SHOULD A CHRISTIAN SEE A NON-CHRISTIAN PSYCHOTHERAPIST

 

 

We Christians are broken and hurting people. Why? For one thing, “Judgment begins with the people of God (1 Peter 4:17):

·       Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)

We were not created to be self-sufficient. Instead, we need other brother and sisters in the Lord. Besides, the wisdom of the Scriptures should be enough for us:

·       All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

Consequently, we do not require secular wisdom or counseling. We already have all the wisdom we need from the Word, which can build us up and transform us:

·       Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

·       And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)

The materials we should seek to build us should be those of Jesus:

·       According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (1 Corinthians 3:10–13)

I am not saying that we cannot derive comfort from a secular therapist, but we can also derive comfort from our dog or cat. However, the comfort ceases by the next day, and we remain untransformed but will inevitably imbibe the wrong ideas, which will contradict those of the Bible.

Paul warned us to not seek the wisdom from the secular courts. Why not? We should have the wisdom to settle conflict and mediate among the brethren. Instead, we bring disrepute upon our faith when we seek out unbelievers for their wisdom:

·       When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, (1 Corinthians 6:1–5)

Seeking the wisdom and skills of a medical doctor or an auto mechanic is quite different. Their wisdom is not in competition with the Bible. They do not claim that they have truths that replace what the Bible offers.