Self-Respect

Dates = Monday, March 2, 16, 23, 30 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ Most people like to have user manuals that explain to them the nature of their home appliances. Yet few people pause to ask about the nature of what it means to be a “self.” What exactly is a self? Is it possible for a self to forgive itself? Is God a Self? Is a self simply that which bears God’s image? What does it mean to bear the image of God? Do angels qualify as being selves? Why is it that angels do not marry? When a husband and wife become one, do they become one self?

Dates = Monday, April 6, 13, 20, 27 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ What does Scripture say about the nature of the self? Is the self an embodied soul, or is it a free spirit? Is selfhood something people can negotiate? What happens when the self is seen as “buffered”? What results when it is defined without reference to the physical human body? How did the human body come to be viewed as a constraint on personhood rather than as a constitutive part of it? What philosophical assumptions underlie the claim that a body may not represent who a person “really” is?

Dates = Monday, May 4, 11, 18, 25 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​​ Paradoxically, self-respect arises from humility. How did Jesus’ humility guard Him from pride and shame that suffocates self-respect? How do pride and shame draw ordinary people, including professing Christians, into elaborate systems of self-revision? How do pride and shame fool people into projecting a false self? How can people discern who their true self is? How does a person find space to exist when someone else tries to erase them? How can disciplemakers help others to develop self-respect?

Dates = Monday, June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ Practicing self-respect may appear counter-cultural to women in the church who seek to be biblically submissive. What does submission look like when a wife has self-respect? Is it sinful for Christian women to guard their sense of dignity and personhood? How can godly women practice self-respect? Can a wife respect her husband, yet not respect herself? Many women and girls withhold self-approval when it comes to the size and shape of their physique. How does self-respect play into the way a woman sees herself—and relates to her own body?

Dates = Monday, July 6, 13, 20, 27 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ Men with Christian convictions may find that self-respect functions as a stark reorientation—a necessary corrective that, over time, steadies a man’s internal strength. What light does biblical selfhood shine on the quest for manhood in the church? How might the experience of having been bullied stunt a man’s development in self-respect? How can men respect themselves when secretly inside they feel inadequate? Why is it so common for men to be out-of-touch with themselves, as selves? How can a Christian husband love his wife “as himself” if he lacks self-awareness?

Dates = Monday, August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ Is self-respect an aspect of sheer willpower—or something more foundational? How might a deficit of selfhood, rather than excess desire, lead a person into sexual promiscuity? What does sex have to do with the formation or deformation of the self? Can sexual acts alter a person’s identity? What makes illicit sex different from other sins? What types of sexual boundaries are needed for achieving self-respect? How can a Christian set proper relational boundaries without selfishly engaging in cancel culture? ​​

Dates = Monday, September 7, 14, 21 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ In what sense is the challenge to build self-respect a battle that pertains to spiritual warfare? How does acting in the capacity of one’s official role put a person at risk of letting go of their selfy? Ethically, should Christians—or anyone else for that matter—ignore their own convictions if they have agreed to play a certain role? How does systemic evil entice Christians to forfeit their “selfy” in exchange for human approval, or belonging in the family, or for an honored seat at the decision-making table? Should Christians be held accountable for what they go along with? ​​

Dates = Monday, October 5, 12, 19, 26 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ If everyone in Christ were to practice self-respect, what would result? How self-conscious would people be, and how self-aware? How much more respectful would we be towards other people? Is it right to respect someone else’s poor decision? At what point do we, as Christians, become complicit in the bad decision of another member of the Body of Christ? How does self-respect play out from person to person in Christ given that we are members of one Body? What can we do to help churches, nonprofits, and other Christian entities develop institutional self-respect?

Dates = Monday, November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) ​​ Epistemologically, what do we need to know in order to practice self-respect? What knowledge do Christians need in order to retain a sturdy sense of self that cannot be defeated or dismantled? What habits can we form to anchor our sense of identity so that we persevere and stay on mission in times of testing? How can a normal person maintain self-respect, even when being maligned or mistreated by an abusive authority figure? What does moral courage have to do with self-respect?

Dates = Monday, December 7, 14, 21, 28 Time = 4:45 - 6:25 pm PST Cost = This service is available exclusively to subscribers of the Gold or Platinum Plan.  If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe here.(https://rightonmission.org/self-respect#selfrespect-pg-subscription) How does the desire to be a great Christian short-circuit the spiritual process of practicing self-respect? What does it mean to go gently with yourself? How can eager Christians learn to pay respect to a reasonable pace of living that is sure and manageable? How can those who are sluggish find the spiritual impetus to practice self-respect? How can we effectively help other people practice self-respect? Why does self-respect even matter? What is the ultimate purpose of the self?