Page 49 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

to understand how the other hears, and what think of some problem, not as an identity cha-
the other values. It requires of the evangelist to racteristic, but as an entity outside of oneself.
understand the other’s point of view to the point Discover then, the fact that you are not your
of being “almost persuaded” himself. Then, and problem, but that you have a relationship with
only then, has the evangelist earned the right to it, and within that relationship you have re-
share his Good News story. sponsibilities and possibilities for your life that
the problem has not removed. The problem has
EXTERNALIZATION OF PROBLEMS only succeeded in obscuring those possibilities
and convinced you that its oppressive ways are
Let’s come back to the question of original sin. the sum total of your life.
I stated above that we ought to start our theolo-
gical anthropology not with this idea, but with Let’s come back to the question of sin, again.
that of our original goodness, which is where The Bible can be understood as a manual on
the Bible starts. I don’t mean at all to deny the the externalization of sin. The most significant
existence of sin. Genesis 3 and 4 describe that place where this is done is in Romans 7. In the
soon enough. And of course we need only look startling passage, Paul writes, “Romans 7:16–20
around our societies, and our world to find ab- (ESV)
undant evidence of this fact. As Neibuhr said,
sin is the one theological doctrine for which 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree
there is empirical evidence (cited in Toews, J., with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no
2013, p. 90). longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within
me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in
me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire
But narrative therapy does an interesting thing to do what is right, but not the ability to carry
with this. Recall that the person is not the pro- it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but
blem; rather the problem is the problem. One of the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
the basic narrative practices is something called 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no
externalization. One of the things that problems longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within
do to people is to convince them that their iden- me.
tities – their “narrative identity conclusions” –
are bound up with their problems. For example, Notice how sin is described as something other
the phrase, “I am depressed” expresses such an than the person. The person is struggling with
identity. The practice of externalizing the pro- sin. Sin has a hold of the person. But the person
blem is to begin to speak not of the adjective is not sin. Sin is “not-me”. The person is not the
“depressed” but the noun “depression”, as an en- problem, the problem is the problem. Or, as the
tity in itself, with which the client has a relation- Apostle would say, the person is not sin, sin is
ship. The therapist responds to the expression “I sin.
am depressed” by asking, “How long have you
had depression?” Such a question introduces The person, then, is described as something
some limitations into the conversation about other than sin. In fact, the person is the one
depression, which begin to subtly challenge the who is capable of not sinning. “There is there-
globalized identity of “I am depressed.” In the fore no condemnation for those who are in
ensuing conversation, the client begins to dis- Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). “If God is for us, who
cover within herself that the problem has not in can be against us” (v. 31)? “There is nothing that
fact taken over her whole life, but that there are can separate us from the love of God that is in
certain areas of her life that have been reserved Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).
or protected or retrieved from the problem of
depression. The theological response to this might be that
these promises are for believers, for those who
If this sounds too simple or fanciful, the reader have received Christ as their personal Lord and
might try such a conversation himself. Begin to Saviour, and are now following him. We thus

48