Administering the “Joy of the Lord” as treatment?
September 22nd, 2008[This is the fourth and final post for September 2008 from Society members at IGNIS (Germany). This post is authored by Wolfram Soldan.]
Feelings of guilt and the struggle to know how to respond to it are common problems faced in counseling. We would like to help clients with these problems by wishing them “joy of the Lord” to encourage them, give them strength and a new start (like the “reset button”). But instead we know that in many situations this biblical advice does not seem to work.
Nevertheless, Nehemiah achieved success in leading the people of Israel through destructive guiltiness into gladness. It is profitable to take a deeper psychological view into this topic found in Nehemiah 8.
The context: Many Israelites had been back in Israel for about a decade and yet the walls of Jerusalem and the temple were still in shambles. When Nehemiah arrived, he disposed to rebuild the city wall in 52 days (!) against great odds. Soon, the people became familiarized with the word of god in a very intensive way. In response, the people seem to despair upon seeing their failures. After days of corporate repentance, fasting, weeping and practical steps of change (Neh. 9:1-3), Nehemiah stops the people’s acts of sorrow and directs them to celebrate for some weeks.
How is it possible for the Israelite leaders to cause such a change? There are some “ingredients” in the situation that may be helpful for us today:
• “This is the holy day for the Lord our God” (v. 9-11). The leaders connect the people to tradition of the Sabbath by using their authority as leader but anchoring that authority to the highest standard, God.
• “Don´t be sad. Don´t cry.” (v. 9). Notice the leaders make a command here. While the command does not make psychological sense by itself without specific and concrete operationalized application (e.g., stop crying) along with the command in the next point.
• “Let’s go, eat fat meals and have sweet drinks” (v. 10). Note this is positive, alternative command (concrete with relish).
• “And send some to those who have nothing prepared” (v. 10). Note the social application to care for other people so that all are included and the problems of jealousy and frustration prevented.
• Repetitions (“not distressed”, “holy day” (v. 9 – 11). Note that we need repeated reminders for what we need to do until we have comprehended and realized it (well known from Behavior Therapy).
• “The joy of (unification with) the Lord is your strength” (v. 10). Note the leaders put this celebration into the grand context of connection with God, not merely removal of guilt feelings.
• “The people went to…have great joy. Because they understood the words, they were told”and so they were led into a concrete alternate experience (mirth versus affliction). It is a sometimes ignored truth: good instructions are only as good as far you will realize them. We have to check for compliance, otherwise all efforts end up in frustration.
Application for today: When Christian counselors, filled with a heart of passion, creativity and truth, propose such concrete steps of the joy of the Lord to their clients, then the truth statements about taking joy of the Lord transforms into an effective medicine (right time, right dosage)
(Translation note: The text of the Bible in German compiles different German translations (esp. “Revidierte Elberfelder Übersetzung” und “DaBhaR-Übersetzung”). This compiled text is the basis of the English translation.)
October 9th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Kevin,
I looked up the definition of “psychological” and this is what I found:
–affecting or intended to affect the mind or mental processes
–mental or emotional as opposed to physical in nature
IF
–We are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind.
–We are to have our minds set on God’s interests, not mans
–the mind set on the flesh is death and the mind set on the spirit is life and peace
and God says
–be transformed by the renewing of your mind
THEN
What is the problem?
Christians search the Scriptures (in this case Nehemiah)
They seek a “deep” understanding of these Scriptures. Comprehensive, detailed and diligent study, seeking to mine all the nuggets God has to give them in their quest.
Observing how the mind of the people changed from self-focused despair to the process of repentance and on to joy, these Christian counselors seek to learn their psychology from the Scriptures. That is, learn from the Word of God how the mind and emotions of people are moved to the end result of the people having the Joy of the Lord. We ask, what are the details of this process? What are the things Nehemiah said and did? How do we understand and apply these same principles as we counsel with people?
Indeed, “it is profitable to take a deeper psychological view into this topic found in Nehemiah 8.”
Indeed, it is to our gain to look deeply and not carelessly into what we can learn from Nehemiah 8 regarding how our minds process information, leading to mental, emotional, and behavioral change.
The unregenerate view the mental and emotional processes (the psychology) of man from their philosophical base. We as Christians look at the psyche of man,(the psychology, the mental and emotional processes) from a different foundation. Our foundation is the Word of God. Two different starting points leading to two different constructs of psychology. One is secular, the other scriptural.
I’m sure you agree. What better than to go to the Creator to understand His creation? I am confident that the words of the authors(a deeper psychological view into Nehemiah 8 ) mean exactly that.
If neither you or I have grasped their meaning I hope they will endeavor to further explain their words. For that matter, I think I’ll go ahead and ask it. — Hey, you guys, what exactly do you mean? We have questions here! — Smile.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
D Stevenson:
The point I should have underscored in my comment concerning the word “psychology” is this: The word has been usurped and undergone a thorough neological evolution. For Christians to somehow attempt to use the word in describing a vocation of sorts, is clearly an exercise in futility. A similar analogy would be the word “gay”. It has undergone the same neological conversion process. No one today would ever conceive of using the term to describe how they might be feeling or using it in a related manner. Likewise, unless someone is an advocate or proponent of integration of humanist principles with Scripture, to use the term “Christian Psychology” can only serve to confound and obfuscate ones true intents, intentionally or otherwise.
November 4th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Since Mr. Neslund believes that language obfuscates ones true intentions, why can’t he be direct and tell us what he believes the real, true hidden agenda of Christian counselors actually is? What are these people selling us, Kevin? What is your industry? Please enlighten us with your disclosures of your intentions since you seem to have access to the one absolute truth.