The great seduction in preparation for the antichrist.

I wrote previously that I would connect Jesus’ High Priestly prayer with Christian attitudes toward counseling psychology. That connection is the point for this post.

It wasn’t long after I started work at the community mental health center when a friend and I were talking about my new job. My friend asked “how can you be a Christian and work in this field?”

I did not understand the question.

I did not realize at that time that there were Christians who had serious objection to psychiatry specifically and psychology in general. I did not realize at the time that some had called counseling psychology “the great seduction in preparation for the antichrist.”

No kidding. Serious objections.

I did not understand that many Christians view the Bible as the sufficient and sole source of information for the care of minds. If the Bible is sufficient, to the exclusion of extra-biblical knowledge, then all non-biblical counseling is a dangerous substitute for biblical remedies. If the Bible is sufficient to deal with all problems of living, it is sufficient to deal with attention-deficit disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, and all the other problems of living that affect Christians and non Christians alike.

When I started my work at the community mental health center I did not understand how whacked-out much of psychiatry and psychology really was. All theories of personality (from which theories of treatment follow) are grounded in assumptions about the nature of Mankind. Many of the major theorists behind the theories of treatment (e.g. Freud, Jung, Maslow, Rogers) were clear that is was their intent to find scientific alternatives to Biblical remedies. None of the major theorists prescribed or practiced biblical spiritual discipline or a biblical moral life.

Many Christian clinicians integrate biblical remedies in their theoretical framework and prescribe medications conservatively, but it is not an easy fit.

When I started at the mental health center I did not realize how pervasive mental pain and suffering was. Pervasive in north Georgia and in its churches. I’ve met many sincere Christians who struggle with mental illness. I’ve met more than a few who hoped that medication would alleviate the consequences of bad living. In either case, it seems that few, at least here in north Georgia, turn to the church. Some, like the pastor’s wife, go to the community mental health center. Many go to their primary care physician. Most just deal with it; which brings me to Jesus’ prayer.

Whenever I hear Christians arguing about doctrinal fine points, I think of Jesus’ prayer that we be “one.” Whenever Christians argue about whether there is any such thing as Christian counseling, I am reminded that Jesus prayed that we would have unity. If we were unified about caring for one another when our minds hurt, we might put the community mental health centers out of business. I think that’s what Jesus would do.

Today if my friend asked how I can be a Christian and work in this field, I would tell her about the pastor’s wife and ask how she can be a Christian and not work with me.