Chapter 5: Unmasking Your False Self

Start with what happens right after the fall. Genesis 3:7 says “the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” Their first move is not to run to God. It is to get busy: “they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Notice the verbs. Sewed. Made. Fig leaves are a do-it-yourself fix for the feeling of being exposed.

That picture sits at the center of Benner's chapter on the false self. In his framing, the false self is the identity we build on the belief that happiness comes from getting our own way. It is an image-protecting style, shaped around what we do well and what was rewarded when we were young. We keep what earned approval and hide what didn't. Benner says we cling to this self the way the first couple clung to their leaves, while God offers something more durable. He points to Genesis 3:21, where God himself makes garments of skin and clothes them. (If looking back at your childhood stirs up pain, bring that to a pastor, counselor, or trusted friend rather than sorting it out alone.)

Now watch the next verses. They hear the Lord God walking in the garden, and “the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Leaves weren't enough, so now they need trees. Covering up escalates. Hiding from each other turns into hiding from God.

Then God asks, “Where are you?” It reads less like a request for information and more like an invitation to step out. And the man's answer is honest in a surprising way: “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He names the fear underneath the leaves. That is the doorway back.

Benner invites readers to notice where they become defensive or compulsive. Those are good places to look, because fig leaves are rarely chosen calmly. Defensiveness flares when something threatens the image. Compulsion shows up when we can't stop doing the thing that keeps the image safe: being useful, being right, being funny, being low-maintenance. None of these is bad in itself. The question is whether it is a gift you offer or a leaf you hold up.

Here is the contrast to hold onto. A leaf is sewn by the one who is afraid, and it has to be maintained. A garment from God is given. You can stop managing how you are seen when the One who sees you has already clothed you.

Today's work is small. Don't fix anything. Just name one leaf, the way the man named his fear, to the God who asks where you are.

Right before this scene, a voice from heaven names Jesus as the beloved Son (Matthew 3:16-17). Then the Spirit leads him into the wilderness, and twice the tempter opens with the same words: “If you are the Son of God.” Hear that little word “if.” Each temptation is a question about identity wrapped in an offer.

Benner, following M. Basil Pennington, reads these three temptations as struggles with false selves of power, prestige, and possessions. Walk through them with that lens.

First, stones into bread. Jesus has fasted forty days and is hungry. The offer is to use his identity to meet his own need on his own terms. That is the pull of power: be the one in control, the one who never has to depend on anyone.

Second, the pinnacle of the temple. Throw yourself down, and angels will catch you in front of everyone. That is prestige: be seen, be proven, be admired.

Third, a very high mountain and all the kingdoms and their glory. That is possessions: have it all, be the one who owns, collects, and arrives. Benner describes the false self as an inordinate attachment to an image of being special, and each offer here is a shortcut to being someone impressive.

Now look at how Jesus answers. He doesn't prove anything. Each time he stands on what is written. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” And at the end: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” His identity rests on his relationship with the Father, not on being demonstrated. And notice the final line: “angels came and were ministering to him.” Care arrives as a gift, not something seized.

The same three questions show up in ordinary life. Power sounds like “I have to be in charge” or “I can't ask for help.” Prestige sounds like “I need to be right” or “I need them to think well of me.” Possessions sounds like “I'll feel secure when I have enough.” Which one makes your heart speed up?

A fair note before you apply this. The Gospels call this a temptation by the devil, and they never say Jesus struggled with a false self; Hebrews 4:15 says he was tempted yet without sin. So treat the scene as a mirror for us, not a diagnosis of him. Some evangelical critics, such as the CANA evaluation, also question parts of Benner's wider framework, including his use of Jungian-style psychology, the Enneagram, and his “Christ in me” language. Learn from his questions, and let Scripture judge every answer.