In our ongoing Christian conference series the Church of What’s Happening Now we examine church leaders not to follow, and activities not to take part in. It is a testament to the times we are in that such a series could run until the Lord’s return with no shortage of heresies to reprove and apostates to expose. Inevitably, in such examinations rebuking gives way to exhortation as many inquire over practical methods which could be employed to assist one with living in the faith. Indeed, the existence of this sincere desire is one reason many get caught in the web of spurious programs to begin with.
For sure, there is a simple and practical method that will not only keep one abounding in the faith, but also experiencing spiritual growth while glorifying Christ’s name.
To clear the table for presentation, it is important that we first discredit and dismiss our biggest competitor, another gospel; which of course there can’t be another, but many are perverting the gospel of Christ with it. We shall overtake them at their three major denominations, and dispense with them forthwith.
First came Christian Psychologists, then Biblical Counselors, and now we have Christian Life Coaches. Firstly, let’s dispense with the idea of Christian psychologists. There is no such thing as ‘Christian’ Psychology. There is no psychology that follows after Christ. The two separate doctrines, Christianity and psychology, offer competing explanations for the condition of man, the cause of that condition, and how he is to change, and are mutually exclusive. Biblical Counselors are the newer baby in the same tub of water who essentially use the same techniques as the psychotherapist, and so in this case the baby does go out with the bath water.
Now, we are plagued with Christian Life Coaches. What does a Christian Life Coach do, if they are not merely personal motivational speakers who cheer clients on over the phone and send them encouraging emails. What do these cheerleaders charge for their services? What, exactly, is required to become a Life Coach: acquired wisdom from raising one’s own children to adulthood, being over 50, surviving menopause, taking a coaching class to get a certificate? Of course, these are rhetorical questions posed to shame the practitioners and ridicule the occupation. And for good reason. In all these ‘Christian’ occupations the practitioners are actually prostituting their charm and personality by being some one’s paid friend.
In a counseling session, a client shares their problems, or challenges, and the psychologist-counselor-coach advises and encourages the client with adulterated counsel. Specifically, they dispense the theories and the doctrines of sinful men integrated with a few scriptures in order to claim the client receives Christian counseling. But it gets worse yet.
The men who authored these counseling methods were actually opposed to Christ, and even wrote expressly attempting to discredit God, and ridicule His people. This should greatly concern pastors who refer their members to these counselors.
There is another disturbing aspect to this growing trend of counseling practitioners proclaiming some sort of professional Christianity. Inventing professions using modified Christian labels makes it appear that there are people who actually think they should get paid for being a Christian. It’s disgraceful to a see a whole generation of professing Christians chasing after the tools of this world, to gain the respect of this world, to obtain the mammon of this world. Worse, they ply these black arts on the simple in the faith, for a fee.
Let’s make our diagnosis, and render a righteous judgment: supposed Christians striving for all these assorted secular merit badges to pin on their lapels—psychologist, counselor, coach—betrays how little they actually value the word of God, and their lack of faith in its efficacy.
Furthermore, when anyone mixes psychotherapy with God’s Word to counsel Christians in problems of living they are committing spiritual adultery. Not one major psychological theorist aligned themselves with Christianity, and they were actually opposed to Christ.
Sigmund Freud, developer of psychoanalysis, was a sexually perverted drug addict who explained away the Bible as primitive man’s myths to explain the scary unknown beyond the camp fire. B. F. Skinner, of behaviorism, was a humanist who believed behavior modification through technology would produce Utopia on earth, and that man was a spiritless biological creature. Carl Jung, of psychoanalysis, confessed to receiving his psych ideas from two demons that followed him throughout his life instructing him. In his “Answers to Job” he added a forth feminine personage to the trinity. Erich Fromm, a psychoanalysts, maintained that God was only a concept. Albert Ellis, of cognitivism, hated God and Christians.
From this thumbnail sketch alone it is easy to see that the very idea that psychotherapy, which is derived from these men and other like them, can be beneficial to the Christian is nothing less than a doctrine of demons. The implications are clear and present danger. Its practitioners are either knowingly or unknowingly practicing the black arts of demonism. But why don’t they stop?
The story that was released for public consumption was that all truth was God’s truth, and so the application of the ‘truths’ discovered by psychological theorists in counseling the Christian was a God-send. That lie was terrible enough, but it helped to establish these assorted psychotherapy counselors as an accepted part of what we might call Christian Industry. It quickly became another way to make merchandise of the saints. But a person cannot serve God and mammon. While serving mammon and preaching psychotherapy, any who are Christians have their hearts darkened (Rom 1:21). They don’t have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil, as they could have with fidelity to the Word of God; where a diet of milk leads to strong meat for those who, through God’s Word, are perfected in the faith (Heb 5:14).
