An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

Introduction

What is today’s date? Based on the time of year and the precedent that Lipu set in January of this year, what topic would I naturally want to talk about today? Right. Personal Growth Plans or Goal setting or New Years Resolutions. So what topic do you think I will talk about today? Wrong. We will talk about none of them. Lipu’s strength is looking forward, planning for the future, and encouraging others to do the same. That is not my strength. If I tried that topic, everyone would fall asleep within 5 minutes. My strengths are looking backward and finding faults, so today we will talk about self-examination. And what better day than the last day of a year to evaluate to do a post-mortem on our lives in 2008. My plan is as follows:

1. Opening thoughts
   
2. Types types of self-examination
   
1. Reactive
2. Proactive
3. The benefits of self-examination
   
4. When to practice self-examination
   
5. What standard to use in self-examination
   

Opening Thoughts

I want to start off with a quote that got me started thinking about self-examination:

Even the pagan philosophers were wiser than this generation. They knew that an unexamined life was not worth living. ‘Know thyself’ is the famous dictum of Socrates. (Richard Foster)

When I read that sentence, I thought to myself, “Well, at our company we insist that everything goes through QA to make sure that it is of high quality. Isn’t my own life more valuable than software? So why don’t I spend any time evaluating the quality of it?”

The answer is 1) I am lazy and 2) I don’t know how to do QA on my life. So I spent some time researching what earlier generations said about self-examination in order to find a motive and a method, and I will share with you my results now.

Types of Self-Examination

There are basically two types of self-examination: reactive and proactive. I define reactive self-examination as self-examination triggered by a negative event. I define proactive self-examination as self-examination to support the pursuit of a goal or to preemptive a threat. Let’s look at these two types more closely.

Reactive Self-Examination

There are many types of negative events that can trigger self-examination. Classical Literature illustrates several such negative events, often in the form of an idiom. First, 闭门思愆 illustrates a personal failure. In The Three Kingdoms an official recognized his shortcomings and said the following:

《三国志·蜀志·来敏传》“坐事去职”裴松之注引《诸葛亮集》：“自谓能以敦厉薄俗，帅之以义。今既不能，表退职，使闭门思愆。”

I am of the opinion that it is my duty to use a strict manner when instructing others, not to pay attention to debates over common customs, and to use a heart of benevolence, righteousness, and justice to lead them. Since I cannot so lead, I resign this position in order to earnestly reflect and critically examine myself.

Second, 闭阁思过 illustrates an event that is not own’s failure but rather the failure of his associate, implying a sense of responsibility for those in one’s sphere of influence. Hàn History reports this about an official named Yángshòu upon hearing about the behavior of his two brother:

《汉书·韩延寿传》：“民有昆弟相与讼田自言，延寿大伤之……是日移病不听事，因入卧传舍，闭阁思过，一县莫知所为。”

There were two brothers who went to court because of a land dispute. When Yángshòu heard this, he was deeply grieved. That day instead of hearing cases, he merely shut himself up in his room and pondered his mistakes. The whole county did not know what he was doing.

Third, 清夜扪心 illustrates self-examination is in response to other’s criticisms of oneself:

唐·白居易《和梦游春》诗：“扪心无愧畏，腾口有谤讟。”

Even though others continuously debate my actions, when I examine my conscience, I find nothing of which to be afraid or ashamed.

Fourth, Kǒngzǐ taught self-examination in response to another’s failures:

《论语4：17》“子曰：‘见贤思齐焉；见不贤而内自省也。’”

When you meet a man of virtue, learn from him. When you meet a man without virtue, examine yourself to see if you have the same defects as he has.

The fifth example is that of self-examination in response to chronic personal setbacks:

Now, therefore, thus says the Yahweh of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. Thus says the Yahweh of hosts: Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:5-7)

现在万军之耶和华如此说：“你们要省察自己的行为。你们撒的种多，收的却少；你们吃，却不得饱；喝，却不得足；穿衣服，却不得暖；得工钱的，将工钱装在破漏的囊中。”万军之耶和华如此说：“你们要省察自己的行为。”

So, reactive self-examination is self-examination in response to negative events, including, personal failure, the failure of those in one’s sphere of influence, other people’s criticism of you, failure of a person you meet, and chronic personal setbacks.

Proactive Self-Examination

Proactive self-examination is when we examine ourselves not in response to a negative event but in order to reach a goal or preempt a negative event. The origin of the idiom 三省吾身 illustrates this. Zēngzǐ had some clear goals that he considered so urgent that he said the following:

《论语1：4》“曾子曰：‘吾日三省吾身─为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？’”

“Every day I examine myself once and again: Have I tried my utmost to help others? Have I been honest to my friends? Have I diligently reviewed the instructions from the Master?”

The Bible is full of encouragements to examine oneself. Even if you are not a Christian, you might be able to absorb the importance that it places on it. Paul advised Christians to examine themselves carefully before taking Communion in order to prevent death:

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (1 Corinthians 11:28-30)

人应当自己省察，然后吃这饼、喝这杯。因为人吃喝，若不分辨是主的身体，就是吃喝自己的罪了。因此，在你们中间有好些软弱的与患病的，死的也不少。（哥林多前书11：28－30）

Jesus advocated self-examination against the threat of self-deception:

“Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness” (Luke 11:35)

所以，你要省察，恐怕你里头的光或者黑暗了。（路加福音11：35）

Paul advocated it against the threat of counterfeit faith:

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

你们总要自己省察有信心没有，也要自己试验。岂不知，你们若不是可弃绝的，就有耶稣基督在你们心里吗？（哥林多后书13：5）

So, people proactively examine themselves in order to gage their progress toward a goal or to preempt threats.

The Benefits of Self-Examination

In addition to fortifying one’s goal and preempting threats, self-examination has many other benefits as well. The origin of the idiom 内省不疚 illustrates that boldness results from a self-examination turning up no offense:

《论语12：4》“子曰：‘内省不疚，夫何忧何惧？’”

“Can a person with a clear conscience ever have any worries or fears?”

The origin of 内视反听 shows that it is the foundation of a king’s successful reign:

《后汉书·王允传》：“夫内视反听，则忠臣竭诚；宽贤务能，则义士厉节。”

“I critically examine myself and listen to other’s opinions; as a result, the high officials are all loyal to me. With tolerance toward my counselors, I recognize their abilities, encourage them, and cause them to improve continuously.”

Another king reported that it was the foundation of his wisdom:

《史记·商君列传8》：“反听之谓聪，内视之谓明，自胜之谓强。”

“The ability to heed other’s opinions is intelligence, the ability to examine oneself is sagacity, the ability to control oneself is power.”

So, self-examination has the benefits of boldness, success, and wisdom.

When to Practice Self-Examination

The answer to this question depends upon the urgency of one’s goal or threat. We already saw that Zēngzǐ examined himself every day (or maybe three times a day depending on how to translate 三省吾身). One aspect of pro-activity is regularity, that is we choose an interval of time and then we examine ourselves at each completion of that interval. For example, earlier we saw that Christians should examine themselves before taking Communion. Some Christians take Communion once a quarter, some once a month, some once a week. However often, the point is that there is chance for regular self-examination. I personally try to practice some type of nightly self-examination before I go to bed. One Chinese author said this:

明·茅维《闹门神》：“倘清夜扪心，原无芥蒂。”

“When I examine my conscience in the stillness of the night, I find remaining in my heart neither resentment nor grudge toward anyone.”

A verse in the Bible suggests that nightly self-examination is helpful:

“I said, ‘Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.’ Then my spirit made a diligent search.” (Psalm 77:6)

“我想起我夜间的歌曲，扪心自问，我心里也仔细省察。”（诗篇77：6）

The Standards of Self-Examination

Of course, in order to do pro-active self-examination, we need to have goals to be our standard. In a little bit, we will use our 2008 PGP as a standard. But first let’s talk about the characteristics of a good standard. It needs to be simple and memorable. I think that Zengzi was on to something in his standard above. It is very concise: “为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？” This is one reason that my 2008 PGP failed: it was so long that I could not keep it in mind. But Zengzi lacked one characteristic: comprehensiveness. He was only concerned with the horizontal dimension, the relationship between people. But I believe that there is another dimension, the vertical dimension, that is, the relationship between myself and God. In the Bible, a person is called righteous person only if he is faithful in both his horizontal and vertical relationships. So I feel that a good standard of should be simple, memorable, and encompass both of these dimensions. Jesus once spoke such a standard:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

有一个文士来，听见他们辩论，晓得耶稣回答得好，就问他说：“诫命中哪是第一要紧的呢？”耶稣回答说：“第一要紧的就是说：‘以色列啊，你要听！主我们神是独一的主。你要尽心、尽性、尽意、尽力爱主你的　神。’其次就是说：‘要爱人如己。’再没有比这两条诫命更大的了。”（马可福音12：28－31）

Of course, I fail at this standard each second, but at least I am clear of what standard to use for self-examination.