The narcissistic edge of our culture is inordinately concerned with individual hedonistic self-actualization. Doubtless all cultures to a certain degree have that concern, but few have carried it to the lengths of modern hedonists, with their feather massages, frenetic self-improvement strategies, upwardly mobile individualism, bed-hopping, and high juvenile suicide statistics.
As long as Christian community and ministry accommodate to these hedonistic assumptions about life's purpose, there is no room or even perceived need for mutual correction. There is only pretended tolerance and the inner condemnation we feel when we do not fully "actualize ourselves."
Good pastoral care will strongly affirm the freedom of the Christian. It is for responsible, Spirit-led freedom that Christ has set us free (Gal. 5:1). Justification is by grace, not our achievements in fulfilling of the law. But the gospel does not make void the law (Ro. 3:31). Life under grace is not a normless life without any moral accountability. It is a life in which moral accountability is transformed, deepened, and renewed in the light of Christ's forgiveness (Rom. 12:1 ff).
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