Page 44 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 24

A theological preoccupa�on with the power of The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because
Christ’s resurrec�on and the implica�ons of
this power for the believer has le� the church
without adequate guidance for the back and
forth oscilla�on between suffering and “victory
”in the already extant and progressively coming
kingdom of God. Karl Barth (1956) observed
that only the early church prior to Constan�ne
demonstrated a pathos capable of being a
church in weakness with the accompanying
competence through grace to suffer, and to
suffer with the other who suffers. From Barth,
one can understand that the church since Con-
stan�ne has perpetuated a defensive reac�on
forma�on against suffering by ensuring
through countless ignominious compromises,
ra�onaliza�ons and even atroci�es that it
remains a church in power. A prophe�c Barth
looked forward to a �me when a post-Constan-
�nian church could be a church in weakness, a
church that “… set its hope wholly and u�erly
on grace” (1956, p. 338).
Jurgen Moltmann (1993) is widely known for
his asser�on that what is dis�nct and singularly
true of the God of the Bible is that He is a suffe-
ring God. The Son who lost His Father for us,
and the Father who lost His only bego�en Son
for us, is the same God who empathically
weeps now for His children who are suffering
loss presently on earth. Jesus weeps for our los-
ses as surely as He wept for Mary and Martha’s
loss of Lazarus which was also his own loss
(John 11: 35).
The apostle Paul propounded a theology of
suffering that is robust. Paul in�mates that the-
re can be only a par�al knowledge of Christ wi-
thout an individual fellowship of suffering for
the believer in Jesus. He asserted a comprehen-
sive knowing of Christ in “the power of his res-
urrec�on, and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and
so, somehow, to a�ain to the resurrec�on from
the dead” (Phil. 3:10-11 NIV, italics added).
The task (calling) of the Chris�an psychother-
apist
The Chris�an psychotherapist must find consili-
ence with the necessity of entering into a pa�-
ent’s suffering; this in�macy of suffering with
Christ includes becoming like Him in his death.
Jesus, the promised Messiah is our exemplar:
44
the Lord has anointed Me to preach good �-
dings to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the
broken- hearted … to comfort all who mourn,
to console those who mourn in Zion. To give
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mour-
ning, the garment of praise for the spirit of hea-
viness; that they may be called trees of righ-
teousness, the plan�ng of the Lord, that He
may be glorified (Isaiah 61: 1-3) NKJV
We as disciples of Jesus, are empowered
through the accomplished and applied resur-
rec�on of Jesus the promised Messiah, and the
always, everywhere presence of the Holy Spirit,
the Comforter to replicate the transforma�onal
work of Jesus as we sit in and with the ashes of
our pa�ents’ sufferings. Pivotal to the process
that transforms the ashes of our pa�ent’s suffe-
ring is mourning with those who mourn.
The psychoanalyst Winnico� (1969) helps us to
understand that our task includes the laying
down of ourselves for the other who suffers,
and the survival of the other’s destruc�ve a�-
tudes and behaviors for the other’s well-being.
Marie Hoffman thoroughly and convincingly
explicates the course of each psychotherapeu-
�c process as: 1) Incarna�on, 2) Crucifixion,
and 3)
Resurrec�on in Rela�onal Psychoanalysis and
the Chris�an Narra�ve (2010). Hoffman (2013)
presented a clinical vigne�e to illustrate this
therapeu�c process.
Polly, a young mother of two, who suffered for
years with depression, was completely involved
in all facets of her church community. She came
to see me a�er several a�empts at counseling
were only minimally helpful. No one in her
church community knew the depth of her de-
spair. Her isola�on was profound.
Polly’s history was devoid of maternal love; as
an adult she prayed and believed that one day
her mother would care. Polly’s denial of her
mother’s lifelong aloofness and neglect was
sublimated through Chris�an service, and her
internal emp�ness was suppressed. A�er her
mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s demen�a,
her hope waned. She suffered in silence to
maintain her tes�mony of Chris�an victory wi-
thin her Chris�an culture. In our therapy sessi-