Sheep or Wolf excerpt
Most
in the field of Christian counseling and psychology believe that human
beings
are comprised of body, mind and spirit.
In the same way that we study normal and abnormal development
for the
body and the mind, normal and abnormal development of our spiritual
nature must
also be addressed. The topic of normal
spiritual development is examined by this writer in another work
entitled Memoirs
from the Rear Pew (2003). This
article focuses on one aspect of abnormal spiritual development called
spiritual abuse. This is a look at one rather significant way that
things can
go wrong with the spiritual growth process.
Abusive persons and situations always seem to elicit
a strong personal emotional reaction. I
don’t think that there is any other topic that can push my buttons as
easily as
abuse. My irritations have included
things like the following: neighborhood bullies, negative coaches and
bosses,
speeders and tailgaters who endanger the lives of others on the
highway, people
who play loud music in close living quarters without a thought of the
impact on
others, jokes at the personal expense of others, neglectful parents,
perpetrators of domestic violence, driving church leaders with
heretical
messages …
It seems that there is a
common theme in all of these situations.
All of the irritations that I have listed include behavior from
someone
who places his or her needs above the needs of others.
Gratification of self above all others seems
to be the source of a sin that affects many areas of our existence. Perhaps what troubles me in all of these
examples
is that for the sake of superficial gratification of a person or group
innocent
people are hurt. Regarding the specific
area of spiritual abuse, what can be more hurtful than damaging others
in the
area of their eternal spirit? As a
Christian counselor I have a heart for the welfare of the people in the
body of
Christ. That desire has drawn me into
an effort to research and come to a better understanding of what this
kind of
abuse is all about. This work is a
summary of those findings along with some commentary.
It is my hope that this will provide a working understanding of
the concept of spiritual abuse and a starting place for those who are
seeking
direction in this area.
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