If Jesus Is Enough, Why Would I Need Psychology?
“But the gospel should be enough.”
These were words a younger Chris once uttered to a fellow church leader who suggested that a church member who struggled with mental illness should see a psychologist.
At the time, Chris had completed two theology degrees, was working on his Masters, and pastoring the church. Looking back now, he admits how hypocritical those words had been; Chris himself had seen a psychologist as a teenager and remembered the significant impact it had on his journey at the time. “My experience of therapy has been profoundly positive,” Chris now tells us.
Despite his own early experiences of seeking professional support for his mental health, Chris opens up about how he had bought into a common way of thinking amongst some Christian circles, which is that if you’ve got “faith as small as a mustard seed” (Matthew 17:20), you shouldn’t need a counsellor.
Now studying a degree in psychology, Chris explains that he isn’t studying because he believes Jesus isn’t enough for us–but rather, that we need help in many different ways if we’re to live the life Jesus has called us to.
“I think there’s extreme value in seeking out therapists, counsellors and psychologists,” says Chris, “in aid of living a more Christ-like life.”
So, how can psychology help us to live more like Christ? In our recent podcast episode we asked Chris this question, and whether his faith is ever in contention with his studies. Through Chris’ story, we also learned about the practice of psychology and how it can be a helpful tool to better equip us to live our lives in the fullness of God’s mission He’s called us to. Here are some things we gleaned from the chat with Chris:
What Is Psychology, Anyway?
“Psychology is the study of the mind,” Chris explains. “It’s studying the self; how we think, and the way we understand and perceive/experience the world.”
“Neurology, biology, psychology… All these systems we’re talking about are integrated, because we are a single being,” Chris continues. “We tend to compartmentalise and separate these things to make them easier to understand. And unfortunately, that often means we also segment faith from science, or faith from psychology… But ultimately, our biology and psychology are products of God’s image in us. Whether it’s our physical self or our mind, they’re both part of the complex system God created to express His image in us.”
“Psychology is broad, and has all kinds of ideas in it that we won’t all necessarily agree on. But we need to ask ourselves what’s actually aiding us in achieving the mission that God left with us; to walk as Christ did and to be a people who are just and kind, who love our neighbours and treat others as we would like to be treated. I think psychology aids us in doing that, and that’s certainly been my experience.”
By understanding ourselves and the way we think about things, Chris believes we’re better able to accomplish the calling God has placed on our lives. And that’s where the two can work beautifully hand in hand, says Chris; that instead of an ‘either, or’ approach, it’s a ‘both, and’ one; we can both look to Jesus and see a psychologist.
Why Do We Need to Understand Our Minds?
“It’s a concern of mine that some people are in a place where they think to feel angry or depressed is a sin, and they’re therefore in a position where they can’t even talk about their feelings because they feel ashamed,” says Chris. “We probably all know someone who doesn’t have the toolset to talk about their mental health.”
In Ephesians 4:26 Paul writes, “In your anger do not sin”. His words echo those of David in Psalm 4:4. Chris takes these verses to mean that it isn’t the presence of anger itself that is sin. The emotion is a valid part of being human, but it’s the actions that can flow from it that can cause us to sin.
In the same way, Chris argues that there are many normal human emotions–such as anxiety, anger, depression, hopelessness–that the church has misconstrued as ‘bad’ and ‘sinful’. “Those feelings aren’t evidence of faithlessness,” Chris believes. “Ultimately, they are just a facet of being human.”
“The more we can feel free to share these things, recognising it’s part of being human and the way God made us, the better we can understand that we are limited beings and can’t carry the whole world on our shoulders. Feeling free to articulate that is a blessing.”
For Chris, seeing a psychologist has given him the tools to unpack these emotions when they arise. He shares that he now knows it’s okay to feel the negative emotions, to allow himself to experience them, to articulate what he feels, and then to be able to do something about it, too. Rather than pulling him away from his faith, Chris feels like the tools he’s learned through psychology have been helpful in aiding him in living out God’s purpose for his life.
It’s Not Psychology or Jesus, It’s Both
“There’s this idea in churches that if you strip everything away and it’s just the gospel, we’ll be whole and flourishing,” Chris shares. “As Christians there’s a cognitive bias towards just saying ‘Jesus is the answer’.
“And YES Jesus is the answer to salvation, but we live in a ‘now and not yet’ phenomenon. The Kingdom is here, but it’s not fully realised. We’re not yet living in a world that fully conforms to the image that God has created for it.
“And so we assume if someone’s feeling depressed, there must be unresolved sin, or spiritual warfare going on… We try to simplify complex issues in order to find a concrete solution, and we look for ways of thinking that make sense of mental illness from what we already understand.”
“Yes, we’re created in the image of God, but we’re not fully there yet. It’s an ongoing mission to see it realised. All good things come from God. I would say psychology is one of those resources that we can draw upon to aid in that mission of seeing God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven.
“But psychology doesn’t take the place of the gospel,” Chris goes on to explain. “It’s just another tool we can use to help us understand ourselves and what’s going on. Both prayer and psychology help to reduce suffering and allow us to flourish.
“We should think about things like medicine. Jesus is enough, and the resurrection of the body will ultimately mean that one day we will do away with all ailments and sickness… But in the meantime we’re still getting colds; we’re still dying of cancer; we’re still suffering from a broad range of illnesses that will not be present in God’s fully-realised kingdom.
“We can think about psychology as a medical resource in that way as well. The big picture is acknowledging that yes, we are trying to live a Christ-like life and we’re looking to see God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven, but there are resources helping us achieve that big picture mission.”
But Isn’t There Tension?
Perhaps one of the key questions that people in the church will face on this topic is whether or not the discipline of psychology is ever at odds with our faith. We asked Chris whether there are tools psychologists may give us that are in conflict with the truths of the gospel, and he responded: “Absolutely, yes.”
To Chris, a key difference between psychology and faith is the acknowledgement of sin. “The discipline of psychology intentionally doesn’t talk about the concept of sin/wrongdoing,” he tells us. “Instead, it talks about ‘maladaptive behaviours’ that are not conducive to a flourishing life.
“However, I continue to find the idea of sin a liberating idea, simply because it is an acknowledgement of our shortcomings. That’s something our faith offers that psychology doesn’t.
“What does it mean when we say we’re human? For us as Christians, it’s to be a son/daughter of God; to be in connection with the divine, without being divine; to be seeking eternity but to not be there yet; to live in a paradoxical space of knowing God is here with us, even though we don’t see Him.”
But ultimately, Chris doesn’t believe that there is too much tension between psychology and faith. “There are differences we should be mindful of, of course, but there’s not a lot that’s in tension, because psychology doesn’t attempt to deal with the things that our faith does.”
Chris goes on to explain: “Psychology, just like Christianity, has its ‘denominations’–there’s ongoing debate and argument about how things should be articulated. There’s no silver bullet; no one way to solve mental issues. Psychology isn’t the gospel, it’s just another attempt to understand ourselves and develop tools to help people thrive.”
Another question we hear often in this space is people wondering whether psychology encourages us to put too much focus on ourselves, when we’re called to be ‘selfless’ and put off our old selves (Ephesians 4:22-24).
Chris answered this question by saying: “We have to ask why we’re thinking about ourselves, because yes, there is self-righteousness and self-obsession. But ultimately, everything we do orientates around the self and how we see our purpose.
“The value of psychology is saying ‘I want to understand myself for the purposes of living a life that aligns with God’s mission for the world’. In the simplest of terms; to love our neighbours and to love God. In order to love my neighbour as myself, I need to have an understanding of how to love myself. Where I’ve got a poor understanding of myself, I’m going to have a poor understanding of others and how to love them, too.”
What Should We Look For in a Psychologist?
On a practical note, Chris left us with a few simple pointers for things we should keep an eye out for when we’re finding the right psychologist.
“The mark of a good one is that at the end of each session, you leave feeling hopeful,” Chris says. “Recently, I saw a psychologist for an entire year to deal with some pretty complex suffering that I was going through. I left every session feeling hopeful, and optimistic that what I’d been through wasn’t going to dictate my future. And for me, that meant that my faith wasn’t dead and that it wasn’t the end; I felt that I could grow through what was happening, not just suffer.”
We asked Chris whether he thinks it’s necessary for Christians to only see Christian psychologists. “No,” he said, and he explains why: “Psychologists are client-centred. Christian or not, they’ll respond to the topics you decide to bring up, from the worldview you have, because they’re simply trying to provide tools for you to better understand yourself, and asking ‘What does it look like for you to thrive?’. So if ‘thriving’ for you means walking in step with God, they will respect that.
“Psychologists aren’t there to get you to change your worldview or convert you to their personal perspective. And if you have a psychologist where you feel they aren’t respecting your faith/worldview, find another one! It takes time, but you should be leaving your sessions hopeful and presumably less anxious about where you’re at.”
If you’re worried about what seeing a psychologist looks like, you can go in with an open mind and the assurance that nothing they might say can get between you and your relationship with God or your knowledge of Him as your saviour. There’s nothing they can say that will supplant any of your own foundations that you know from your faith–that you are a child of God, saved, redeemed.
To finish, Chris says of psychology: “We shouldn’t be fearful of the things that help us get there. I’ve had some brilliant experiences as a result of therapy.”
Chris has earned a Bachelor of Theology and a Masters of Practical Theology, and is currently studying Psychology. He is passionate about biblical health and wholeness, particularly in the area of integrating faith and mental health. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
This blog post was written based on our recent chat with Chris on the podcast. To hear Chris talk more in depth on these themes, listen to the episode ‘Is There Tension Between Faith and Psychology?’.
For more of Chris’ story, you can read his other blog posts, ‘It’s Hard to Be Open About Mental Illness as a Guy’ and ‘I Was a Pastor With Depression’, or listen to his earlier episode with us, ‘Is Faith Always Helpful?’
If you’re in Australia and you need help finding a psychologist, a good place to start is with a visit to your GP. A GP can ask the right questions to help you figure out the best course of action, and can refer you to a psychologist under a mental health care plan. To find out more about what this visit is like, take a look at this short video from Dr Sarah, ‘What is a First Visit to a GP Like?’ For more information chat to your pastor, friends or family, or visit our Help page for useful links.
