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For the creatively irresponsible, a career as a lounge singer
has its distinct advantages. For starters, you get to flaunt
those funky blue tuxedos with such abandon. Add to that the
free drinks and the invitations to all those barmitzvahs,
and it would seem that your career choice is as good as made.
Those preferring a more sedentary life, however, might prefer
to write for one of the cheaper tabloids. Imagine getting
paid to make up stories about how visitors from the planet
Kolob made illegal campaign contributions to Gore's election
campaign, and then getting to doctor the photos. Vacations?
Who would need them?
But there's another profession out there-for those who can
manage to gag their howling consciences-- that leaves both
lounge singers and tabloid columnists wondering if they shouldn't
have listened to their mothers. I'm referring, of course,
to the pop psychologist.
When all the data are in, a career in pop psychology is the
most coveted profession by the creatively irresponsible .
The pay is good, the work days short, and best of all, there
are few boundaries to hinder when those creative juices start
flowing.
Take, for instance, the fellow who invented primal therapy.
Somehow, he manages to convince responsible adults-like the
guy watching over that little nest egg of yours--that the
solution to their problems is to cry out to their mommies
and daddies (who, incidentally, aren't present). When mom
fails to answer (she's so insensitive), the frustration culminates
in a very undignified temper tantrum . And for the privilege
of having someone supervise his tantrum, your broker forks
over a considerable pile of dough. Ever wonder why those commissions
were so high?
Primal therapy is all in good fun, of course. But sometimes
pop therapy can have consequences that are more evidently
tragic. Take ten-year-old Candace Newmaker, whose adoptive
mother allowed her to undergo "rebirthing therapy"
so they could bond better. Candace was wrapped tightly in
a flannel blanket and surrounded with therapists who used
pillows to simulate contractions. Though she cried for air,
the therapists wouldn't release her, and Candace died of asphyxiation
in her own vomit . Besides building a gallows for the lettered
fools who caused Miss Newmaker's untimely death, how does
one respond to such things? I presume we ought to get in line
behind the broker at the Primal Center to release some angst.
Spoiling the Egyptians? One wonders how long it will be before
the idiocy of the "mental health professionals"
zeniths, and they 'fess up that they really don't have a clue
what they're doing. Thankfully, there are signs that this
day isn't too far off . But for now we must continue to be
afflicted with reports of their abuses. Ironically, as bankrupt
as all those secular psychologists are, for some silly reason,
we have some Christian counselors lining up at their back
door for methodological handouts . Under the banner of "spoiling
the Egyptians" they take the theories and methods of
secular psychology, integrate them with biblical truth, and
viola! a new "improved" counseling paradigm.
Presumably, because "all truth is God's truth" integrationism
is the best of all worlds. But in our wacky world, all "truth"
isn't necessarily true. In fact, most of the stuff in the
DSM-IV reeks suspiciously of brimstone.
This is not surprising, given that all counseling methodologies
are based upon the counselor's worldview. How the counselor
answers questions like, "What is man?" and "What
is his problem?" will inevitably affect his counseling.
If he says man is a biochemical machine and "the mind
secretes thought as the liver secretes bile," and that
man's problem is chemical imbalance, then it is perfectly
consistent for him to prescribe a chemical solution for anger,
guilt, or whatever. And if he thinks that man is an animal
and his problem is wrong conditioning, then why should we
be surprised if he employs behavioristic methodologies in
counseling?
But is man really just an animal or a sophisticated sack of
chemicals with all the attendant problems? The Bible speaks
infallibly on these questions, and the mental health pundits
simply don't like the answers. What is man? God tells us that
man is made in the image of God, and there is a fundamental
distinction between him and the animals (Gen. 1:26-28). What
is his problem? God tells us man is screwed up because he
is in rebellion against the Most High. But God doesn't stop
there--He provides a solution. There is mercy for sinners
who cling to Christ in repentance and faith. What's more,
there is genuine hope for Christians to change as they put
on righteous behavior and put off the deeds of darkness by
the sanctifying power of the Spirit (Eph. 4:25-32). Right
solutions proceed from right presuppositions. And that is
why the methodologies of secular psychology are so dangerous-they
are houses built upon the sand.
The good news is that God in His kindness has provided everything
we need for life and godliness, and so there's no need to
wander the slums of psychology for answers. There are real
solutions in God's Word for crummy marriages, depression,
and dead beats, and all the other horrible consequences of
sin. The solutions amount to more than mere infallible advice
given to impotent creatures-God gives us His sanctifying Spirit
to will and to work for His good pleasure.
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