One of the by-products of information’s glut and speed is that we are increasingly skeptical about its trustworthiness. There is so much bad information out there, so much that is false and fake and corrupted by bias. It’s no wonder we increasingly cope by seeing ourselves as the most trustworthy source. It’s no wonder “look within,” “follow your heart,” and “you do you” are resonant phrases. External authorities like family, teachers, pastors, politicians, religious traditions, and others have disappointed us or been proven hypocritical. At best we see them as secondary to the self as sources of truth. At worst we dismiss them as oppressive obstacles on the path to self-discovery.
But the self is not the reliable authority it is cracked up to be. Our fickle hearts are unreliable guides, deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9). Our embrace of “being true to ourselves” often leads to a closed loop of self-deception and chronic brokenness, where we erroneously believe we have all the resources for healing within ourselves. We buy into the notion that we exist as isolated, self-contained creatures who needn’t be accountable to anything beyond ourselves. But this is a dangerous and lonely lie.
The “look within” tendency to shun authority is as old as Eden. It was refined by Enlightenment thinkers like René Descartes and John Locke, who located truth in the individual’s mental world, not in the world outside our heads. But the last century has seen an acceleration in the erosion of external authority.
The Internet’s democratization of information has had a leveling effect that tends to downplay credentials and embolden unqualified participation in every area of discourse. We are now all “experts” on everything and have platforms to publish our thoughts. Actresses can launch lifestyle blogs that proffer all manner of dubious health advice.
Experts are usually not out to get us. They want to help us. Guardrails and gatekeepers are not about stifling us. They’re about protecting us. Authority can be abused, yes, but at its best it is for our good.. When we shun the advice of experts, we not only risk being exposed to bad things; we also miss out on good things.
We can’t all be experts in everything. God gifts people differently for a reason. The biblical vision of a healthy church, for example, is not one where everyone contributes in the same way, but where variously gifted parts contribute to a healthier whole (see 1 Cor. 12:12–28; Eph. 4:1–16 among others). We need each other because we can’t do everything on our own. We need to be educated and apprenticed by others if we are to become truly knowledgeable or skillful in any area. Rather than resenting the expertise of others, we should respect it and learn from it.
But the self is not the reliable authority it is cracked up to be. Our fickle hearts are unreliable guides, deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9). Our embrace of “being true to ourselves” often leads to a closed loop of self-deception and chronic brokenness, where we erroneously believe we have all the resources for healing within ourselves. We buy into the notion that we exist as isolated, self-contained creatures who needn’t be accountable to anything beyond ourselves. But this is a dangerous and lonely lie.
The “look within” tendency to shun authority is as old as Eden. It was refined by Enlightenment thinkers like René Descartes and John Locke, who located truth in the individual’s mental world, not in the world outside our heads. But the last century has seen an acceleration in the erosion of external authority.
The Internet’s democratization of information has had a leveling effect that tends to downplay credentials and embolden unqualified participation in every area of discourse. We are now all “experts” on everything and have platforms to publish our thoughts. Actresses can launch lifestyle blogs that proffer all manner of dubious health advice.
Experts are usually not out to get us. They want to help us. Guardrails and gatekeepers are not about stifling us. They’re about protecting us. Authority can be abused, yes, but at its best it is for our good.. When we shun the advice of experts, we not only risk being exposed to bad things; we also miss out on good things.
We can’t all be experts in everything. God gifts people differently for a reason. The biblical vision of a healthy church, for example, is not one where everyone contributes in the same way, but where variously gifted parts contribute to a healthier whole (see 1 Cor. 12:12–28; Eph. 4:1–16 among others). We need each other because we can’t do everything on our own. We need to be educated and apprenticed by others if we are to become truly knowledgeable or skillful in any area. Rather than resenting the expertise of others, we should respect it and learn from it.
- Brett McCracken, The Wisdom Pyramid:
Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World, 2021
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