“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” – Jeremiah 17:9

Based on your view of the world, the diagnoses of a person’s mental condition will vary.  The wisdom of God from the Bible tells us the hearts is desperately wicked therefore destructive, immoral and irrational behavior spring up out of the “morally ill” heart, a heart of sin.  The solution is redemption of the heart by replacement with a new heart of Christ, one that is morally pure and undefiled by sin.  Also we know from the Bible that demons can manifest in the life of a unbeliever and drive that person to do irrational acts of destruction. The solution is to rebuke the demon to leave the person, in Jesus’ name, however the diagnoses for this condition is difficult due to the way Hollywood has portrayed it’s manifestation and removal.

And there are of course real physical conditions that cause a person to be “mentally ill” and display irrational and destructive behavior.  A chemical imbalance of the brain due to drugs or a brain cell destruction caused by age or disease are real physical disabilities like a broken leg.  But unlike a broken leg, a physically caused mental illness can not be seen by the eye, making the diagnoses difficult.  When we see someone displaying destructive behavior we usually want to run from it but our Christian duty is not to put out the light of Christ when darkness comes but to shine it all the more.  We must intervene and help in the right way that is appropriate to the diagnosis of the problem.

In contrast to the wisdom of God, the wisdom of the world tells us that a “person’s environment” or their view of themselves (their self esteem) effects their mental well being.  Therefore if someone is living in a bad environment or they are not happy about themselves then they will act out irrational and destructive behavior.  The solution according to the world is to rehabilitate a person by giving them a better environment and giving them something productive to do or build up their self esteem by telling them they are good or just telling them to visualize their goals and dreams and “go for it”.  The rehabilitation method is often effective to correct destructive behavior because a person who “sets their mind” to accomplish something has the power of the world, the flesh and the devil to keep him going.  However, this self help methodology can not cure the sin sick heart or give the person eternal life, more over a life without Christ leads to death and destructive no matter how well it looks in appearance.

Then there are a few “idiot intellectuals” who think that all behavior, whether good or bad, is caused by our genetic and biological makeup.  They think the physical makeup of our brain is what controls our behavior and we are just robots programmed by the forces of evolution to think and act in ways we can’t control.  Therefore, the solution is to simply tolerate and accept all behavior, good and bad, while passively watch and wait to die.  Oh boy, thanks Darwin … actually just thinking that there is no purpose to your life, other than to die along the stairway to evolution, will make you depressed.

Too bad we don’t have the discernment of Jesus to know exactly what to do in all situations (of course Jesus could see the heart and motive of man) .  Even born again Christians, don’t have enough discernment or enough information many times to make the right diagnoses, much less know what the appropriate response should be.  Jesus knew when someone’s destructive behavior was motivated by the sin of an immoral, unrepentant heart and He rebuked that person and told that person he was following the lies of Satan (John 8:44).  And Jesus knew when someone’s destructive behavior was caused by a demon and He rebuked the demon and cast the demon out of the person (Luke 8:26-33).  He knew when someone’s destructive behavior was caused by physically mental illness and he healed that person (Matthew 4:24).  And Jesus knew when someone’s destructive behavior was caused by sin of an immoral heart, yet that person was repentant, and Jesus forgave that person and told them to sin no more (John 8:11).  But Jesus never excused sin because the person said they were a “victim of  bad genetics or circumstances”.   And Jesus never tolerated sin, accepted sin or threw up His hands and said “whatever” this is too crazy for Me to deal with, I’m outta here.

At one time I was amused at the way the Army dealt with issues of determining insanity, as told in the book and movie “Catch 22“.  The title refers to a section 22 in the Army manual which describes how to identify a person who is mentally insane so they can be relieved from Army service.  The section states that if you know you are stressed and depressed and hate everything about war, to the point where you think you are insane and need to be relieved of duty, then this a normal reaction to the insanity of Army life on the front lines.  The “Catch” to section 22, is if you claim that you are insane then this is proof that you are in fact OK.  The diagnoses for insanity has to be made by someone else and this is virtually impossible since on the front lines of battle, crazy behavior is the norm.  It is normal for people under the stress and madness of battle to act a little crazy, it can even be a healthy way to deal with the stress.  The T.V. series MASH was a spin off of this movie and it was a big success in the way it showed the normal crazy way to deal with the crazy situation of war.

The reality is that we are all on a Spiritual battlefield, where a war is being fought in Heavenly places for our very soul.  Our moral enemy, Satan, is trying to keep people blind to their sin.  His main strategy is to keep people busy dealing with the struggles and confusion of life so they they don’t see the truth and destruction of their sin and call on Jesus Christ to save them from their sin.  From a Spiritual standpoint, everyone is wounded and dying all around us from the bullets of self inflicted sin or from the bullets of others when we try to “win” in the world or from the bombs of Satan’s when you think you have won in the world.  The surgeons are believers trying to save the wounded and dying by telling them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  If the patient believes the gospel then God performs Spiritual surgery and puts a new heart of Jesus Christ into the person.  It is the born again heart of Jesus Christ that is the cure for the moral illness of sin, a cure that even conquers death!

So you see, it is the sin sick heart that causes a person to act in a dysfunctional and destructive way and furthermore man knows he is guilty of trespassing God moral laws because God has written His moral laws upon us.  We have eaten from the knowledge of good and evil and we know that our behavior does measure up to the moral standard of excellence.  Therefore, it is not because of ignorance in knowing what is sin that we transgress God’s moral standards but it because we are rebels, sinners Spiritually disconnected from God at birth that causes us to choose to follow our self indulgent nature (sin) as if we were god, calling something “right” when we know God has said it is “wrong”. 

In contrast to this Biblical view, the religion of humanism teaches that man is basically good, therefore if man follows the desire of his heart this will bring him happiness and satisfaction.  Humanism is a godless philosophy that flies counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The truth is that man is basically not good,  he is a sinner with a desperately wicked, rebellious, sin sick heart.  The last you want to do is trust your heart but instead you need to “deny self and follow your new life in Christ“. (Matthew 16:24)

The “profession” of psychology attempts to diagnose and correct the behavior of man but it does not address the root cause of our behavioral problems, which is sin.  Psychology wants to take over the mantle of describing the human condition.  It’s teaching has even invaded the church, telling us we are no longer sinners in need of a Savior to forgive our sin and make us alive in Christ but we are just people suffering from a case of low self esteem or some psychoanalysis disorder and all we need to do is stroke our ego and heap self love upon our self until we feel good about who we are.  But God is not mocked by our misguided methods to find the love we really need and the meaning for life that we desperately seek.  God has spoken and told us that we are created beings made in His image, with the dignity of a moral agent in us, knowing what is good and evil.  However, because we are born Spiritually disconnected from God, we choose to follow our self indulgent nature (sin).  Sin is what destroys us and brings on feelings of unworthiness and despair and causes us to strive with the world to prove we are worthy.

But this is not the life God intended for us.  What we are missing is a Spiritual connection to God.  We need to be “born again” with a new heart of Jesus Christ that is Spiritually connected to God the Father.  By grace through faith in Jesus Christ we can receive eternal life and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in our heart which will enable us to understand God’s word, know we are significant and loved by God.  We can know that God cares for us and He will always provide for us and never forsake us.  We can know God’s will and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do it!  With a new heart of Christ in us we are changed from rebels of God who are sometimes concerned about the application of morality in order to obtain peace and order on earth, into friends of God who are able to discern the real significance of morality and how to do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.

Not only is it terrible that the teaching of Psychology falls short of helping people overcome their destructive behavior which is caused by sin, it is even worse that Psychologist have elevated themselves in society to the point that they are now declared the “experts” on the definition of what is destructive behavior and what is not destructive behavior.  Psychologist have testified before the courts of America that homosexuality is a desirable behavior and therefore the courts have ruled that facilities that offer people help to overcome their homosexual desire can be sued and shut down.  Unfortunately, the long held position that the laws of America are based on the moral laws of the Bible is now being sacrificed on the altar of public opinion and our new laws are based on the religion of humanism, that is promoted by Scientist and Psychologist.   (Click here to read about the priests of the New Dark Ages). 

It is a sad, sad road that American and the world is walking down.  A road of destruction that is lite by the lamp of human reason, not God’s revealed truth.  If the Psychologist had their way, everyone would be medicated or in therapy as if we were patients in a ward, so we could get along in a state of zombie like bliss with one another.   This is man’s peace on earth, a politically correct world, where no one is allowed to discuss the truth of sin and the saving power of Christ.  And although fictional movies like “Clockwork Orange” depicts the horrors of such an existence, the reality of what lies ahead for America is much more scary!

And the fight of humanism to take over the world is now at the doorsteps of the Church, threatening to close it down if it preaches the “hate crime” of calling homosexuality a sin against God and for trying to cure the condition of this sin by mentioning forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ.  And those who have the message of “the truth, the life and the way (John 14:6)” are being marginalized and persecuted, just like it has happened so many times in history, while the intellectual fools are getting high from smoking the dope of their own reasoning and leading the world to destruction and insanity. 

It is sadly ironic that the prosperity and blessing that God has bestowed upon American for our past faithfulness is now taken for granted and it has made most of us “soft in our head and lazy in our back”.  People want rights without responsibility but these kind of rights don’t exist.  They want a freedom to do whatever they want without having to face the consequences for the actions but this kind of freedom doesn’t exist.  People can’t handle the truth because the truth “hurts”, it hurts their feelings of self pride and convicts them of the error of their sinful reasoning and the laziness of their sinful body.  As my friend once said to me, “the Truth will set you free but it will piss you off first“.

This is why many Christians don’t share the truth of God’s word with others because they don’t want to deal with the rejection and awkwardness that occurs when you take a stand for Jesus.  You will discover that when you speak the truth about sin that the Holy Spirit convicts a person of their sin and this causes them to be tormented because God loves the sinner but hates their sin.  And instead of being seen as someone who is trying to love people and help people and lead them “out of sin” to peace and fellowship with God, you will be called a troublemaker, a homophobe, a hater, a narrow minded, simple minded, prehistoric bigot.

Look, Christians are called to “maintain” the peace of the Holy Spirit as they are transformed into Kingdom citizens.  We are not supposed to “manufacture” a peace among men based on tolerance and acceptance of sin.  Christians are are not called to change the world, looking for peace on earth during the church age but we are called to be peace makers, bringing the good news of peace with God through salvation in Jesus Christ, the Price of Peace.  Our hope is not in this world but in the blessed Hope who is coming soon to rapture His born again bride (the Church) to heaven before the “Day of the Lord”, the seven year tribulation period.  After the world has been judged for sin and all unbelievers removed from earth, all the saints in heaven will return with Christ to reign in rule in His Millennium Kingdom of Peace and His Eternal every lasting Kingdom.

Christians should know the great insanity of the human heart and how it can effect the mind and the behavior as described in Romans 1:28-32.   “28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

And Christians should also know that God’s redeeming grace is greater than the insanity of the human heart of sin.  God’s grace is able to save those lost in sin from the utter most to the gutter most which is described in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

God’s grace is able to work through the messes of this world and God is our only real hope and reason to persevere and believe bad things in the world can be turned into something good (Romans 8:28).  And though we sometimes think we are all alone, down in the valley of despair dealing with the messes of the world, God is there with us, working in the messes of the world, that is actually where He does His best work.  And when we are at our weakest point, desperately poured out in prayer for a miracle, God reveals Himself and is glorified!  Because He lives, I can face today and know God can use the messes of the day to make a better tomorrow.   A sense of humor and an abiding trust in God’s grace are sufficient to deal with all the craziness in the world.

From a standpoint of the body of Christ, the pastors, elders and church leaders are held accountable for teaching the truth of God’s word and for overseeing the welfare of His people.  The leaders of the Church are here to protect God’s people from the lies and snares of the enemy and the craziness of the world.  And when one of God’s soldiers starts taking out his fellow troops by the friendly fire because of moral or mental illness, this situation has to be dealt with by the whole church.  And God has provided a way for His church to deal with conflict when a member goes AWOL., in Matthew 18:15-17 “15“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

The point of following the Matthew 18 process is to give the fallen member a chance to be restored to fellowship with God and to the body of Christ, and to protect the body of Christ from the heresy of a believer rebelling in sin.  The Matthew 18 process requires that the sin of the offense should be clearly identified and deemed of such a magnitude that is threatens to divide and disrupt the truth of God’s word and the fellowship of His Spirit in the body of Christ.  The process involves confronting and discussing the offense with the offender one on one, if the person repents and apologies the offense is forgiven and Christian fellowship is restored.  However, the offense may result in a loss of Christian leadership privileges for a period, and this is on a case by case basis.  If the offender does not repent then two or more witness attempt the reconciliation.  And if this fails the matter is brought before the congregation for a vote to remove the person from church membership

The Matthew 18 process implies that the offender is mentally capable of discussing the offense and understanding the ramifications of the offense before God and His church.  And here is where we need extra grace and discernment because if you give instruction to someone who is mentally disabled (by drugs or disease) how can you expect God to work in the process?  It reminds me of the case of speaking in tongues, it edifies the one doing the speaking but doesn’t edify the body of Christ, so Paul says hey, “don’t do it, unless there is someone to translate”.   And I think this wisdom should apply to church discipline when the person is mentally incapable of understanding his offense, “don’t do it, unless the person is mentally competent”.   As an analogy, it would be like going to a restaurant in France and giving the waiter your order in English but the waiter doesn’t understand English and the item is not even on the menu.

That is why issues like church discipline take time; time to pray and time do some fact finding to determine the offenders mental condition; time to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow the Holy Spirit to convict the offender; time to talk to other church members for counsel in the matter and time to talk to a family member and see if the person is under a doctors care for a mental disorder or if they think he needs to be evaluated by a doctor.  Perhaps, the family will intervene and the matter of church discipline can be put “on hold” until the person is mentally able to understand what they did and apologize on their own.  If the church discipline is on hold, then based on the desire of the family, contact with the person should be given to bring Christian love and the prayer for healing.  This is a time that requires a lot of prayer to know what to do.  Don’t be over zealous thinking you will able to heal the troubled mind and don’t back away if God asks you to go and give His love.

And although church discipline may be on hold, the security of the body of Christ has to be addressed.  If the family guarantees the person will remain away from the church then this is a good step toward helping to heal the wound of the offender to the body of Christ.  If the family is unable or unwilling to help in the matter, then legal steps may be necessary to ensure the person is keep away from the church for the safety of the person who is mentally unstable and the church members.  Regardless, church security should be alerted to the issue and prepared to deal with the possibility of the person showing up during a church function.  I know all of this sounds like an over the top reaction when you are simply trying to deal with the irrational behavior brought on by the age of a person but it is much better to detain and talk to someone outside the church convincing them to go, then they should come inside and hurt themselves or others because of some unpredictable behavior.

If the offender is deemed mentally well then the church discipline can continue according to Matthew 18.  However, the difficulty in dealing with church discipline is that the church must act from a “pure” and “forgiving” motive, with the desire for restoration of the member to the body.   Motivations of anger or retaliation for the offense or settling old scores will only further divide and harm the body of Christ, not produce the desired effect of healing the body and/or restoring the member.  On the other hand, members that are sympathetic toward the one being disciplined must understand that this is God’s way to restore fellowship to a member of the body who has chosen “sin” over the love of God’s.  We are to continue to love the fallen member and can spend time with him but we are not to fellowship with him in worship, because he is not capable of worshiping God while he harbors bitterness, unforgiveness and sin in his heart.  We love the sinner because he is made in the image of God but we are to make it clear that we do not love the sin the person is harboring with the intent to destroy God’s church.

When a member is under church discipline, all members need to be consistent in long suffering and waiting for the fallen member to repent before resuming Christian fellowship of worship lest we be found guilty of reopening the wound that we are trying to heal.  The fallen member is not allowed to come on Church property or attend Church functions until he is restored.  We must trust and obey God’s way of discipline, just like we trust and obey God in all good things that He teaches us to do.  Furthermore, the fruits of repentance from the one receiving the discipline must be displayed before fellowship can be restored.  And the first fruit of repentance is a humble heart of apology to the one he offended and then a public apology.  But it could take a while to restore the believer to full fellowship rights depending on the specific offense and whether it has been a reoccurring offense.  Trust takes a long time to rebuild, especially, when the trust has been repeatedly broken.

One thing you can be sure of is that God has sufficient grace to love you and allow you to love others.

– Rogersings

A Critical Spirit  –  This information below is taken from the following source:

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/avoiding-a-critical-spirit-jeffery-anselmi-sermon-on-sermon-on-the-mount-47307.asp

1 Peter 2:1—“Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”

A “critical spirit,” is an obsessive attitude of criticism and fault-finding, which seeks to tear others down — not the same thing as what is sometimes called “constructive criticism.” The only criticism that is ever constructive is that which is expressed in love to “build up,” not to tear down — it is always expressed face-to-face, never behind their back.

The person with a critical spirit usually dwells on the negative, seeks for flaws rather than good. They’re a complainer, usually always upset, and generally have a problem or a complaint about something. They often have little control over their tongue, their temper, and have tendencies for gossip and slander, which Paul said were sins “worthy of death” (Rom. 1:29-32)

A critical spirit tears down those around us and robs us of our own ability to enjoy life. When we become overly critical, we miss out on the beauty that God has placed in this world. Small blessings go unnoticed, and we stop being thankful. Overcoming a critical spirit requires gratefulness, a willingness to forgive, an accurate understanding of God’s grace (it’s free!), an intentional refocusing of our thoughts, and a commitment to share the truth in love. Overcoming a critical spirit is a matter of sanctification, and we have the Holy Spirit’s help with that (2 Thessalonians 2:13). As we submit to God, read His Word, and pray for grace, we will find that the critical spirit gives up control to the Holy Spirit of Christ.

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