Let’s start with this question. What does God want for us as humans? How does God want us to feel and behave? Again, consider this question: How does God want us to feel and behave?
We could include with this question another question “Why did God make us emotional creatures?”
You see the answer to this question is very very important. The world we live in gives an answer to the question. Culturally it is assumed that we will feel great and ought to feel great. Emotions of elation, happiness, love, pleasure, and pride are to be pursued at almost any cost.
In fact, the Declaration of Independence says that it is our God-given right to pursue happiness. And I’m not necessarily disagreeing with that statement. But in a culture that avoids pain almost to the point of absurdity and worships happiness at any expense, it shouldn’t be surprising that the prescriptions and solutions can be bizarre.
Tim Keller wrote a book entitled Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering. In the first chapter, he explains different cultures and the way that they handle suffering. And then he says this...
But modern Western culture is different. In the secular view, this material world is all there is. And so the meaning of life is to have the freedom to choose the life that makes you most happy. However, in that view of things, suffering can have no meaningful part. It is a complete interruption of your life story—it cannot be a meaningful part of the story. In this approach to life, suffering should be avoided at almost any cost, or minimized to the greatest degree possible.
Keller, Timothy. Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (pp. 16-17).
The Bible frames up the good life differently. Experiencing particular emotions is a byproduct of doing the life God prescribed. Feeling joy, happiness, hope, pleasure is not bad. But these emotions are not the objective of the Christian life. And at the same time; sorrow, and emotional pain are not to be rejected outright.
It is very important that you and I keep in mind the fact that the western culture’s North Pole is the pursuit of happiness free from accountability to God.
Therefore, if there is a lack of joy, happiness, hopefulness peace in your life it is most often classified as
a physical illness that needs to be treated
or the result of being the victim of your environment
That same culture wants to avoid asking you to take personal responsibility for faults.
Unfortunately, if we pursue mental health outside of the spiritual context given us by the Bible we are going to limit ourselves from a large chunk of potential causes. And you may end up with a misdiagnosis or bad antidotes.
Some of you are reading this and your dying inside. You just want to be free from these horrible feelings. You want a solution and not a theological framework. But I’m asking for just a couple of minutes. I think we can spend some time setting the stage and it will get you heading in the direction that you are longing for.
Here’s the case I want to make through a series of articles. The Bible gives us the strongest foundation for pursuing mental health. And a relationship with the God of the Bible is an unparalleled first step in the journey. A proper understanding of the Bible sets us up for success. It does not restrict us from the wisdom accumulated in the scientific arena or the fruitfulness of a therapy session. The Bible gives us the strongest framework for pursuing mental health.
And so again, let’s consider this question: How does God want us to feel and behave?
Tomorrow I’m going to answer that question by walking through some passages of scripture. But if you want to get a full treatment on this subject, let me recommend a book by an old Puritan named Jonathan Edwards: Religious Affections. There he goes to great pains to show how experiencing God emotionally is really fundamental to the Christain life.
Tomorrow I’m going to direct your attention to a few passages of scripture that support my statement above.