Is it Mental Health or a Spiritual Problem?

“Sin is at the root of most psychological problems.”  — Gilbert Freemont

As I rode to a Diamondbacks baseball game with some men from our church last night, we began discussed about all the billboards advertising accident lawyers. You know the bunch. They are nationwide. Sweet James out of California, Morgan and Morgan out of Florida, and many more. I am old enough to remember when lawyers weren’t allowed to advertise. I am not sure that the commercialization of the legal profession has helped much or made the courts any more effective in producing justice.

Now it’s the therapist’s turn. “Mental health” issues have almost become a badge of honor today. Insurance companies are covering it, and they are now advertising. The marketing strategy for the industry seems to be what it has been for most other products through the years.

“Everybody needs to have one.”

Really?

Relationships are in the trash heap.

According to Psychology Today, 51% of adults in the US are unmarried.  Certainly, there many living alone, living together without marriage, or living in multi-generational households. Besides that, time spent with friends and nurturing friendships are also waning as people spend more time at work and behind computer and phone screens. Social media is no substitute for real relationships.

In steps the therapists. They are becoming the paid substitute for friends—and its convenient. They fit you into their schedule and you pay them, so they have to tell you something that you deep down want to hear, or you will just find another therapist.  It is really convenient when the company’s health care plan pays them. Therapists should not be a substitute for friends or family.

We live in a victim glorifying culture.

We have always done this to a certain extent. We love the rags to riches overcomer story. When my wife and I got married, we had very little to our name. When I first brought her to our new apartment, the only furniture we had was a card table and four chairs—no bed, dresser, sofa, TV, computer, or anything else.  I had a good friend who had inherited an entire household of furniture for their new apartment and when he saw ours he joked “I am going to steal your story when I tell it to my grandkids.”

They do it at the Olympics all the time as they tell the personal interest stories of the contestants. It is not enough to marvel at their athletic ability, we have to wonder at the recent death in the family, childhood trauma, and now the recent mental health issues.

As believers, we cannot fall into this trap. We cannot find self-worth in seeing ourselves as victims. This type of thinking is a form of selfishness, and it does not help our spiritual or mental health.

Do Christians need therapists?

It depends on what you mean by that.  Is there a place for Christian counseling?  Absolutely! But Christian counseling must be truly Bible-based counsel, from a truly Christian worldview, and not secular therapy that adds the Bible on top of secular thinking to make it seem Christian.  Much of what people go to therapy for today could really resolved through some good solid Christian friendships and accountability relationships.

The sufficiency of scripture.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

This text teaches the sufficiency of the scripture to answer our spiritual problems. And let’s make sure that we understand that our emotional problems are also spiritual issues. Fear, anger, anxiety, pride, laziness, self-image, and more are all spiritual issues. Spiritual issues are resolved by Bible answers, not secular therapy. Notice what this passage says. The Bible is not only true—the very breath of God, but it also is sufficient for our spiritual completion.

I do not want to discount the fact that there can be physical issues at the root of some problems people face. Lack of sleep, brain chemistry problems, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and more are often very real issues and need medical attention. Trained medical personnel can help identify and treat these things.

But proper thinking about ourselves, our world, and our relationships should be guided by scripture, not by the pragmatism of the secular world.

Go to church.

Therapy should never be a substitute for church.  God established the church for the purpose of administering the word of God to the lives of individuals. Good churches preach and teach the word on a regular basis, and the consistent thorough teaching for the word transforms lives.

The relationships built in church also enrich and build. According to 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, God has spiritually equipped every believer to contribute to the spiritual health of the church body. We were not intended to be lone Christians. God intends for us to thrive in a community relationship—even the introverts among us.

So absolutely, get help if you need it. Make sure you get biblically based counsel and make sure that while you do that you develop quality Christian relationships in a faithful church body.

Audio version of this post is here: Is it Mental Health or a Spiritual Problem?