To understand mutuality it is important to understand self-interest. Most Christians would argue that altruism is the highest ethical or moral approach. It is not. It may seem counter-intuitive but self-interest is higher.
The story of St Martin de la Tours illustrates this. Martin was swift to help the beggar but did not forget that God also loves him.
More generally, self-interest should not be confused with selfishness. To be selfish is to pursue the perceived interests of yourself to the exclusion of all others. Self-interest is to understand that I benefit from the good I do for others. It is this commitment to work collaboratively for the benefit of all that is the mark of lasting positive social change. It is embodied in the commandment to love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Lasting social systems do not result from personal greed as the monetarists would have us believe. It is only those systems that grow out of trust and collaboration that make a lasting difference.
But surely some die-hard altruists will be saying. Even if self-interest is as described here, surely altruism is better. 'A greater love has no-one than this, to lay down their life for their friend'. First, I cannot see how someone lacking self-love could possibly voluntarily give their life for a friend. Second, I would argue this type of self-giving is based upon self-interest. If the person who makes this sacrifice were in a position to stop and consider they might believe it would be impossible to live with themselves without making the effort.
But I don't think it is possible to make any sacrifice that means anything without self-interest, without being conscious of our own limitations. This is Wesley's teaching about christian perfection. There may seem to be a contradiction here. If perfection is about putting others first, self-interest might seem to pull in the other direction. Two points: first self-interest includes our love for ourselves as a part of our love for others, and second as love grows our awareness of what is in our own interest deepens.
Self-interest offers us a model for Christian Perfection. In future posts, I will offer some practical applications which will help us see the dynamic of perfection in practice, or social transformation.
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