Psychological Warfare: The Spiritual vs The Secular
In about 4 months (Lord willing), I will have graduated from university as a psychology student.
Dozens of courses taken. Hundreds of assignments completed. And perhaps thousands of hours siphoned away through papers, classes, and books.
How much have I really learned? What extraordinary knowledge have I gained in exchange for a copious amount of hours and dollars? Do I now know (after 4–5 years) what the study of the “soul” is all about?
Looking out from the E7 5th floor quiet study space into the campus view below, I find myself reflecting on my “education,” and a thought passes through my now sophisticated noggin. What does God think about all this so called ‘knowledge?’’
The Spiritual
Being a Christian, I trust that there is a spiritual reality out there — one that is mysteriously outside my measurable and observable universe. If you’ve ever had miracles, odd coincidences, answered prayers, or spiritual attacks happen to you, then you know how it is. The world is not what it seems. Not all things are what meets the eye. God Himself, being spirit, creates unseen realities beyond the physical realm, whether people can study it or not.
“We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 4:18
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” — John 4:24
In addition to the existence of these spiritual realities, we know that they aren’t just far off, in another dimension or “spirit world.” This spiritual reality interacts with our own, meaning that we live not just in a physical world, but a world that is both physical and spiritual.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” — Ephesians 6:12
“Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” — 2 Kings 6:17
The implications? Well for starters it means that everything we see here in this campus bubble of ours is hiding a secret reality. A spiritual and unseen reality — unpredictable and unmeasurable, yet still very real.
- The anxiety that we can feel in the air when exams and rankings season begins? It’s not just because of chemicals going through human brains due to stress, but likely spiritually related to the widespread pandemic of self-sufficiency and lack of trust in God.
- The depression that is becoming more common along with other mental illnesses? It’s not just the result of social, chemical, or psychological imbalances, but likely spiritually related to a seeping darkness that veils the brightness found in God (whose presence brings joy).
- The loneliness epidemic and lack of quality relationships that is causing a downfall in social competencies and personal wellbeing? It’s not just because of the influence of social-media or any reasoning you might find in a social science textbook, but likely spiritually related to the pervasiveness of selfishness, pride, and sensuality.
How about some more? It also means that in our fellowship — Friday after Friday, meeting after meeting — every gathering is filled with spiritual shiftings. Every interaction with another person carries an overtone of unseen forces at play.
- The quality of the fellowship and edification we experience (either with an individual or group) is not just the result of cross-sectional interactions between personality types, mood variables, or external stressors, but (and I really believe this) the presence and power of the Spirit of God working through the individuals (or lack thereof).
- The attitude we carry towards other members of the fellowship is not just the result of our initial impressions of the person, mixed with our intentions, conscious/unconscious biases, and past experiences with them, but spiritually connected to our love for God and His people (of lack thereof).
- The heart and intentionality we have towards the campus, the newcomers, and the lost is not the result of our extroversion, social adeptness, or even our sympathy/empathy for them (or lack thereof), but our spiritual relationship to God’s own heart for missions and discipleship.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” — Matthew 18:20
“We love because he first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” — Acts 1:8
Funny thing is, only after studying in an institution that rejects the spiritual do I realize this: that everything is spiritual. Nothing is free from spiritual entanglement. No action or word can be separated from moral ramifications. Either our actions glorify God, please Him, obey His will in attitude and heart, or they don’t.
The Secular
Now, here’s the part that scares me. The secular teachings of our age, whether psychological, scientific, philosophical, or whatever else, is completely blind to the spiritual. They shun it. The mystical is not acknowledged and the supernatural is not recognized. All of their knowledge is lacking in a crucial ingredient, which is necessary to properly understand and deal with reality. We, as students, take all of this in as we learn — no filter.
“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” — Ephesians 4:8
If reality itself is interconnected between the physical and the spiritual, then to “separate the two” and focus on the “material aspect” might be comparable to studying a rainbow while color-blind. You only see part of the picture. Not only will you miss so much beauty and glory, but your perspective will also result in inaccurate information — some things just won’t make sense.
If blue and green look the same to you, then your application of color will be at risk. Many of your paintings may end up half-baked, and you might end up confused when mixing colors yields different results each time.
“They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand…” — Isaiah 44:18–20
The important thing to realize here is that we aren’t just kids playing with colors anymore. Instead, we’re treating depression, anxiety, or some other “mental-illness” rising among the human population. We’re counselling people, helping them with addictions, traumas, and other disorders that affect lives on a macro-level.
Can you imagine if Jesus’ disciples pulled up to a demon-possessed man and said “I think he’s got schizophrenia guys, let’s start him on some medication and up the dosage if nothing changes in a week.”
Fish-Eating
Thinking about all of this, I feel woefully naïve. I don’t think I know very much at all. The things I thought I knew and learned, how much can I trust it really? Didn’t I just learn about the rainbow from a color-blind man, so to speak (and pay money for it too…)?
“Claiming to be wise, they became fools” — Romans 1:22
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” — Proverbs 26:12
Have you ever heard of the saying, “Can’t we just eat the meat and spit out the bones?” I think this saying fits our situation quite well, and is actually pretty humorous. I’ll show you why.
In my mind, that only sounds good on paper. In reality, it's hard to put a whole fish in your mouth and swallow the meat while spitting out the dangerous pointy bones. I wouldn’t trust a growing child to do that without warning or guidance at all, let alone an infant not yet weaned. Even the most experienced fish eaters still need to exercise caution, taking in piece by piece. I wouldn’t be surprised if Satan was a big fan of giving out free fish as an alternative to God’s daily bread — seeing that some Israelite-like people seem to have a craving for meat instead of manna.
Side Tangent
Just wanted to throw this in here too. As a student whose primary goal in university isn’t the education (but the missions field), I think God has blessed me more than I’ll ever know. The healthy level of doubt that I’ve brought into my psychology courses might have just saved me from more than a few misunderstandings. More than that, though, is how faith in God and His word has protected me. If I didn’t trust in Him to see by faith the spiritual realities that are there, I might have blindly relied on my physical senses alone to discern reality. I would have been so much worse for it, too.
“Knowledge puffs up while love builds up” — 1 Corinthians 8:1
The Unseen Reality
To wrap things up, I think Secularism in itself is actually a religious stance (everything is spiritual, remember?). It innately comes with a spiritual perspective and attitude — just not the right one.
Here’s a nice illustration I heard from an old missionary in Peru:
Imagine a group of tribal people who live in the forest, far from any advanced civilization. One day, the chieftain’s daughter gets sick. Badly sick. So, chieftain goes deep into the forest with a chicken. He goes to a special location, builds an altar there, and kills the chicken, offering a sacrifice to his tribe’s “god” in hopes that it will heal his daughter. He prays and fasts to please this “being” — all so that it will hear his cries and have mercy on his family.
Now, you might deem this man a fool and quickly conclude that he has it all wrong. But in reality, his worldview is actually closer to the truth than the secular scientist, psychologist, or sociologist.
Crazy to think about, right? That tribal man might have the world more figured out than most of our professors. He’s closer to reality than they are. He just got the deity wrong. Imagine if he knew Jesus and who the real God was. How do we compare?
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” — 2 Corinthians 10:3–4
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” — Psalm 20:7
The moral of that story isn’t that medicine is bad, or that modern psychological study has no value (though I still think secular therapy is like painting while color-blind). My hope in telling it is that we, despite all our sophisticated knowledge, would still know where we should run first when things get tough. I want you to trust prayer and the power of God more than any tool that science or psychology can give you. Our knowledge is less powerful than we think, and much less able to insure us from any real harm.
Let’s put it this way. Imagine if we got advanced enough to develop a miracle cure — able to solve any and every physical issue, whether bodily, mentally, or even emotionally —but at the cost of knowing how to pray or seek help from God.
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world (along with perfect health) yet forfeits his soul?
