Why we are not fascinated with the ‘church’s fascination with mental illness…
*an attempt at a disclaimer: We realize this is a volatile topic and one charged with great emotion, but it is CRITICAL that our FAILING appeal below not be emotionally driven but Biblical. This position that we hold has caused conflict with family and friends, therefore we understand not taking it lightly. Again, the importance that these scriptures are the lens we would ask that you interpret our current fascination with: 1 Peter 2:1-12 (ESV); 2 Corinthians 1 (ESV); and 1 Corinthians 10:12-14 (ESV).
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- We are more fascinated with recovery, than the gospel.
- We are more fascinated with our labels than with our identity in Christ.
- We are more fascinated in our medications than being responsible.
- We are more fascinated in feel-good therapeutic gospel, than His.
- We are more fascinated in bringing secular theories and passing it off as ‘attractional’ versus being missional and incarnational and dying to self.
- We are more fascinated in arguing through our right to be labeled versus being obedient and accountable to His label.
- We are fascinated with making psychology and psychiatry more palatable to the church who would rather read the latest self-help then their Bibles.
- We are fascinated with rationalizing and justifying our excuses for sinning against one another versus doing the hard work of being a peacemaker, which means your going to have to confess and repent of a few things. (James 4 (ESV))
- We are more fascinated with getting angry about my not believing in your psychology/psychiatry and YOUR EXPERIENCE than being excited about discipleship evangelism and teaching people about the bible and what God says about them. (Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV))
- We are more fascinated with proving why these labels matter more than understanding that I am not anti-medicine (Luke my favorite book is a Physician), anti-discipleship, just tired of weenie, excuse making, non bible-reading, non-confessional, community enabled, white elephant in the room avoiding, prattling that has nothing to do with worship, discipleship, or evangelism…. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV)
- Finally, we are more fascinated with contributing to a blog/text/etc about MI than telling others that we were so self-absorbed with ‘mental illness’ that we don’t read our Bibles, invest in others, and it has been a long time since we shared the gospel, and it helps us salve our conscience as we focus on things that are NOT the main thing…and we need help…(Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV))
We have found these helpful for us when the world tries to insist that we become fascinated with mental illness….
Calvin: “Nothing I do is my fault”.
Calvin: “My family is dysfunctional and my parents won’t empower me! Consequently, I’m not self-actualized!”
Calvin: “My behavior is addictive functioning in a disease process of toxic dependency! I need holistic healing and wellness before I’ll accept any responsibility for my actions!”
Hobbes: “One of us needs to stick his head in a bucket of ice water.”
Calvin: “I love the culture of victim-hood.”
the below item is from: http://www.psychologydebunked.com
Did You Know…
- Mental disorders are NOT medical/physical conditions like cancer or diabetes? Every mental disorder is merely a list of observable behaviors given a label and voted into existence by the APA Board.
- No one can objectively prove you have a mental disorder? Even the APA President admits that no lab test exists to prove the existence of depression, ADHD, bipolar, and every other mental disorder–no brain scan, no blood test, nothing.
- There is no reason to take a pill for a mental disorder, like you would for true medical/physical conditions? The chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain theory has never been proven to cause mental disorders, despite popular belief and drug company marketing. See the News page.
- Psychiatric drugs CAUSE chemical imbalances in the brain by disrupting normal brain chemicals? Long-term use can cause permanent brain and organ damage.
- The FDA now admits antidepressants and ADHD drugs can CAUSE violent and suicidal behavior in children and adults? It is well-documented that most school shooters and baby killers over the last two decades were on psychiatric drugs. See the News page.
- Mental health screening, labeling and drugging of children is in almost every state in America? School screening programs like TeenScreen label normal children with mental disorders, leading to dangerous psychiatric drugging.
- Over time, more people improve without psychotherapy than with it?
- Every major psychological theory is anti-Christian at its core?
Biblical Resources to think through these items:
1. http://www.the-highway.com/psychology_Cole.html
2. http://bellsouthpwp2.net/e/p/eph61820/documents/OneChurchsStory.pdf
3. http://oasisgc.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/the-daily-christian-life1.pdf
Morpheus: I imagine that right now, you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that’s not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?
Neo: The Matrix.
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
Neo: Yes.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Is it possible that Psychology/Psychiatry is the ‘wool that has been pulled over our eyes’…?
What does Scripture say…2Ti 4:3-4 ESV For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (4) and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
This was a GREAT article, timely, and just what the doctor ordered. Sounds like all need a reminder of the gospel. Thanks for posting this…
Question: Why do you believe the church is fascinated with mental illness? Do you mean your local congregation specifically, or is it your perception that it is more widespread than that?
I am finally glad someone is calling the ‘church’ to task with this… so many of our ‘Christian’ counselors have state licenses that prevent them from sharing the gospel (legally) and yet protest that merging the gospel with secular psychology is the way to build a bridge. How wrong that is… I have never seen anyone who was helped by a watered down gospel. I imagine you get attacked with this view and I applaud your ‘church’ for making this something worth writing about and sharing with the rest of us…
Thanks Anonymous…. I understand by the way (being anonymous)… and we are quite humbled by the compliment and encouragement to be faithful despite attacks… I suppose, that if we were not being attacked then we wouldn’t be pushing the gospel forward right…?
A very timely and needed article. FYI — I spent about 35 years as and addictions counselor, and in all that time I never saw an addicted person truely change except through the Irresistable Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I had the privilige of being a conduit of His Grace on several occasions. Praise God those times were the only times that I am able to look back on and realize that I did not waste 35 years of my professional life.
Steve, Thank you for your transparencey and honesty… I would not say ‘wasted 35 years’ in that it was all God’s time and He wanted you to go through that for a reason… I am, for 1, glad he did, in that, the power of your testimony is impeccable and proves the point that is much needed for many us in the ‘matrix’ discussions we are having. Thank you for taking a moment to let us know… and for participating in being a real live testimony about the facts in the article… Please let us know if there is anything we can do to serve you or pray for you about…
Interesting book I have recently ordered, and just begun reading “Unholy Madness: The Chruch’s Surrender to Psychiatry” by Seth Farber, 1999. Anyone care to comment?
I think you have mental illnesses and then you have MENTAL ILLNESSES. Having worked on a psych ward in the Navy and personally watching the disintegration of a personality into full blown psychosis you have to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. There are certain classes of illness that just can’t be fixed with any amount of counselling but need a pharmaceutical solution (in which case it never really CURES anyone it just gets the symptoms manageable.)
Your everyday garden variety neurosis is another matter all together.
Good Post.
However we must be careful not to elevate the human brain as an organ into a realm that supercedes the physical. In other words there is also no evidence or reason to think that the human brain is physiologically perfect and therefore not susceptible to illness or physical defects as the rest of the body. For some reason people seem to think that the entire body can have defects in an entire litany of ways but the brain is somehow exempt. What premise would this be based on though?
This too would be a mistake. We must guard against letting the pendulum swing to far in either direction.
Hi Derek, what I am concerned with is people with genuine mental illnesses, the kind that don’t need a psychologist but a psychiatrist. The tendency might be to paint all mental aberrations with the same broad brush, thus a kid with ADHD is lumped in the same category as my son with moderate autism. Unfortunate grouping! The kid with ADHD might just need more discipline while (and I can testify to this personally) no amount of discipline will dissuade a truly autistic kid from doing something!
Unfortunately the world has lumped all of this together. I don’t think the church should make the same mistakes.
Hope that made some kind of sense…
Marty
ps. don’t give up on any of the autistic kids you might run into, mine accepted Jesus at a VBS with the wordless book, they found him crying in a room one day and asked him why he was so sad he said “because Jesus suffered so much”.
pps. my post was using baby and bathwater to mean different things…
I am writing in response to your request for clarification.
1} I am definitely not advocating the idea of ‘mental illness’. During my college years, majoring in Psychology, I often found myself in ‘dicussions’ with my profs about this. After taking some time reading Szaa’s(sp) “Myth of Mental Illness”, Glassers “Reality Therapy”, and references to Herbert Mowrer — I was convinced that the idea of a ‘non-organic’ disease; aka Mental Illness — was not only a misnomer, but was also an excuse to eliminate personal responsibility. This realization came to me in the ’70’s, and as we can see in todays society, this ‘non-resposible behavior’ has led to disastarous(sp?) consequences.
2) In terms of alcoholism and drug addiction, I believe the research (at least what I have read) indicates a definitive change in brain chemistry in some individuals, which leads to an organic illness. Much like your example of the flu virus — with the exception that people are exposed passivly to the flu, but addicts (alcohol/drugs) have actively participated in the development of their addiction.
3) We all have the luxury of 20/20 hindsight. At the time I started my work (1975), the idea of biblical counseling, or christian therapy or nouthetic counseling, was still a rather foreign subject. I gradually began using Scripture in my counseling — though very discreetly because of the setting I was in. I found a distinct change in people and saw the Holy Spirit convicting and changing hearts. As I look back on my career, I shared some of the same frustrations that Jay Adams writes about in “Competent to Counsel”, which I was finally exposed to in the early ’80’s. That helped me validate the things I was doing in the counseling office, putting a name to the process.
I hope I have answered your questions about what I was attempting to say in my first post on this subject. Almost three years ago I suffered a severe brain injury in a freak accident at my office. Since that time I have difficulty in trying to remember things and organize my thoughts.
Unfortunately, I have discovered that my pre-accident command of language and spelling has been hindered. So please excuse the mispellings that I know are contained in this comment. Please feel free to ask for more clarification if I still have not provided an addequate response.
I think you are idiots if you don’t believe that mental illness is real. Maybe you would believe if your family had one. Why do christians make such fools of themselves. No wonder no one wants to be one!
Debbie C, I approved of your comments because it show how we (followers of Jesus Christ) must be firm in our beleifs but also compassionate with realizing that this is a volatile topic. Thank you for posting and for making us aware of what ‘those who are far from God’ think and perceive regarding this topic. I hope you take time to read through the resources in the article above and I would be willing to field any questions about what it means to be a Christian with you anytime. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
I’m entering this conversation a bit late but I wanted to address Debbie C and anyone else reading who may think we have no one in our family with Mental Illness. First off, our ‘family’ includes all Christians, so in a very broad sense we have literally millions of possible ‘family members’ with Mental Illness.
Additionally, my awesome wife and wonderful daughters also have a neat little laundry list of MI’s between the 3 of them that we are seeking to Lord for. My wife has been seeing professionals for over 20 years and since I’ve come to the Lord I am waiting with great anticipation to see him move in their lives in this respect.
When the Lord moves, its done, Game Over. When Psychiatrists do the moving? “See you again same time next week.” I love my family and I prefer the permanent solution and I also would like to honor God. Even if I disagreed with the Creator of All, the One True God (scary thought) in this respect I would still move in this direction, and according to his word (James 1:22-25 ESV).
I had another thought now that I’ve reflected a bit longer on this subject. Some may not have MI’s (them or their families) simply due to obedience to scripture and seeking the Lord through all things (good and bad). Christ will take care of His children (1 Cor 6:11 (ESV), 1 Cor 6:9-11 (ESV) for complete context) washing, sanctifying and justifying us in His grace and walk with Him.
So one should expect to see fewer MI’s in a Christian body that embraces God’s teaching above all. I cannot wait to experience that fruit firsthand. At this point my wife is improving through her faith and love of our Lord, but she’s not finished, and He is not either. Please pray for her and my daughters, and pray for this discussion thread that we could be in unity and have **real** discussions – they are far better than arguments.
Thanks Fay for your comments… I believe they are fascinated because when I logged onto Wrecked.org last week, they were fascinated with it, and when I logged onto FB today, they were fascinated with it there too… and most of the ‘discussions’ I have had regarding theology of late have been on this topic (unchurched and churched) rather than discipleship… I hear your caution with generalization, but also realize that this is not a topic that is going away, especially with the topics I address in my article (recovery groups, labels, medication, etc)…. Thank you for your observation and I do hope I answered your question, let me know if I did not, and I will attempt to clarify… thanks again..
I had not heard of it, but I did just read this: http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=540 and found it quite interesting and totally agree with the fact that the ‘church’ has dropped the ball and is responsible… What I was reading, implied (correct me if I am wrong) was a ‘marrying’ or integration of psychology/psychiatry somewhat with Christianity. I know this review suggests there are some faults with that, and I think the correct question is: Is there any difference between biblical counseling and Christian psychology or Christian counseling?
John MacArthur, F., Jr, Wayne A. Mack and Master’s College, Introduction to Biblical Counseling : Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling, Electronic ed. (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1997, c1994). 362.
Marty,
Thanks for writing!!! Just so I can be clear, and before I approve the post, what is meant by “The baby” and “the bathwater”:
If… So, if it is true that God has preserved all the truth necessary to live a life pleasing to God and loving towards others by preserving His Son’s Words in the gospels, AND that unbelieving belief systems under any label, including “psychology”, express enmity towards God, the question inevitably comes up, what about “Christian” psychology? The naïve, ignorant, or sadly deceived people say, “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water – surely the work done by Christian psychologists is beneficial”. What if that statement is false? In truth, a disciple turning people to Jesus is the “baby”, and psychological precepts are the “bath water”. So, yes, throw out the bath water (psychology) and keep the baby (speaking the Words of the Lord).
Is what your asking: Why do biblical counselors refuse to use information from science and psychology?
First of all, biblical counselors are primarily concerned with the problem of sin and how people can change and grow (sanctification) for God’s glory. Science (in general), as we now know it, does not concern itself with either the problem of sin or God, so there is no reason for biblical counselors to use science for the purpose of man’s sanctification to the glory of God. The question of the use of psychology in counseling is a bit different. It must be said up front that psychology, as such, is not science per se. While psychologists would want people to assume that it is, psychology is the study of human behavior, not the science of human behavior. Human behavior cannot be scientifically studied, as though someone with a white coat could take a person’s attitude and analyze it in a test tube. Even if, somehow, all of the issues of the human heart could be empirically quantified and verified, no psychologist or scientist could provide the proper interpretations or solutions of problems apart from the revealed Word of God and its direct application to the human heart.
It must be stated as clearly as possible that biblical counselors do not object to psychology or to psychologists as such. There are some in the general field of psychology who are performing important tasks, say, in the area of studying sleep patterns of individuals and what profit can be gained from such study. The objection biblical counselors have to psychologists (and even psychiatrists for that matter) is when they attempt to give nonbiblical (and in many cases, patently unbiblical) solutions to people’s sin problems. As one of the leaders in the biblical counseling movement, Jay Adams has rightly observed, “When psychologists attempt to change men, although they have no warrant from God to do so, no standard by which to determine what are proper or deviant attitudes or behavior, no concept of what man should look like, and no power by which to achieve the inner change of heart and thought that are so necessary, I cannot help but be concerned”4 When it comes to true “soul work,” only those ordained by God to do so can be used by God to change lives. The apparatus necessary is the Word of God—shared through illumination by the Spirit of God, given by and administered through those called by God in the local church. Psychology or psychiatry, though it may purport to be under the aegis of the local church, if it is not under the functioned control of Holy Scripture, is not useful or helpful to the biblical counselor and could even be (and certainly is!) destructive to the counseling process.
We cannot assume that when psychologists make judgments regarding human behavior, they are doing so in a purely unbiased and scientific way if they go on to suggest solutions for change in that behavior apart from the control of God’s Word. All proposed solutions to the problem of sin come down to our view of God and His Word. Any attempt to provide solutions apart from biblical exegesis, theology, and the application of the fruit of that study to the heart will result in faulty counseling, whether from psychologists or pastors.
(S. Lance Quinn)
John MacArthur, F., Jr, Wayne A. Mack and Master’s College, Introduction to Biblical Counseling : Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling, Electronic ed. (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1997, c1994). 371.
stunned by the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior,
Derek R. Iannelli-Smith
“The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” -E.M.Bounds
Steve,
Thank you for taking a moment to write. Could you please clarify for me before I approve the post, are you advocating the mental illness label, or that there are physiological problems with the brain at times and we must be cautious? Are you stating or asking;
Does biblical counseling deny the existence of mental or emotional illness and the healing that is necessary in these areas?
The concept of mental illness is a theory based upon a medical model of illness. In the medical model an organic illness is the cause of various symptoms in the body. The body is sick because something from without has affected it. Thus, a person has the flu because of a flu virus. It is not that person’s fault that he or she has the flu. That person cannot be held responsible for the inability to work since the illness is the result of something that affected the body.
This same logic is used in dealing with behavior that is difficult to explain. When a person has bizarre behavior and no organic cause for the behavior is found by laboratory studies, nonbelievers have theorized that the person is mentally sick. Just as the body gets sick, they conclude the mind is sick. Since the mind is sick, the person cannot control the behavior and thus is not responsible for any actions. Any time a person functions in an abnormal (irresponsible) way, that person is considered mentally or emotionally ill—with a mind and emotions that are believed to be sick.
The difficulty with this theory is that it cannot be proved. There are tests that measure thinking, but these cannot prove that the mind is sick. Even though the mind uses the brain, the mind is not the brain. Tumors, severe injuries, strokes, etc. can damage part of the brain and may affect how the person thinks and acts, but these are not mental illnesses, they are organic illnesses that can be proved in the laboratory. They can cause the brain to be sick but not the mind. While parts of the brain that are damaged may not be available to the mind, the mind is not sick. There is brain damage, not mental illness. The concept of the mind being sick is a theory with no scientific proof.
Psychiatry uses disease labels to describe different groups of symptoms. When an organic illness is found, it is given a label that describes the problem in the body. For example, it may be found through a medical examination that a person with the diagnosis of depression has an underactive thyroid. In this case, the diagnosis is changed from depression to hypothyroidism. If mental illness had an organic basis the term mental illness would be substituted by the name of the physical disease in the body.
One argument for the existence of an organic basis for behavior problems is based on the improvement some people achieve through medications. Yet this logic is unscientific. Two concurrent events do not automatically mean one caused the other. For example, 100 percent of the people who ate carrots in 1825 are now dead. If we followed that argument’s reasoning, we would conclude that carrots are a dangerous food—obviously an illogical conclusion. Yet it is also illogical to conclude that because medications improve a person’s feelings, the person has an organic illness.
The biblical counselor is accused of denying reality. Yet who is to say this is reality? Even though the majority of people in our society accept the theory of mental illness as a fact, that still does not make it a fact. Such reasoning is not scientific but philosophical. This is the same logic that says believers deny the existence of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Many people believe they exist, so does that make them real? Since mental illness is a theory and not a fact, biblical counselors do not deny the existence of something that has been proven to exist by empirical data gained in the laboratory. There is no need to deny the existence of something that does not exist.
The behavior and thinking characterized as mental illness totally ignores what the Bible teaches. When people’s problems are not handled biblically, the results are confused thinking and bad feelings. These add to the problems that must be handled. When people live by their feelings, their behavior is affected. Attempts are made to improve the feelings and through this to improve the behavior. But when these attempts fail (as they will), further problems are created; the thinking becomes more and more confused attempting to deal with the difficult situations. As this spiral continues, the person ends up with bizarre thinking and behavior. The problem is not the feelings or emotions but the thinking and actions. When the Bible is not used to deal with problems, thoughts, and feelings, the result will be confused thoughts and actions. This continues until the thinking and behavior are bizarre. The emotions do not need to be healed since they are not sick; they are the natural result of unbiblical thinking.
The question also implies that the failure to accept mental illness as a reality is cruel since this means that healing is not available, thus the biblical position is cruel. In reality, however, the opposite is true. Those who label the behavior as illness are cruel since they remove the hope and victory available through the application of biblical principles. When the medical model argues that the person is sick, can it guarantee that a cure is even possible? How is healing to be defined? What happens if it does not occur? Since, in reality, there is no mental illness, to offer healing is to encourage a fraudulent and futile hope. In essence this removes true hope and that is the truly cruel action.
Biblical counselors can offer something superior to healing—they can offer victory in the midst of difficult circumstances, rather than improved feelings or attempts to change the circumstances. This is biblical and far superior to a healing that cannot be defined or measured. Biblical counseling is loving because it produces the victory God has promised.
(Robert Smith, M.D.)
John MacArthur, F., Jr, Wayne A. Mack and Master’s College, Introduction to Biblical Counseling : Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling, Electronic ed. (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1997, c1994). 374.
stunned by the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, Derek R. Iannelli-Smith
Oasis Website, Counseling Ministry, FaceBook “The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.” -E.M.Bounds
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Your previous response was exactly the clarification I needed and showed grace and being an ambassador of reconciliation. The ‘baby’ is caution with generalizations, whereas ‘bathwater’ is psychiatry… here is a thought… M.D. can prescribe medication… why do Christians need a psychiatrist? Or said differently as an elder of a reformed church…
Do you ever refer people to psychologists or psychiatrists for help?
I never make such referrals for counseling unless the person bearing the title is committed to biblical counseling—as such, the professional title is incidental. Many biblical counselors happen to have degrees in psychology, psychiatry, neurology, general medicine, nursing, education, or social work. They studied secular counseling theories and methods that they have rejected in favor of biblical theory and practice.
Would I ever refer to a psychiatrist or psychologist for other reasons? A psychiatrist’s medical training could help in determining whether neurological or other organic problems contribute to a person’s problems in living, and a psychologist might help by intelligence testing. But, unfortunately, psychiatrists and psychologists too often adopt the role of a psychotherapist. They trespass into the domain of the Spirit, the Word, and ministry because they counsel people in unbiblical ways. A letter from a leading Christian organization contained the following statement:
Psychologists do far more than engage in the practice of psychotherapy. To whom would you take a six-year-old boy to determine whether he were emotionally and physically ready to enter the first grade?…To whom would you turn if your wife became schizophrenic and ran screaming down the street? Would your pastor be able to deal with that situation? What if you wished to make a career change in mid-life, and wanted an objective evaluation of your strengths and interests? Whom could you ask to help you? To whom would you go to seek help with an adolescent who was extremely rebellious and resentful of his father? In each of these instances, and in a hundred others, you would look for a psychologist whose first love and highest commitment is to Jesus Christ and to the Word of God. And how silly to say, “There is no such thing.”8
Let me interact with this statement sentence by sentence.
“Psychologists do far more than engage in the practice of psychotherapy.” Indeed they do. Of course, psychotherapy is the money-making staple for most Christian psychologists. But such counseling practice is legitimated by a great deal of popular writing and speaking. In fact, psychologists’ biggest influence in the Christian church at this time is not through psychotherapy, but through scores of best-selling books, conferences, video tapes, and radio shows. The statement stresses the service roles that psychologists have assumed. But (at least in this quote) it does not mention their biggest role: teachers about human nature, about problems and solutions. In an ominous development for the Church, psychologists have gained three kinds of authority: (1) the right to interpret human beings and their problems; (2) the right to work with people experiencing problems in living; and (3) the right to endeavor to solve people’s problems.
The dilemma is this: Christian psychologists’ interpretations of people are systematically twisted by error. What do they teach? Diverse as they are in the details, popular Christian psychologists are united in teaching that mankind’s fundamental problem stems from some lack, emptiness, unmet need, woundedness, or trauma (e.g. “low self-esteem,” “deep yearnings for relationship,” “love hunger,” “search for significance”). In contrast, the Bible teaches that our fundamental problem stems from the active desires, thoughts, and intentions of the heart. Are we basically sinful, or do we simply react sinfully to the failings of primary care givers to meet our needs?
The excerpt cited appeals to the de facto institutionalization of psychology within contemporary secular and Christian culture, as if this establishes psychologists’ legitimacy. The authority is made to appear self-evident—because people go to psychologists, psychologists are needed. However, each of the examples cited above proves dubious upon inspection.
“To whom would you take a six-year-old boy to determine whether he were emotionally and physically ready to enter the first grade?” Take him to a medical doctor for the physical questions. Take him to the principal and kindergarten and first-grade teachers for the other questions. They have dealt with hundreds of kids over the years. Other parents are also a resource. Experienced people can give you good advice to weigh into your determination of your child’s readiness.
“To whom would you turn if you wife became schizophrenic and ran screaming down the street? Would your pastor be able to deal with that situation?” If your wife’s behavior and thinking became bizarre, between a medical doctor, the police, and your pastor (or otherwise pastoral counselor) you should be able to do what can be done humanly. Psychologists’ success with so-called schizophrenics is not noteworthy.
“What if you wished to make a career change in mid-life and wanted an objective evaluation of your strengths and interests? Whom could you ask to help you?” A career counselor could provide interest and aptitude testing, and a knowledge of the job market. Any pastoral counselor worthy of the name could help you think through your motives for considering a change, as well as help you with other aspects of the decision-making process. People who know you well and people in your current and contemplated careers could also offer practical advice.
“To whom would you go to seek help with an adolescent who was extremely rebellious and resentful of his father?” This is bread-and-butter biblical counseling. Bring both the adolescent and the parents into counseling. Find out why the young person is resentful and rebellious, and whether this is due to provocation from the father. Help them both to make necessary changes.
“In each of these instances, and in a hundred others, you should look for a psychologist whose first love and highest commitment is to Jesus Christ and to the Word of God. And how silly to say, ‘There is no such thing.’” I honestly cannot think of any instances, except perhaps intelligence testing from a school psychologist, where the title psychologist would be significant. Biblically wise people from many walks of life might prove helpful in these instances. My biggest problem with the “psychologists whose first love and highest commitment is to Jesus Christ and to the Word of God” is that most of the ones I have met and read deviate markedly from that professed commitment in both their theory and practice. Verbal commitment to the Word of God coexists with deviant teachings from enemies of that Word.
Christians who are psychologists almost have to deviate in order to define themselves as legitimate professionals with some unique expertise. After all, the territory they are claiming is not theirs by some natural right. It is the territory of parents, pastors, teachers, doctors, friends, and a host of practical advisors who make no pretense to being psychologists. It is the territory of life’s problems. And wisdom in that territory lies open on the pages of Scripture. Though hard won through experience in applying truth to life, such wisdom is available to all who seek it.
(David Powlison)[1]
BTW, these clips and comments I have been sharing with you are an actual part of our INTAKE packet for biblical counseling: http://oasisgc.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/informed_consent26jan081.pdf if you would like to read them in their entirety… Again, thank you for engaging with this controversial topic with us…
This is FANTASTIC and I think you did a GREAT job explaining exactly! It was well-remembered, and organized and what we also beleive and subscribe to Brother… Well done, and thank you for taking a moment to read and post a comment!