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 Owen (d. 1683). Click here for Augustine or John Newton.
In navigating the canyons and crevices, the darkness and deception of the human heart, Thomas Chalmers said that “with no guide can we be safer than with Owen.” He knows the terrain well, having navigated it on his own, and he also seeks to help others know their inner worlds better. “The Puritan teachers as a body constantly insisted that realistic self-knowledge is a sine qua non for living the Christian life, and Owen is no exception,” stated J.I. Packer.
Along with knowing God and walking in communion with him, Owen included knowledge of ourselves as “the sum of true wisdom.” With this significant statement, Owen was intentionally walking in the footsteps of Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Calvin before him. Sadly, however, “few labor to grow wise in this matter, few study themselves as they ought.” Most are “utter strangers to themselves.”
For a man to know himself was of old esteemed the highest attainment of human wisdom. Some men will not so much as inquire into themselves, and some men dare not, and some neglect the doing of it from spiritual sloth, and other deceitful imaginations; but he that would ever be purged from his sins must thus far make bold with himself, and dare to be thus far wise.
For Owen, the pursuit of self-knowledge was not self-absorption or morbid introspection, but a Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered way to fuel heart-level humility and a life overflowing with worship. This periodic inward look, with “the Spirit as our lamp,” not only reveals the hidden deformities of sin, but also the beautiful “flowers of grace” that the Spirit is renewing within us. This is why Owen would go on to call the Spirit “the great beautifier of the soul.”
So many leaders within churches, so many spouses within their marriages, so many friends within their communities, could bring gracious healing and wise counsel rather than anger, selfishness, hurt and division, if we- myself included- heeded Owen’s counsel more often and more intentionally.
If Owen has convinced you to take this journey with him, what are the tools that he says will help you along the way? That’s for next time, in part II.
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