She believes that psychological needs are separate from spiritual needs and that the church is not capable of meeting psychological needs (and of course fornication is something she considers a psychological need)

Recently, a woman called into the Christian radio station saying that she had become very depressed and sought out a pastor and a church, became a believer and God had helped her very much. The Christian DJ responded by saying that is great, but, did you also line up a therapist for the depression? You need that too… in fact we can refer you.

Having observed the fruit in many lives of involved with this “religion” of mental health I’ve concluded it is one of the most dangerous stumbling blocks of people turning to Christ that I know of. Often it is sin, someone else’s or your own, or both, that is the root of despair. Medications do not deal with that root, but rather mask it. As far as chemical imbalances and severe and chronic diagnoses that “need” medication, I am in communication with several people with severe labels that do not take medication but maintain stability by deep communication with God through his word. It works very well from what I hear.

I don’t condemn those who take medications, however, I note that they are not all that effective. They are not the magic bullet and eventually human beings still have to deal with sin and other obstacles to find peace with God. Prozac, cannot forgive your sins, neither can your counselor all though they may tell you guilt about sin is a sign of mental illness and give you drugs to help you “get over it.”

Reg,
That is a good point but from what I’ve read by MacArthur and Jay Adams and also from information at Biblical Counseling Online (biblicalcounselingonline.org) it seems to me that the emphasis is on the fact that many people on medication do not really need to be. In my own experience I have a relative, a teen, that had some behavior problems, went to church for a couple years and eventually clearly rejected Christ and now wants no part of Christianity. I watched her go downhill from there and school counselors and doctors that she had to see all agreed that she had ‘medical’ problems and needed to be on medication. I was told by relatives that she was heard saying that she did not think she needed the medicine but liked the ‘high’ she got from it. It would take pages to explain all the details but from knowing this person for years I could see it is a spiritual problem taking it’s course.

I suppose with good biblical counseling, however, there is a need to determine when one actually needs medication. It just seems the world is too quick to use medication to solve all problems. As I wrote above they told me I needed medication and I chose biblical principles instead and got through it. I often wonder where I would be today if I chose the other route…

I’m glad that John MacArthur actually addresses at least one of the issues (in the book Anxiety Attacked as mentioned above) instead of just blasting the whole idea, saying the Holy Spirit is enough and leaving it at that, as so many do, with no real solutions.

I have benefited so much more from studying the Bible, reading Christian books about Jesus and the Bible and even listening to Pastor MacArthur’s sermons than from the “Christian” counseling I went through.

I’m sure there are good Christian (meaning Biblical) counselors who don’t include traditional psychotherapy out there but I’ve yet to find one and I’m sure they’re few and far between.

If we will have a biblical view of depravity - we will better understand the problems with humanity in our fallen world.

Rev. Josh Buice
www.deliveredbygrace.com

In early 2006 as a result of the family problems I began having panic and anxiety attacks. After a couple hospital visits they determined that there was nothing physically wrong and that I was dealing with too much stress and should be on medication. I filled the prescription but then held the bottle in my hand looking at it and decided that this was not the right way to deal with it.

Which brings up another concern. Biblical counseling. I could hardly find any and feel this is a great need in the church today. As it turns out I still keep in touch with my old pastor who is now out of state but was alway good with counseling. I called and asked about it. He asked me why they wanted me to go on medication, I said because I was anxious. So he asked me what the bible says about being anxious. I quoted Phil 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing…” Then he asked me what the bible says we should do when we are anxious. I continued the verse, “…make your requests know to God…” His point was clear, medication would just mask the symptoms but not solve the problems. In one conversation I had my answer. I tossed the bottle and began dealing with the problem the right way.

I wound up counseling myself using Jay Adams’ material and John Macarthur’s book Anxiety Attacked. When I awoke in the middle of the night I would pray and read…In a month or two I was able to deal with the problem correctly and have been doing good ever since. When I feel anxious due to circumstances I know how to deal with it correctly without medicating myself. I also took some practical steps such as cutting back on caffeine and getting more exercise.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that young children with behavior problems are also being medicated. Rather than using discipline children are given medicine. This is scary. We need more of an emphasis on Biblical counseling in the church today.

I like one of the things my pastor told me. If modern medicine and psychology were around in David’s day we would not have a third of the psalms…they would have just given him some “medication” to deal with his troubles rather than crying out to God for help.

Hope to see more on this issue.
john