Where is Jesus In All This?

Hmmm not sure where you are going with this. But I will say I have 3 children in my home who have experienced trauma at a young age. Trauma effects our brains in a physical way which then plays out in emotions and behaviors because it effects our brains. Just like western medicine I am sure some researchers are Christian and some are not. But I can say the research that has been done is useful and should not be ignored.

This comment came in response to my last post. I thought I would say a few words about it. First, in the previous post, I was talking about the temptation to study the mind at the trough of the non-Christians and think that we are learning anything ultimately and independently helpful.

Second, The Bible tells us that sin is not allowed—ever. It also tells us that our thoughts, intentions, words, and behavior comes from our heart, not our brain. This means that no matter what has happened to our brains, we are not allowed to sin. Sin is still something that earns the wrath of God. Sin is something that needs to be owned, confessed, and repented of.

Third, I am very sorry for the state of your children with regard to trauma. That is very sad. It is horrible when children are subjected to the sinfulness of adults. I don’t know what kind of trauma you are referring to; actual brain damage as in someone hit them with a stick, or the trauma of great emotional abuse, or perhaps a combination of these. In one sense, it doesn’t really matter. God tells us that we are still responsible for the way we live our lives. When a woman has her monthly cycle, and her hormones are all crazy, she doesn’t get to sin. If a young boy had parents that drank too much alcohol , and passed brain problems on to him, he still doesn’t get to sin. If a young girl is sexually abused, she doesn’t get to blame her sin on someone else. She doesn’t get to sin just because someone else sinned against her.

Besides the truths of scripture, one of the things we need to keep noticing and reminding ourselves of, is this: everyone is making choices. You may have a horrible history. You might have a terrible disease. You might have an ugly physical deformation. Whatever you have going on in your life that makes you less than you think you ought to be, you are still making choices. You are always choosing to walk with God, or to do what you want to do—in the moment. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, the hands do, the mind thinks (Lk. 6:45). This is true for everyone. The most depressed person, the manic, the most obsessive, the most criminal, we are all making choices to do what we do.

To be sure, all of these things, crazy hormones, traumatic past, and stressful present, all lower a person’s tolerance for walking with God. They make temptation more tempting. But they do not dictate, decide, cause, and control us in a way that alleviates our responsibility to live as children of the King.

Fourth, I’m all for paying attention to the research. I’m also all about paying attention to the research and not believing everything they tell me. As you read the literature, notice all the times they say perhaps, might, and may. Notice how often the researchers base their findings on false premises, premises that counter and are in direct contradiction to the Scriptures. Notice not only the descriptions of what they find as they tinker with the brain, but also the explanations, reasons, and causes for what they find. Also, notice where they are going with all this. Are they taking you closer to God, or further from him? Are they taking away your responsibility for your behavior, justifying rebelliousness, and/or giving you a “get out of jail free” card? Or are they taking you to the throne of grace so that you can be forgiven and cleansed? Are they providing a way of Biblical escape, getting rid of guilt and shame? Are you ever going to get peace, or will the drugs and meds simply numb you into a cold dark grave?

Finally, ask yourself whether you’re thinking on this issue is something that comes because you are learning from people who delight in the Law of the Lord, who meditate on the Scriptures day and night, and who are headed in the direction of truth and light? Or are you walking in the counsel of the ungodly, standing with sinners, or sitting with the scornful? (Psalm 1) What is your authority? What is their authority? Where is Jesus in all this?