Existential Needs: A need for a Creator

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Emma Shows, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.

Erich Fromm believed that humans have “existential needs”: 1) Relatedness, 2) Transcendence, 3) Rootedness, 4) a Sense of Identity, and 5) a Frame of Orientation.

Relatedness
Relatedness is “the drive for union with another person or persons” which is fulfilled through “ 1) submission, 2) power, and 3) love” (Feist & Feist, 2009, p191). Relatedness is a way an individual tries to partake of the “ world”- whether societal, cultural or experiential – around the individual. In Hebrews 10:25, Paul the Apostle instructs believers to “not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another…” (NIV, 2010).
“ Fromm believed that love is the only route by which a person can become united with the world and, at the same time, achieve individuality and integrity” (Feist, 2009, p192). Paul instructs the Believers that “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (NIV, 2010).
Sense of Identity
Relatedness and a Sense of Identity go hand-in-hand. A symbiotic relationship, as identified in relatedness by Fromm, can lead to a loss of identity or the creation of a new identity. Sense of Identity is “the capacity to be aware of ourselves as a separate entity” (Feist, 2009, p194). In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul reminds Christians that at the day of salvation and as a result of the Christ-walk, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT, 2007). Christians are instructed to die to self daily, in Luke 9:23, and carry Christ’s cross. However, Paul also reminds Christians that each part of the Body of Christ plays an important role as the entire Body. “ The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ” (NIV, 2010).

Frame of Orientation
As such, people crave a Frame of Orientation – a sense of direction or a goal for their lives. In Proverbs 3:5-6, Christians are told to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (NIV, 2010). “Every person has a philosophy, a consistent way of looking at things” (Feist, 2009, 195). Feist posits that “a road map without a goal or destination is worthless” (2009, p195). In Romans 12:1-2, Christians are instructed “to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Rootedness
Rootedness is basically humanity’s attempt at belonging to the “world” – a world from which Christ empowers His followers to remain “set apart” as He prays in John 17:14

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (NIV, 2010).
Believers know that Jesus promises to prepare a place in Heaven and that the Christ-follower is to consider himself only a temporary resident on this earth and a permanent resident with Him.

Transcendence
Transcendence is “the urge to rise above a passive and accidental existence into the ‘realm of purposefulness and freedom’” as quoted by Fromm (1981) and Feist (2009, p193). It is in a state of transcendence that one is able to become “creator” – an artist or thinker, inventor, judge or lover (Feist, 2009, 193). It is with the knowledge that all people are created in the image of God that humans practice “design”.
With the promises of being joint heirs with Christ a Christian realizes that God has 1) already laid out a path for the Believer’s life, and 2) granted a purpose for that life. This truth is promised in Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

When addressing the issues of creativity, in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Solomon reminds all people that

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

It is easy to see where Fromm developed his ideas of a person’s existential needs. However, he did not recognize that humanity ultimately seeks to know its Creator and did not acknowledge this core need of any one person. God the Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth, knows the needs of each individual and is Jehovah-Jireh “my provider” to anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ.

References

The Holy Bible. New International Version. 2010. Biblegateway.com

Feist, G. & Feist, J. 2009. Theories of personality. 7th edition. Boston. McGraw-Hill.

This same article can be found on Gather.com***