This week we’ve been talking about God’s grace as a source of healing in our lives. It’s something of a stereotype, but it’s generally true that men avoid
going to see the doctor. I know I do. Today I got a ticking off from my heart clinic nurse for not getting enough blood pressure tests. I think we just hate
asking for help.
But when it comes to spiritual and emotional health, I think the problem crosses gender divides completely. Both men and women struggle to seek God’s help in practical ways. Jesus probably feels a bit like my GP. “I wish you’d come and seen me sooner!”
So, for those who need some healing, but don’t want to admit it. Here’s a reminder of some of Peter Scazzero’s top ten symptoms of ‘Emotionally Unhealthy Spirituality’ from the series we did together a couple of years ago.
Using God to run from God
This is a sneaky one because it looks like we’re being very spiritual. We create a lot of “God activity’ in order to ignore difficult areas in our lives that need attention and change. I run from God when I do things he never asked me to do, or demonstrate Christian behaviours so people will think well of me.
Ignoring difficult emotions like anger, fear and sadness
Many of us believe these emotions are wrong or sins to be avoided. Our evangelical tradition is very sceptical of emotion. These practical implications of these beliefs leave many suffering in silence so we suppress or bury them. The problem is that you cannot suppress specific emotions. You end up suppressing them all, and that includes joy, awe and hope.
Dying to the wrong things
Jesus told us “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). But when you apply that without qualification, you end up with a faulty theology. We are to die to those sinful parts of us like judgementalism, detachment and lack of humility. We are not called to die to what is good in us, friendships, joy, art, music beauty and self-care.
Denying the impact of the past on my present
For the person who chooses to follow Christ, it’s true that ‘the old has gone, the new has come’ (2 Cor 5:17). The work of growing in Christ however demands that we deal with anything in our past that would get in the way of running our race today, like the destructive patterns that prevent us loving ourselves and others well as God designed.
Dividing our lives into ‘Sacred’ and ‘Secular’
It’s easy to compartmentalize God into specific Christian activities around church and a few spiritual disciplines without thinking of him in our marriages, our parenthood, our finances and our jobs. This is why, as a church, we decided to partner with 8 other churches and LICC to create ‘whole life’ disciples.
Doing for God instead of being with God
Our culture puts a high value on getting things done and being productive. It’s created a lot of guilt in many. But work for God that is not nourished by a deep interior life with God will rapidly become contaminated by ego, the approval of others, buying into wrong ideas about success, and a sense of bitterness or disappointment. Our activity for God can only properly flow from a life with God. We cannot give what we do not possess.
Judging others’ spiritual journey
Many of us have little trouble diagnosing other people’s problems and knowing what they need to do about them. But we can have a very big blind spot when it comes to diagnosing ourselves. Jesus said, take the log out of your own eye, before trying to deal with the splinter in your brother’s” (Matt 7:1-5).
If you want to read more about these symptoms (there are 10 in all), they are expanded on in chapter 2 of Peter Scazzero’s book ‘Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.’ Take a look and spend some time with the great physician this week. He’s missed you and he has some healing grace to dispense that you might just need.
– Phil.
