On the Shadow

Roy and I had an interesting conversation yesterday about our struggle with sin, the struggle with the darker aspects of our personalities.  

"The shadow,’’ wrote Carl Jung, is ‘‘that hidden, repressed, for the most part inferior and guilt-laden personality whose ultimate ramifications reach back into the realm of our ancestors and so comprise the whole historical aspect of the unconscious." The shadow is a primordial part of our human inheritance, which, try as we might, can never be eluded. 

The pervasive defense mechanism known as projection is how most people deny their shadow, unconsciously casting it onto others so as to avoid confronting it in oneself. Such projection of the shadow is engaged in not only by individuals but groups, religions, and entire countries, whereby the outsider, enemy or adversary is made a scapegoat, dehumanized, and demonized.

The shadow, is not meant to be taken literally but allegorically. It is not an evil entity existing apart from the person, nor an invading alien force, though it may be felt as such. The shadow is a universal feature of the human psyche for which we bear full responsibility to cope with as creatively as possible. Failing to deal with our shadow side, or proclivity to sin, will create a life that nurtures unhealthy attitudes and communal dysfunction.

What is the dark side? In my opinion, insecurity is at the heart of the dark side. Insecurity feeds all kinds of dysfunction. I’ve seen too many people use their position or leadership to find healing for their insecurity. In their mind, if people will follow them, it will prove to themselves and others that they are valuable. Most leaders would never admit this is their motivation to lead. And honestly, they probably don’t see it. But it’s there. And it’s destructive. 

This is a danger in any helping field, yes in churches, where wounded people seek to help others as a way to help themselves. I think Lent gives us the gift of wandering in the wilderness and the opportunity to get really honest about our motivations as we seek to live and be like Jesus.

Upon pondering this issue further, I think what happened in the Garden of Eden can be also referred to as "Original Insecurity." After all, insecurity will make you:

Competitive: you need to show others that you are better than they are.

Jealous: you constantly compare your life to others you consider more successful.

Ungrateful: focusing on what others have causes you to hold what you have in contempt.

Defensive: when people try to correct you, you are quick to offer excuses in fear of being exposed in your weakness.

Argumentative: defending yourself isn’t enough. You feel the need to go on the offensive.

Risk Averse: afraid that a challenge will expose your weakness, you play it safe.

Over Confident: in need of affirmation, you take unnecessary risks.

Unforgiving: easily hurt, you find it hard to “turn the other cheek” to your critics and brood.

Legalistic: because you never measure up in your mind, you make it hard for others to measure up to your standards.

Think Scarcity: not abundance. The insecure person lives in a small world where there is never enough to go around. It feels like the sky is falling.

No fun: when you are trying to justify your existence every day, life gets pretty serious. People around you walk on eggshells because they realize how fragile you are.

Toxic: add up all of the above and who wants to be around that? 

On the other hand, when we get honest with ourselves, when we find wholeness in Christ, when we repent and give our lives to Jesus, it breeds a culture of grace. No topic is out of bounds. Mistakes are forgiven, not punished. Freedom is in the air, along with a “can do” attitude. And then it can be a joyful experience to “be church” and to live abundant life together!

A prayer from Walter Brueggemann:

Power turns and postures and exhibits.

It controls and manages and plots.

We participate in it,

we benefit from it,

we are dazzled by it...and more than a little afraid.

Just underneath, all the while...

Just underneath dazzling power

sits violence and brutality,

greed and fear and envy,

cunning and shamelessness.

In that too we participate.

Like the ancients, we also live double lives,

public in pageant and role and office,

hidden in meanness and thinness.

We do not do well at bringing this double together.

But we confess you to be Lord of all of our lives.

Give us new freedom about our public lives,

give us new candor about our hidden lives,

Correct what is brutal and greedy and fearful,

chasten what is hidden and mean.

Make us women and men of shalom,

the kind of welfare you will for our common life.

Amen.