Chosen 4 – The False Gospel of Self Help

In Episode 4 of The Chosen (season 1) Simon Peter comes to the end of himself. He is forced to reckon with a debt he cannot pay, and has dug himself into a hole that he cannot get out of on his own. Peter is grappling with “I-can-fix-it-myself Syndrome” and it takes his wife Eden’s truth speaking to wake him up.

Listen to podcast on this episode here.

“Where is your faith, Peter?” Eden asks in tears of desperation.

Peter responds, “Faith isn’t gonna get me more fish.”

We can laugh at the irony, as we know what’s coming soon. But how many of us have dug ourself into a deep hole, and instead of surrendering our shovel and reach up and grabbing onto the rope of grace dropped down, we start digging some more, even deeper?

We sympathize with Peter’s attempts to solve their tax debt problem. He believes he is doing it all for the well-being of his family, but his devotion to family and honoring the sabbath is being sacrificed in his attempts.

“You’re in this mess because you have not kept God at the center of your life,” to paraphrase Eden’s words. “Just go! Maybe God will be able to get your attention now,” she says through tears.

(By the way, pay close attention to the wives in this drama, how Eden speaks the truth of God to her husband, while Nicodemus’s wife Zohara speaks as a kind of tempter to worldly esteem and comforts to her husband. Would that we all have an Eden in our life to speak the hard truth in love when we lose our way.)

This episode strikes a universal chord with everyone who has ever found themselves overwhelmed and at the end of their rope. This episode unmasks the folly and idolatry behind the American (false) gospel of “God helps those who help themselves.” Eugene Peterson’s The Message paraphrases Jesus words in Matthew 5 saying:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule” (Matt 5:3).

Well, Peter comes to the end of his rope after a last ditch all-night fishing spree, trying to catch a miraculous catch to pay off the Romans and keep him out of jail or worse. You know how it ends. Jesus shows up, tells Peter to cast the net in on “the other side of the boat.” Peter scoffs, but obeys. The net fills up and Peter drops to his knees before the Messiah. “Depart from me, I’m a sinful man,” Peter says.

Jesus says, “Lift your eyes up, fisherman.” He doesn’t shame him. He loves him. He calls him to follow him.

Let fishing on the one side of the boat represent human-striving and a Self-help approach to solving one’s problems. Let the other side represent surrender to Christ, faith in God and dependency on His provision, and an openness to receiving his gracious rescue.

This episode’s message is basic, but so essential to the life of faith and discipleship. Later Peter will hear from the Master’s lips another piercing lesson:

“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all.” (Matt 16:24-25)

Peter, like most of us, will be slow to learn, but oh so devoted and well-meaning. He’ll be just as stubbornly committed to Jesus as he was stubbornly committed to fixing his own problem. He’ll be humbled along the way, and his relatability and total “humanness” will make him the object of sermons for the next 2,000 years.

But it all began with a moment of surrender, of coming to the end of himself. How about you and me? Do we need to drop to our knees before our loving savior again today? Don’t be afraid. Look him in the eyes, and hear his call afresh, “Follow me.”