We are the Church
There are 2 words which disturb me deeply, because they contradict scripture, and yet have been accepted by most Christians as true. Those 2 words are sociopath and psychopath.
Both disorders are characterized in part, by psychologists, as being individuals who are unable to empathize or show remorse.
The problem is, the Bible does not agree with these descriptions. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we learn that God has "set eternity" in the hearts of men. We know from 1 Timothy 2:4 that God desires for all men to come to a knowledge of the truth. This would not be possible if there were those born without a conscience. (Apostasy is acknowledged in scripture. However, apostasy comes AFTER one has known and had relationship with God.)
Sometimes, as believers we forget our charge to discern truth. As society around us grows darker and darker, what seemed bad 20 years ago, doesn't seem so bad anymore. If we hear things often enough, we begin to assimilate them into our world view, without checking them against scripture.
As salt and light in the world, we cannot afford to abdicate our responsibility to exercise discernment. If we do, we lose what sets us apart and makes us the hope of the world.
It always surprises me when I hear of Christians being sent to secular counselors and therapy groups. Though psychology has things to contribute to our lives, and Christian therapists and authors such as John Townsend and Henry Cloud have contributed much to our understanding of the soul, the church IS the hope of the world. It IS the vehicle God designed to effect change in the earth. The Bible HAS the answers we seek. A pastor familiar with the word always trumps an unbeliever with familiarity with textbooks, following the world's system.
(I'm not judging individual believers who seek secular counseling. I've been to secular counselors myself.) But the counsel I've received from my pastors, has been 200 percent better than anything the world has offered.
This isn't a post about psychology. It's a post about discerning between dark and light, evil and good. About not swallowing every idea that the world puts forth as truth. It's about judging all things by the Word, and calling good those things God calls good, and rejecting what God rejects.
We are the church. We are the hope of the world. We are light, we are salt. We must maintain the difference which sets us apart, if we are to accomplish the mission Jesus saved us for.