I was going through a great deal of stress and decided to seek counseling. I made it clear that I wanted a Christian counselor. I received a counselor that was a "Christian," that is, she had some sort of loose faith in Jesus and considered herself a "spiritual" person. The first words of advice she shared were completely anti-Scriptural and steeped in pop psychology. To me, the Phd was meaningless because the wisdom to be shared was worldly wisdom, foolishness to God and a waste of time for me. Colossians 2:8 states, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." Transferring to an actual Biblical counselor made all the difference.
This reminded me of situations I've been seeing on social media which promote ideas that are not Christian in nature. Pop psychology is founded in secular humanism. It is deeply woven with the philosophies of man. Pop psych tells you that you deserve certain things. It tells you to set boundaries, to walk away from difficult people. If you research how this stuff fits in the Bible, you will see certain things loosely tied in with Scripture and a whole lot of stuff that doesn't come with any Biblical support. The Bible tells you to love sacrificially. It tells you that you need to affirm your self-worth and self esteem. The Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God but that sin has corrupted us; we need a Savior. Pop psych paints a picture of Jesus - when it acknowledges Him at all - as a kumbaya surfer-dude who just wants us to be happy. Did I remind you that Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple with whips?
You will find that the Bible tells you that you are to forgive others “even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Specifically, we are told to imitate the forgiveness of Christ (Col. 3:13). We examples of the Prodigal Son, Joseph and his brothers, Hosea and Gomer, and well, the whole Bible. Forgiveness is a cancelled debt, an elimination of the record of wrong-doing. Now, does any person want to love in such a sacrificial way? Does any person have the necessary strength to do that? No, but what a wonderful Savior we have. The Word tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. His love upholds us and will get us through.
So where can we draw the line? Scripture is *very* specific about what instances merit blocking someone. 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what do I have to do with judging those outside? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 But God will judge those outside. Remove the evil person from among you.
Should this go on forever? No. Paul revisits the issues in his next epistle to the Corinthian church. 2 Corinthians 2:6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. The Bible doesn't condone the idea of cutting off a Christian brother or sister.
We are actually supposed to care about causing "excessive sorrow" to someone - even someone we think has wronged us or is in some way making us angry enough to make us think that cutting them out of our lives is the right thing to do. We're supposed to be those guys who pray for those who persecute us and do good to those who despitefully use us.
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