the-freedom-of-self

Keller’s assertion that humility produces freedom rather than constraint is one of the book’s central themes. Throughout the book, he challenges the assumption that attention to self—whether positive (self-esteem) or negative (self-condemnation)—leads to psychological health, proposing instead that liberation comes through what seems impossible: Ceasing to think about oneself at all. In embracing the paradox of humility as freedom, Keller argues, Christians can find permanent relief from the ego.

Chapter 2 develops a positive vision of self-forgetfulness, with Keller explaining how he believes gospel-transformed humility operates. Here the paradox receives the fullest articulation of its counterintuitive nature. Keller introduces his central formulation of humility with an explicit acknowledgment of its surprising, paradoxical form: “I hate using the word ‘humility’ because this is nothing like our idea of humility” (31). In Keller’s usage, humility is not perpetual self-criticism or affected modesty but simple freedom from self-preoccupation. The chapter’s climactic statement captures the paradox thusly: “The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less” (32, emphasis added). This formulation inverts conventional understanding by positioning humility as liberation from the entire spectrum of self-evaluation, whether inflated or deflated.