Looking Inward and Looking to Christ

There is something dangerous about looking inward. We live in a time fascinated by constant introspection. We are told to examine our feelings, to search our hearts, to discover our authentic selves. We are told that the truth is within us, and that salvation, if we may use that word, is found by understanding ourselves more deeply. In other words, the general advice is that to become righteous, happy, and whole, we must look inward to find our truest self and then we must orient everything around that central supposed truth.

But the Christian faith teaches something very different. It teaches that salvation does not come from within. Faith does not come from within. Truth does not come from within. Certainly our Lord Jesus Christ does not come from within. Salvation comes from outside of you. Faith comes from outside of you by the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Truth comes from outside of you. Christ comes to you from outside, through His Word and Sacraments.