DISORDERS WITH-IN THE CHURCH

By Carl O. Cooper

People are attracted to the church for many reasons. Some come seeking God out of pure and honest hearts with a sincere desire to please Him and to worship Him and to do what God has asked them to do. These people come to services with the intent to worship God in spirit and in truth and are there with humble hearts and a Godly fear that produces reverence and respect for the environment and religious things. They are not there to design a worship service that pleases them but are there to give worship to God in a way that pleases Him.

There are other reasons why people attend church. Some are there out of superstitious fear, and some are there seeking relief. Those who are there because of a superstitious fear tend to be carried about by any and every kind of tangent you can imagine. Whatever new thing that comes along can capture them and lead them astray. Superstition tends to invent doctrine at will. Imagination produces thoughts and revelations that are credited to a direct revelation from God and as such become infallible. How can you argue with a direct revelation from God? This overrides Bible and doctrine and commands revealed long ago through scripture. How could you go wrong if you followed God’s personal instructions revealed to you through the imaginations of your mind? This person is almost impossible to teach because they are already convinced that God is sending a special message personally to them.

And then there is the person seeking relief. The person who seeks out religion, with an emotional or mental disorder, looking for relief can sometimes be dangerous to the church. And I say dangerous because they are responsible for dangerous doctrines and church splits and problems all over the brotherhood. Have you ever considered how many people are in the church with disorders of some nature that influence the decisions and actions they take? I doubt that you have, most people would never consider it, but we should. The number will stager you when it comes to light. And many are in leadership positions.

Disorders come in many forms. Some visible and obvious and others subtle and unrecognizable. There are disorders that are so debilitating that a person cannot function and there are disorders that go unnoticed. And there are disorders that are everywhere in between. There are disorders of anxiety that are mild and not so severe and anxiety that is so severe as to create panic attacks and great fear in the mind of the person affected. Some are so severe that people can hardly function because of them. There are behavioral disorders that create all manor of behavior in individuals. From sexual disorders like addiction to pornography and sexual misbehavior, to marriage break ups. There is lying, cheating, stealing, lack of conscience and every imagination of misbehavior you can conceive caused by disorders of people among those you know. All disorders do not produce behavioral problems that are noticed. Some are under the surface and are only known by the person who is affected and perhaps those who are close, and some are only known by the person affected alone. Others, perhaps, are not known at all.

People with disorders have great needs and they are looking for relief. In a search for relief, a great number of these people gravitate to religion hoping to find something, anything, that will help them in their struggle in life. Some religious groups cater to these needs and use this as an evangelizing tool to draw these people into the church in large groups. There they grope and struggle for the relief they seek. And as time goes on they soon realize that what they seek is not there, at least in many cases it is not there. There are legitimate cases where service to God is the very therapy these people need and gives them a redirected purpose in life. The alcoholic, for example, can hardly escape the clutches of his addiction without a faith in God to help him overcome. This happens in lots of cases and is not to be minimized as very worthwhile and good.

The problem for the church comes into focus when the relief does not come as anticipated and expected and hoped for, to the person with the troubled emotions. After a time with no relief, it is common for these people to blame the church, it’s programs, and it’s leaders for what they see as a  failure to work in their lives. This usually becomes noticed first in common words and phrases that is somewhat of a code that is substituted for the true meanings and feelings of what is going on. Phrases like, “my spiritual needs are not being met”, and “I am not getting enough out of the worship service”, and “the worship service is dead and not lifting me up”, and many others are commonly used. What they are really saying is, “My emotional problems are still there, and I have found no relief”. At this point, many seek to change the church. If what we have is not working for me, then let’s change something, becomes the cry. Change the worship service, or the programs, or the preacher, or something, is the desperate cry. The people are definitely sincere and highly motivated to change. Desperation causes sincere motivation.

I have checked statistics of the average population with mental and emotional disorders that cause behavior modification, and the population within the church is high. According to one source who is considered an expert in the field of physiological and behavior disorders and has many years in the field, the numbers found in the church are higher than in the normal population. This personality is drawn to religion seeking comfort and relief. An accepted statistic is 30%. To the average person who has not given this much thought, this is high. However, if you have had any experience with someone you know, such as a child or a relative who has a problem, you quickly learn to recognize the symptoms. This figure was recently qualified and reestablished by a medical doctor who is respected and recognized as a credible expert in his profession. These numbers include but are not limited to, those with bi-polar and chemical imbalance disorders, and those with anxiety and panic disorders, as well as many other problems. If you add to this number those who are troubled with minor and non debilitating compulsive behavior disorders, and such things as minor anxiety and emotional disorders, then the number may be higher. Of course, there are also temporary emotional problems that influence behavior, such as grief and fear. The end result of this is, the problems people face in their personal lives influence their behavior and as such can cause problems within the church. Very few people in the church who are being led into church disputes and changes would ever guess that they are being led and directed by someone who has a mental or emotional disorder that is fueling their dissatisfaction with the status quo.

What do we do about this….??? Good question. In the first place, not many people who have this problem will  admit it. In fact, they will hide it from you and themselves as well. And the desire to cover it up will override many other things in their life. They will likely not take advise or instruction and will most likely view this effort on anyone’s part as criticizing them rather than advising or instructing or teaching. If you attempted to intervene, you would be challenged and disrespected for your efforts. An example of this type behavior is found among people with reading disorders. In many cases, people who cannot read go to great lengths to cover up this disorder and prevent others from being aware that they cannot read. This type person can set with others in a crowded restaurant and order without ever reading the menu and exposing the fact that he cannot read it. To be exposed and discovered is to be avoided at all costs.

I have exposed this problem and brought it out into the light to be examined and considered. Now, who among us is wise enough to propose a solution..?

Carl O. Cooper