Sometimes it’s easy to find the right person to help us. Things like roof repairs, appliance repairs, and even car repairs can be relatively simple. Because there is usually a consensus of what a roof is, what it’s supposed to do, and how to fix it when it’s not working.
The same is true with a washing machine and even a car. If it’s broken, we find a mechanic and trust that they can accurately diagnose and fix the situation. Presumably, if we asked several people about the same problem, their proposed solutions would be quite similar.
People and relationships are not that simple.
Different people may have vastly different ideas as to what the problems are, and how to help. Finding help for ourselves, or helping our friends find help can be a daunting task. Where do we even start? What questions should we ask?
Life’s Big Questions
Since the earliest beginnings of recorded history, philosophers have asked these questions:
- Who is man?
- What is his problem?
- How do we fix it?
Before we can hope to find the right help for our situations, we must first answer those questions.
In today’s world, the most common answer to the first question is that man is a biological product of evolution. Once upon a time there was a big bang, one thing led to another, and man appeared.
Because man is biological, the answer to question two follows. Man’s problems are biological. That’s to say that they are physical problems or illnesses. If man’s problems are physical in nature, then the remedy must be treatment.
Today, the primary care physician is often the first stop for almost any problem we have. Even marriage or relationship problems often include anger, depression, anxiety, or fear—which are issues doctors are often asked to treat.
Psychology
Another approach includes psychology. Sigmund Freud is the founder of psychoanalysis, a theory that seeks to explain human behavior and treat mental illness. Freud was a devout atheist and a staunch evolutionist. His teachings rapidly grew through his followers into the fields of psychiatry and psychology.
The interesting overlap is that as evolution seeks to explain man’s existence apart from God, psychology seeks to explain man’s behavior apart from God. Psychology provides a way to address man’s problems through various and ever changing techniques such as behavior modification.
In the 1890s, Ivan Pavlov pioneered “classical conditioning,” in which he proved that dogs could be taught to respond both positively and negatively to certain stimuli. Many similar techniques are used today to address everything from anger to fear. If man is simply the highest form of animal, why not train him accordingly?
If one believes that man is a product of evolution, then the world offers medical treatment for issues of mental illness and psychological treatment for behavioral issues, which may have developed through environment or poor programming.
The Biblical Answer
If one believes that the biblical account of man is true, then man’s greatest problem may be spiritual, not physical. The Bible teaches that man has two parts: the temporal part (physical body) and the eternal part (soul and spirit).
For nearly two thousand years, doctors treated the physical body for illness and injury. Pastors cared for the soul and spiritual needs of their people—those issues that the Bible addresses. Darwin and Freud divided the eternal/invisible part of man into the soul, and the mind.
The question then become where is the line drawn? Where does the soul start and the mind stop, or vice-versa? Can a distinction be made between the actual brain and the mind, much like the hardware and software of a computer?
If so might this have a bearing on how problems are addressed? Are marriage problems really a mental illness for which we need psychiatric or psychological help? If so why does the Bible say so much about marriage?
The Bible is a Book about Relationships
From cover to cover, the Bible teaches us how to have a right relationship with God and with others. It does not prescribe medicine for strep throat or treatment for arthritis. But Scripture does instruct us in great specificity how to build a marriage, how to raise children, how to handle conflict, how to battle anger, depression, anxiety, and fear.
The Bible does not tell us how to repair a roof, a washing machine, or a car. But it does tell us how to have a right relationship with those people who can do those things for us. It also assures us that God cares deeply for those things in the lives of His children and how we might bring those needs before Him. In fact, scripture tells us to cast all of our cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for us!
Jesu said “it is the sick who need a doctor,” and Luke was a physician. Thank the Lord for the wisdom and medicine that He has given to the medical community to diagnose and treat physical illness and injury. But, if we are created in His image with a spiritual/eternal soul and spirit, and if we are struggling with personal or relational problems that He has addressed in His Word, we might want to seek help from people who will offer those solutions to those problems.
Biblical Counseling
A good place to start is the the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. Their website has a directory of Certified Biblical Counselors throughout the United States, and other parts of the world.
“He has by His own action given us everything that is necessary for living the truly good life, in allowing us to know the One who has called us to Him, through His own glorious goodness. It is through this generosity that God’s greatest and most precious promises have become available to us men, making it possible for us to escape the inevitable disintegration that lust produces in the world and to share in God’s essential nature. For this very reason you must do your utmost from your side, and see that your faith carries with it real goodness of life. Your goodness must be accompanied by knowledge, your knowledge by self-control, your self-control by the ability to endure. Your endurance too must be accompanied by devotion to God, that in turn must have in it the quality of brotherly kindness, and your brotherly kindness must lead on to Christian love. If you have these qualities existing and growing in you then it means that knowing our Lord Jesus Christ has not made your lives either complacent or unproductive.” 2 Peter 1:3-8
Hopefully you will never need help in dealing with life’s issues. Or if so maybe you have already found the best provider for you. It could be that a friend, or loved one, will ask for your advice on where to turn for help they might need. They may be across town or across the country. Possibly these considerations would be of help to you in helping others know what questions to ask in finding the right counselor!