Recently, California Megachurch pastor John MacArthur made a comment about certain mental illnesses not existing. His reason for saying so comes from a worldview which views the bible as something of a manual for treating mental illnesses, and all psychology and psychiatry as quackery.
Without touching on the controversy beyond that, there is actually some places where the bible and the so-called quacks agree:
Much of the ailments of the mind are actually self-inflicted, caused by what you think.
So for instance, when Paul is cast into prison, he sings songs.
You see, being in prison is not a good thing, but reframing the situation in light of Pauline theology would say, this life is transient anyhow, that it is a privilege to suffer for Christ, that the imprisoned Christian has far more hope than the comforted and accepted Prison Warden on the outside - thus Paul and Silas sing instead of mourn.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Paul Shake Hands
“Reframing” in CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is based on the premise that depression, anxiety and other ailments have their root in what you think about what is happening in your life and that by examining it, and changing your thinking you fix the emotional problem.
So if you are poor, perhaps it is because you pay taxes instead of cheat your taxes, or because you like your children to have good food, or you care for aging parents or friends who fall on hard times. In other words, things to be encouraged about. You don’t have money because you use it well.
If you are lonely maybe it is because this is a selfish season of human history in which “the love of many” has “grown cold” because of how evil the world has become. Or maybe you work hard and are busy, maybe you don’t like to drink, do drugs, or have unique interests that others simply do not share. In other words, alone for a good cause.
How to ‘See You’ Differently
CBT’s reframing would have you
first observe the story you tell yourself about your reality and situation
then analyze the narrative you tell yourself about it to see if indeed this is the truest way to see,
and thirdly to intentionally craft a better analysis of the situation that is encouraging rather than discouraging, empowering rather than defeating.
The New Testament both commends this method, and improves it to a spiritual and eternal plane.
It interprets the life of poor Lazarus dying at the rich man’s doorstep because of a lack of food - certainly as a tragedy and injustice, but one with eternal hope for Lazarus to this day lives, while the sumptuous rich man still wants merely a drop of water - even now.
Reframing our lives in light of what God says in the Scriptures and the eternal world to come is what it means to be Christian.
Reframing as a Way of Life
I work at a company that provides therapy. Sometimes when I talk to clients they have the most depressing accounts of themselves to share. They say,
“I divorced and my life is over.”
“Ever since I graduated university I’ve been lonely and isolated.”
“My boss is never satisfied with my work… I’ve tried everything.”
The wonderful thing about these situations is that they are artificial constructs.
Some of these stories are like the beginning of some of the better Ted Talks and Motivational Speeches given by successful people.
People feel this way, and they think their feelings are real - or perhaps ‘reality.’
They just need to reframe these defeats to get back up off the ground.
Telling a Certain Kind of Story
They are telling a certain kind of story, and all I have to do in those situations is listen to them talk about themselves long enough and 9 times out of 10 I can find enough information to tell them a better story about their lives.
I can tell the divorcee, “you divorced, it was painful, like dying surely, but you can live forever in that pain or you can forget what ‘lies behind and strain toward what lies ahead. You’re still living so choose to live the best life you can today.”
I can tell the university graduate, “yes you feel lonely, some of that is in your head (feelings), and some of it is a practical problem you can address by spending your time differently.”
I can tell the employee from a major AI chip manufacturer to begin seeing their company politics as a battlefield and begin acting cunningly and strategically rather than assuming her coworkers have her back. This way she enters the dog-eat-dog world of the Tech Bros with awareness instead of presumption, and caution instead of simplicity.
‘But It’s Not That Simple’
Certainly more to it than merely those introductory statements, but I have to say that most often when I talk to them their demeanor goes from defeat to a realization that they have the resources at least to navigate these problems, and overcome them. They leave encouraged, and equipped to deal with life’s arrows.
This often creates an opportunity even within my secular work setting for them to ask, where did you learn this? I tell them: ‘I learned it from St. Paul in the Bible, although CBT practitioners have rediscovered it.’
When God dispenses wisdom throughout the cultures of the earth from his riches, he doesn’t care whether they are Eastern, Middle Eastern or Western. Often these nuggets of wisdom so align with the Scriptures that it is a golden opportunity for a true Christian to demonstrate not just wise teaching, but wise living.
Wisdom is, after all, justified by her children.
[A teaching is vindicated by those who successfully navigate life by it.]
And God has given us the lion’s share if we will walk in it.
Nate