DISCLAIMER: I am not against counseling or some forms what may be called “therapy.” I have seen a biblical counselor in the past and it has been very helpful to me personally. But like Paul pointing to truth of the Gospel at Mars Hill, sometimes the world gives us opportunities to speak the truth.

I have the news app on my iPhone, which is really kind of annoying. I want to know the news, especially if there is big stuff going on in the world that I ought to be aware of. What I don’t like is the incessant amount of notifications that come across my phone or watch every time an article gets pushed.

I know, I know… turn off the notifications. But then I will never check the app and I might miss something. It’s important info FOMO I guess.

But this morning there was a headline that I just couldn’t help but stop and read. Even the headline made me realize that sometimes the world sees things more clearly than we think.

The article from USA Today is called “The latest dating deal breaker? Not going to therapy.” The article goes on to tell the story of a lady named Kelly who recently broke up with her boyfriend of 10 months because of his “‘disdain’ for therapy ‘and people pursuing therapy.‘“

The truth of the matter is that there is something terribly wrong with people. Most of us, at least if we’re being honest with ourselves, will admit that there are thoughts, desires, patterns, behaviors, etc. in us that aren’t good.

This is what theologians call indwelling sin. Yes, the believer has been forgiven of all his/her sin. Yes, we have been given new hearts, hearts of flesh in place of hearts of stone (Ez. 11:19, 36:26). Believers have been made alive (Eph. 2:1-5). But in the flesh, in the body we still live in, there is sin. It lies in our thoughts, motives, wishes, desires, and actions. It has completely corrupted our operating systems. Apart form divine intervention we don’t even desire God at all (Rom. 3:9-18).

And from the beginning of time, sin is doing what it always has done. It is destroying relationships. Pre-sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed fellowship in the garden of Eden with God and with each other. Post-sin they hid, suddenly self aware of their nakedness, both from each other and from God.

One generation later Cain kills his brother Abel. The story of humanity continues downhill from there. The reality is the world is broken. The song “Is He Worthy” opens by asking the question “Do you feel the world is broken?” The answer, “We do.”

But it’s not just Christians who feel the world is broken. Racial tension, killings, abuse, stealing, etc. all fill the news headlines. We know that we are broken. And it’s not just people in the news. When I snap and my wife or my kid I prove that there is brokenness in me.

So what do you do if you have been dating someone for 10 months and they’re not into dealing with their brokenness? You end the relationship.

But the question must be asked… can therapy provide hope for the broken?

The resounding answer is NO! But it can be helpful.

Jesus is the only who can save us from our sin! He is the only one who can make us whole and new! It is only by beholding him that we become like him (2 Cor. 3:18).

So what do we do with counseling? We see it, when it doesn’t conflict with the Bible, as something helpful. But while counsel, and thus counseling, can be helpful to us as we work at being conformed into the image of Jesus, it does not provide us with hope. For that we look to Jesus!

Do you feel the world is broken? Tell someone about Jesus!