Hegel's gospel

"According to Hegel, human beings like animals have natural needs and desires for objects outside themselves such as food, drink, shelter, and above all the preservation of their own bodies. Man differs fundamentally from the animals, however, because in addition he desires the desire of other men, that is, he wants to be 'recognized'. In particular, he wants to be recognized as a human being, that is, as a being with a certain worth or dignity. This worth in the first instance is related to his willingness to risk his life in a struggle over pure prestige. For only man is able to overcome his most basic animal instincts - chief among them his instinct for self-preservation - for the sake of higher, abstract principles and goals. According to Hegel, the desire for recognition initially drives two primordial combatants to seek to make the other 'recognize' their humanness by staking their lives in a mortal battle. When the natural fear of death leads one combatant to submit, the relationship of master and slave is born. The stakes in this bloody battle at the beginning of history are not food, shelter, or security, but pure prestige. And precisely because the goal of the battle is not determined by biology, Hegel sees in it the first glimpse of human freedom." - Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man.

Hegel's hierarchy of needs places the desire for recognition above all else in a human. Humanity is the quest for recognition. Importantly, this recognition only ever exists outside of a human. If it were not outside of a man it would not be a quest.

This desire to be desired explains the totality of human conduct and history. The struggle and quest for 'pure prestige' leads men by the collar.

I therefore find it incomprehensible that people would say that the message of Jesus is irrelevant. For it is in Him that the greatest external reference point - God - communicates His desire for us - as humans.

Surely it is the end of all searching to find that we are the desire of God. Surely all striving ceases when we discover that God's will is to vest in us His favourable recognition of our souls.

In sum, the gospel is a message of 'pure prestige'. He who is the Ultimate Prestige gives to us His very own prestige. A Christian is therefore someone who has agreed to accept being prestigious.   

Fukuyama is right - this revelation is the cause of the End of History.