Chaplain’s Blog

Here’s our first question to talk about together:

“Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession, I have heard so many times if I had my life right with God I would not have the problems I have and there is no such thing as mental illness.  It gets hard to talk with people about problems when they keep saying it is Satan who is doing it.  Is this scriptural about mental illnesses not being physical?”

First of all, thank you for your question. I can tell this has caused you a lot of pain with well meaning Christians diagnosing your situation.

Let me begin to answer your question with a question… Last week I was in a school cafeteria, carrying a tray, walking out of the cafeteria up some steps to a meeting that was being held in another area. While I was walking up these stone steps, carrying my tray AND texting on my phone, I tripped and fell, with my shins smacking into this rock step.

So, here’s my question: Was my falling a result of demonic oppression or a result of me trying to do too many things at one time and suffering the natural cause and effect of my actions?

The question may not be as easy as yes or no. The Bible gives us this warning: 1 Peter 5:8 a “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” So, did he want me to fall and hurt myself? Well, Satan isn’t able to be everywhere and know everything, so I’m not sure he knew much about it, but his demons were happy to see me in pain. And, maybe they encouraged/arranged circumstances/pushed for me to fall. However, the best thing is to NOT TEXT WHILE WALKING! If I fix the problem, I have closed the door to Satan.

Secondly, there is such a thing as mental illness. There are brain conditions that are physiological in context. A broken arm is a physical thing. A brain can be broken as well.

Now, again, we swing between two extremes on this. One extreme says there is no physical reason for mental illnesses. The other side says everything is physical. However, we are made in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them.” God is a triune being – that means there are three parts of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the same way we have a mental (Father), physical (Son – God in human flesh) and spiritual side (Holy Spirit). So, all three aspects of our lives interact and impact each other.

We know this reality already. Go smash your toe and see how your emotions are doing. Don’t get sleep and feel how close you feel to God. And if you’re really a glutton for punishment, don’t sleep for a few days THEN smash your toe and see how you’re doing emotionally and spiritually.

I am often frustrated when I hear people “rebuking” Satan for things. There is a time to do this. However, sometimes if we can simply blame someone else for our problems we don’t have to take responsibility for our own actions. I don’t have to recognize I’m a sinner, I can just blame Satan. Paul himself talks in Romans 7 about how he is a sinner and does things he doesn’t want to do!

James 1:14 says, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” I believe that if Satan were to DIE, we wouldn’t know about it for a really long time. We are already deeply wounded, filled with desires inside us. James 4 says, “1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

This stuff that is hurting inside us, these desires keep us hurting and hurting each other. Satan doesn’t even have to do anything! Instead of focusing on Satan, we should be asking God to heal our desires and hurts! We should dealing with the psychological and spiritual issues of our lives.

And there are things that are spiritual. There was a young boy at a church I was at who was suffering from hearing voices telling him that people wanted to kill him, etc. His psychiatrist said it was all in his head and gave him more medication and it didn’t help. He was prayed over and the voice s left him and never came back.

I’ve heard of stories of people who have been on anti-depressants that when they work with a spiritual counselor who has led them into healing of emotional and spiritual wounds who are no longer need any medication. There is a huge link between emotional and spiritual; as well as physical conditions.

I also want to talk about another component of your question: “Is mental illness real or is it really demonic possession…” Believers in Christ cannot be possessed without their consent. Possession happens as someone turns from God. The Bible says, in John 10:29, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Satan can challenge and frustrate and antagonize a believer (Satan asked to temp Peter – Luke 22:31, “’Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.’”) but he cannot possess!

This is a big question, and I hope you’ve found some answers here. Feel free to reply to this post, or email me at brian@ktsy.org if you’d like some referrals to people who can help you with these issues or if you have questions of your own.