Man’s salvation is thus also entirely beyond gurus and self-help books!  Only by the blood of our Savior can we have any hope of peace or salvation.  And God grants these good gifts to us when we rely on Him for our every need.  No foul literature can curb sin or straighten the path of the rot-gut sinners we truly are.  Only Christ can do that!  To place one's hope in anything but Christ is to deny God's gift of grace and to spit in the face of our Lord Himself, saying "I can find my own way.  I need not your guiding hand."  Even dogs do not bite the hands that feed them and yet, here you turn up your nose at the holy food to go find rotten scraps in the dumps.
To those who ask, "But I do not see peace among my neighbors – is God truly working?" I would say this: "God foreknows nothing contingently, but that he foresees and purposes and does all things by his immutable, eternal, and infallible will."(6)  It is not for us to know God's purposes or the day or hour when he shall come (as spoken in Matthew 24 and Mark 13!), but only to trust ourselves into God's safe keeping and remain humble through repentance and prayer so that God may work through us, using us as instruments of His peace.  Even one of your own authors has acknowledged the good nature of my advice saying, "Luther's pastoral care and advice exhibit the freedom of living in eschatological time when nothing is absolutely sure and true except the Word of God in Christ"(7) and again, “Luther gives good advice to a post-Freudian where there is often so much analysis that it leads to paralysis.”(8)  Indeed, man has lived and is living in a time that the firm Word of God needs to be emphasized as the source of ultimate hope, for indeed nothing could be more certain in our human predicament.
Therefore, do not get swept away by the devil's work – for the devil works in crafty ways – but remain steadfast to God's Word and strong in the blood of Jesus Christ!  Remember whose you are and that you are not your own maker, but are in fact a creature of God's, and have no privy to things that are not of human concern.  Trust in the Lord always (Isaiah 26, Proverbs 3), rely upon the faith the Spirit has given, and be thankful for God's grace!

1.Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, ed. Philip S. Watson, American, vol. 33, 54 vols., Luther’s Works (Philidelphia: Fortress Press, 1972). Pg. 293

 
2. Ibid. Pg. 60

3. Ibid. Pg. 61

4. Ibid. Pg. 61

5. Ibid. Pg. 62

6. Ibid. Pg. 37

7. Gritsch, Eric W., “Luther on Humor”  in Timothy J. Wengert, ed., The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther’s Practical Theology, Lutheran Quarterly Books (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2009). Pg. 93

8. Ibid. Pg.  98



Bibliography 
·         Martin Luther. The Bondage of the Will. Edited by Philip S. Watson. American. Vol. 33. 54 vols. Luther’s Works. Philidelphia: Fortress Press, 1972.
 
·         Wengert, Timothy J., ed. The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther’s Practical Theology. Lutheran Quarterly Books. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2009.

1st Place Winner:
James E. Smith

 3rd Place Winner:
Brach Jennings