In our current culture there is an inward focus that lends itself towards self-obsession. One can see these tendencies in some corners of broader evangelicalism as well. However, in my own tradition of Reformed Protestantism there can often, in contrast, be a complete lack of inward reflection or a profound fear of it. This post and more to follow will seek to retrieve some of the best insights from past giants of the faith to recover the intentional practice of pursuing “self-understanding for the purpose of self-giving,” (John Stott). Here, we will listen to John Newton (d. 1807).
Like Augustine, Newton wrote an autobiography of his life entitled An Authentic Narrative in order to lead others to cherish God’s amazing grace. He also regularly wrote letters to encourage others in their faith. In one of these letters, an energetic and intellectual young man writes Newton to ask which books he should be reading. Newton responds in a way that makes one wonder if the reader was initially disappointed, but then was ultimately appreciative of Newton’s counsel. Newton says we should read four books: The book of Scripture, the book of Creation, the book of providence, and the book of the heart.
After discussing the first three, he moves to this “fourth volume” of the heart. “Many, who are proud of their knowledge of what they might be safely ignorant of, are utter strangers to themselves. Having no acquaintance with the Scripture, they have neither skill nor inclination to look into their own hearts.”
Notice some implications of what Newton says here:
First, most of us know many unimportant things while neglecting something highly important- knowing ourselves. Second, the only way one can truly know themselves is through the mirror of Scripture. Last, we should periodically use Scripture to look into our own hearts. It is Scripture, Newton writes, that helps us know and navigate our desires, dreams, hopes, and fears. In the entire first volume of his works, Newton regularly writes that most believers are clueless as to “what passes within their own hearts.”
In another letter to a minister who often prided himself in his theological degrees and the number of books in his personal library, Newton said that “the tongue of the truly learned, that can speak a word in season to them that are weary, is not acquired, like Greek and Latin, by reading great books; but by self-knowledge and soul exercises.” In other words, if you know and can navigate your own heart, you can help others navigate theirs, and be more effective in meaningfully loving others.
Newton helps us understand a crucial difference between contemporary self-awareness- even as helpful as it may be- and biblical self-knowledge. Biblical self-knowledge doesn’t lead you into self-absorption, but leads you out of yourself to worship God and love others. Let’s follow Newton’s lead.
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