Sycamore

Doug Powlison is getting to that place where everything he writes, I think we all need to read.  A few weeks ago I recommended his articles called “Sane Faith” (here are parts 1, 2, 3, and a clarification).  His latest, The Therapeutic Gospel, is also excellent.  If you’ve ever felt like you needed counseling or just someone to talk to you about your life, Powlison’s words give you a foundation to start with that I hope none of us ever forget.  Read the whole thing here (sample quote below):

The therapeutic outlook is a good thing in its proper place. By definition, a medical therapeutic gaze holds in view true problems of physical suffering and breakdown. In literal medical intervention, a therapy treats an illness, trauma or deficiency. You don’t call someone to repentance for their colon cancer, broken leg or beriberi. You seek to heal — literally.

So far, so good.

But in today’s therapeutic gospel the medical way of looking at the world is metaphorically extended to these psychological desires. If I experienced betrayal and rejection, my heart was broken and wounded. Like with a broken leg, I need healing. If my need for love was not met, then, as with a vitamin B1 deficiency, I become sick. I won’t become better until the deficiency is made up for and the need is met.

These psychological experiences are defined exactly on the pattern of medical problems. You feel bad; the therapy makes you feel better. The definition of the disease bypasses or downplays the agency of the sinful human heart. You are not the agent of your deepest problems. You might have some outward sins, but you are a mostly a sufferer and victim of unmet needs.

The offer of a cure logically skips lightly over the sin-bearing Savior. It’s more important that He meets your sense of need than that He was crucified in your place. Repentance from unbelief, willfulness and self-centeredness is not really the issue. Sinners are not called to a U-turn and to the new life that is life indeed.