And when you give someone a diagnosis, even when that diagnosis is NOT based upon objective data but is merely conjecture and subjective, do NOT try to take that diagnosis away from that person! Often, the diagnosed person will hold onto that diagnosis with both hands in a grip that rivals superglue!
Rarely does someone want to lose their diagnosis or label. Why?
People love to know what’s wrong with them and they want a diagnosis that sounds “clinical” and “medical” and “really awful since it cannot be my fault.” They don’t want biblical words that point to a sin problem. They often want excuses that point to a problem that is not of their own doing.
Such words as “narcissistic” replace words such as “prideful.” Also, “generalized anxiety disorder” replaces biblical words like “men-pleasing (Gal. 1:10) and fear or worry”. Many more terms exist, too, but the bottom line is this – sin is too simplistic and too condemning, secularists think. After all, it “can’t be all my fault.”
If real physical causes are ruled out, “clinical depression” might be caused by sinful thinking, talking, and acting!
For Christians, we have a Savior for our sins. When we call sin “sin”, there is an antedote for sin – the Lord Jesus Christ. God loves us and forgives us of our sins WHEN we confess and forsake them (Prov. 28:13).
However, when we fail to call sin “sin”, then we will not prosper and will continue to experience problems in our lives. It’s the way it is. Read Proverbs 28:13.
I want God’s grace and mercy which only come when we call the problem what God calls it.
-Mark (thankful that I can call my sin “sin” because of the great sacrifice of Christ at Calvary)