Easter 4

April 17, 2005

 

As I read these passages, please have in mind that the English word “psychology” contains the Greek word for “soul.” 

Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed the man of dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.

 

Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul, and leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 

1 Peter 2:25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

 

This sermon is the third in a series of four sermons under the theme “God and Science.”  Today we look at the science of psychology.

The word “psychology” is actually a fairly modern word.  But it is a combination of two ancient Greek words: “psyche” and “logos”.  “Psyche” is the Greek word for “soul” or “life” or “life force” or “being”.  (You would spell it p-s-y-c-h-e.)  In one sense, having or not having “psyche” was the difference between being living and not being living.  Without “psyche” humans and animals were just dead flesh and bones.  So when God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the man became a living “psyche” – a living soul or a living being.  But “psyche” could also mean something special to human nature: the source and center of a person’s thoughts, emotions, and loyalties.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your ‘psyche’, and with all your might.”  Your psyche makes you who you are.

“Logos” is a Greek word with a wide range of meanings.  We get our word “logic” from it.  Logos as the last part of a word means “the study of.”  So, “zoology” is the study of animals, for example.  (Would that make “pharmacology” is the study of “pharms”?  [That’s supposed to be a rural joke.])  You could say, then, that psychology is the study of the “psyche.” 

Popular definitions of psychology usually run along the lines of the definition given by the American Psychological Association: “Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior.”  That definition sounds so focused and uncomplicated.  But psychology looks at a wide range of aspects of human thought and behavior: biological, environmental, developmental, sensory perceptual, social, and emotional – all in order to understand better why we, as individuals, think the way we think and do the things we do. 

Since all religions – at least those that I am aware of – are vitally interested in what individuals say and do, it is easy to see that psychology and religion share a basic common interest.  But my point is that since the dawn of psychology, there has been considerable overlap in what psychologists are trying to understand and what Christian thinkers try to understand.  Counselors use psychology to help people cope with the rocky places in their life, to help them discover a sense of hope, or to help them be more at peace with themselves.  Christian priests and pastors have been helping people with these very issues for close to two thousand years.  Both are trying to care for people’s being, care for their soul; both are trying to tend to “psyche.” 

So why might there be tension between psychology and Christianity?  One reason is that Christianity operates with a fundamental understanding of human beings, namely, that human beings can change their behavior and that human beings can change their thinking.  Therefore Christianity is going to object to psychological theories that propose that our thoughts and actions are mechanistic products of either our biology or our environment. 

For example, higher levels of testosterone in the body are linked to greater aggressiveness.  So if for some reason my body produces unusually high levels of testosterone, it is likely that I am prone to acting aggressively, even violently.  Our Christian view of human beings is that even if I have this biological tendency, I can still refrain from hitting someone who aggravates me.  I am not a slave to my biology.  Brain chemistry psychology can help me understand my tendencies; it may even develop medications that could help me cope with my tendencies.  But Christians would never buy into the argument, “I had to hit her, I couldn’t help myself; it was the testosterone.”  Christians don’t buy it even if God is made to look responsible: “Aggressiveness comes naturally to me, God made me this way, so you just have to accept it.”  Any deterministic view of human thinking or human behavior is going to be resisted by Christianity.  But then, deterministic models of thought and behavior have come and gone, and my impression is that very few psychologist or psychiatrists hold to them anymore.

When it comes to conflict between religion and psychology, the name most often mentioned is Sigmund Freud.  Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, was militant about his atheism.  He divided all people into two categories: those who live with a religious worldview and those who live with a scientific worldview.  Freud asserted that God is a product of human imagination, an idealized image – a father figure – that we create in our mind.  We imagine that there is a God in order to fulfill our wish that there is some divine answer to cruelty and injustices; we imagine that there is a God in order to get people to be moral, even though moralities are really socially constructed.

Atheism is, of course, older than Freud, but Freud gave intellectual credibility to the notion that religion is a crutch for emotionally immature people.  Freud’s thinking being that as a person adopts a more reasoned, a more adult, a more scientific view of life, then that person grows out of religion and God. 

I heard what sounded to me to be exactly this perspective expressed Friday while I was driving south on Interstate 55.  I was listening to the National Public Radio program “Fresh Air” hosted by Terry Gross.  She was interviewing Sara Vowell, an author and the voice of Violet in the animated film “The Incredibles”.  Ms. Gross asked Ms. Vowell what it was like when she gave up “organized religion.”  By “organized religion” it sounded to me that they meant church, worship, Baptism, Lord’s Supper, and Bible studies.  She gave up organized religion when she was 16.  Ms. Vowell talked about how she went from being gullible and believing everything she was told when she was little to questioning things in her teen years.  She talked to God regularly until she was 16, and then for a while there was this big hole in her life when she gave up God.  But eventually she got over it – got over the loss of God, it seemed to me she was saying.  Freud did a lot to make this sort of progression fashionable.  I think that you could make a case that Freud contributed more to the secularization of our culture than Darwin did. 

Christians are by definition people who believe that as a person becomes more adult, more mature, that person grows toward deeper and more insightful knowledge of God – echoing the apostle Paul, we would say, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11).  Leaving childish ways as leaving God?  No.  Certainly, then, Christians are going to object to a psychology that assumes that God is simply a projection of our own wishes, and equates adult thinking with giving up God. 

Any discussion of Freud’s views on God shows how the lines get blurry between the descriptive side of psychology and the therapeutic side of psychology.  When we think of the study of psychology, we naturally think of psychological counselors or therapists.  But there are people who spend their lives researching the mind and human behavior, and never treat or counsel anyone; they concentrate on discovery and not application.  The distinction is important.  We need to recognize that it is a leap to go from the descriptive side of psychology to the therapeutic side of psychology.  There is significant shift involved when we go from studying what a person does to helping that person change what he or she does – when we go from studying how a person thinks to helping that person change what he or she thinks. 

It is especially when psychology moves to therapy and counseling that we have to pay particular attention to the values and beliefs of the counselor or therapist.  There is no such thing as value-free or value-neutral psychological counseling. 

Almost uniformly counselors are taught not to be judgmental, not to impose their values on the client, but to be supportive and accepting. The theory is that the client must experience freedom of choice in developing his own values and in making decisions about his life.  And this is best accomplished in a climate of love and concern.  There is truth to this; Paul Tournier, for example (a brilliant Christian physician who pioneered the integration of theology and psychology) has pointed out how destructive it is for a therapist to pass judgment on a client.

On the other hand, psychology has, I think, come a long way in developing a more nuanced view of what it means for a counselor to be “supportive and accepting.”  No counselor is or can support 100% or accept of 100% of what a client expresses.  What used to get touted as fully client-directed therapy or therapy that is fully accepting of the clients values and decisions was often the most manipulative therapy, because the therapist’s own values and convictions were hidden – not absent, but hidden. 

Good counselors recognize that they themselves bring commitments and convictions and values to the table when they do counseling.  That recognition actually makes them better counselors.  That doesn’t mean the counselor pressing or imposing his or her values; it means making the counseling relationship authentic and the counselor’s role transparent.  The counseling therapist’s theology does matter to the counseling process.

Yesterday I went to the funeral of a good family friend.  His wife and my mother have been friends since they were in high school.  He and my father used to go to football games and basketball games together.  Friday evening I was at the visitation.  Not everyone at the visitation and funeral was Lutheran, but this was one of those occasions when we Lutherans were as thick as flies – classmates from Lutheran High School, friends and relatives from neighboring Lutheran churches.  We were as thick as flies.  We sang six hymns in the funeral, including all five verses of “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” and all eight verses of “For All the Saints.”  We sang of our resurrected Redeemer: “He lives to silence all my fears; he lives to wipe away my tears; he lives to calm my troubled heart; he lives all blessings to impart.”  How could a counselor who considers a religious worldview to be an inferior worldview affirm the healing power of these hymns and the faith they express?  I can’t see it.  The counseling therapist’s theology makes a difference in the counseling process.

It is increasingly common to find individual counselors or counseling groups who advertise “Christian counseling” or put themselves forward as “Christian counselors.”  Unfortunately, the labels “Christian counseling” or “Christian counselor” are notoriously imprecise.  “Christian counselor” could mean almost anything – from a licensed clinical social worker who also has a masters degree from an accredited theological seminary, to the well-meaning but untrained Christian who simply believes that the Bible has an answer for every problem.  To say “the Bible has an answer to every problem” – while true in a general sense – gives the false impression that, for example, someone struggling in an abusive marriage simply read the right Bible passages and everything will be OK. 

If you look for a Christian counselor, do it in the same way you would look for a Christian physician or dentist or physical therapist.  In other words, look for someone who has the educational background, training, and competence in the field.  In most cases, fine Christians who are trained and certified as counselors do not advertise as “Christian counselors” – just as in most cases trained and certified physicians, dentists, and physical therapists do not advertise as “Christian physicians” or “Christian dentists” or “Christian physical therapists.”  When someone does put himself or herself forward as a “Christian counselor,” he or she implies having expertise in connecting theology and psychology.  So I would suggest that you ask people who put themselves forward as Christian counselors what their theological training is also.  More so than with a physician or dentist or physical therapist, the counseling therapist’s theology does matter in what she or he does. 

Should Christians then avoid counselors who are not Christians?  Not necessarily.  It depends on what the person seeking counseling needs.  A young man needing an accurate diagnosis on the possibility of schizophrenia and proper prescription medication has very different needs from the young woman who has made a string of poor decisions regarding relationships; the way the therapist’s own value system and belief system might play a role is different in these two cases.  Also, it depends on the psychologist or psychiatrist himself or herself.  When I have felt it to be appropriate, I have recommended a therapist who is of another faith, when I knew the therapist well enough to trust his or her guidance in this particular case.  It is possible for a counselor who is not a Christian to respect Christian beliefs and practices, and on occasion even to work with a Christian pastor.  I recommend counselors, by name, who are willing to work with me if that seems best.  (Sometimes it is better if I am out of the process altogether.) 

It is appropriate at this point for me to say a word about the pastor as counselor.  (Have you heard this one?  What’s the difference between psychological counseling and pastoral counseling?  About $100 an hour.  Actually, there are other differences, too.)  Many congregations expect counseling to be a major part of what a pastor does.  Did you see much of “7th Heaven” on TV?  Rev. Eric Camden was constantly shown in counseling situations.  (In the early years of the show, Eric Camden was such a perfect pastor and father it was depressing.  Who could measure up?)  Anyway, many congregations expect counseling to be a major part of what a pastor does, and many pastors rely on counseling to give them their pastoral identity.  This is problematic.  Very few pastors are truly equipped to provide competent counseling, and too many pastors do not recognize their own limitations as counselors. 

I have a college degree in psychology and I received clinical training as part of my seminary education.  But nine times out of ten, when individuals or couples need more than two or three counseling sessions to address adequately whatever it was that brought them to me, I recommend that they see a certified and licensed counselor.  Why?  Not because I am being lazy, but because that is what is best for those individuals and couples.

Before closing, let me make one more point.  Psychological counseling and psychiatric care set out to relieve depression and anxiety.  And that is the way it should be.  None of us wants to live with depression or anxiety.  I certainly don’t.  But as I look back at the Christians I – and most other people – admire the most, the ones who inspire us, it is striking how many of these Christians experienced depression and anxiety – experienced “the dark night of the soul.”  “Into this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth from the state of beginners,” wrote St. John of the Cross in the 16th century.  “The dark night of the soul” – Martin Luther went through it, and more than once; John Wesley, Jonathon Edwards, Billy Graham, too.  After her death, we learned from letters that she wrote to her spiritual advisors that Mother Theresa had periods of doubt, loneliness, and abandonment – periods when God seemed absent, heaven seemed empty, and bitterest of all, her own suffering seemed to count for nothing – when she felt, in her own words, “just that terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing.”  For each of these Christians, their dark night of the soul left a profound imprint on them, it was part of what fashioned them to do the things that we admire about them.  God was actually with them in their depression and anxiety. 

I am not saying that we should go out looking for depression and anxiety.  Not at all.  I simply add this note about the dark night of the soul as a word of caution against thinking that we are on the right path only when we are up, and happy, and feeling wonderful – or that we see the world and ourselves rightly just because we are up and happy and feeling wonderful. 

Let me wind this up.  Psychology is a gift.  Psychology can help us find categories and a vocabulary to describe much of what we see in human nature.  Thanks to psychology, we can identify schizophrenia and understand that it is as much as disease as cerebral palsy.  Thanks to psychology, we understand that often people can no more be blamed for their depression than diet-conscious diabetics can be blamed for their diabetes. 

Psychology, the study of mind and behavior, provides valuable tools for us in our Christian efforts to care for the human “psyche” – the human life, soul, being.  Ultimately, however, it is God who tends to our “psyche” – God who provides care for our “psyche.”  “The Lord is my shepherd . . . he restores my ‘psyche’.”  Trust in the Lord, “the shepherd and guardian of your ‘psyche’.” 

Amen.