Narcissus was a Greek god who became so enthralled in his own image it destroyed him. Since those ancient stories, Narcissism has come to mean everything from a destructive impulse—like the Christian sin of pride—to a healthy necessity—like “high self-esteem.” In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) fourth edition, a condition called Narcissistic Personality Disorder was defined as having the following characteristics:

1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements);
   
   
2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love;
   
   
3. Believes he/she is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions);
   
   
4. Requires excessive admiration;
   
   
5. Has a sense of entitlement;
   
   
6. Takes advantage of others to achieve selfish ends;
   
   
7. Lacks empathy and ability to feel remorse;
   
   
8. Envious of others or believes that others are envious of him/her;
   
   
9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes
   
   

Citing the confusion of such a diagnosis there’s been a move away from it in recent years. In fact, the newest DSM, fifth edition, due to come out soon, has threatened to remove it completely.

Part of the problem in making a diagnosis of narcissism is that many of the characteristics identified in the disorder are considered normal. For example, a narcissist has an “exaggerated sense of self-importance.” But what does this really mean? Exaggeration is a difficult word to define. And we are continually told that we all need to feel important. So, how can narcissism be a problem? The term “exaggeration” attempts to salvage that but what does it mean? To talk too much about it? But if a person doesn’t talk about it does that mean it doesn’t exist in his/her thoughts? Everyone wants to be important—even those who don’t talk about it. So, how can exaggeration be measured?

It is not coincidental that as the definition of narcissism has changed so there has been a dramatic increase in the emphasis on self-esteem—not just by secular theorists but even by religious instructors. Thus, a generation ago, popular television preacher Robert Schuller proposed that “self-esteem” was the “new reformation” needed for the church to advance into the 21st century.

This book was called, “Self-Esteem: the New Reformation” and attempted to deconstruct 2000 years of Christian teaching on the nature of faith and belief, calling for a “new reformation” centered not around God but man. One of his most staggering assertions was that "Classical theology has erred in its insistence that theology be 'God-centered,' not 'man-centered'" (p. 64). Schuller reserved particular animus for Martin Luther and John Calvin who espoused a doctrine of sin we call “total depravity.” What is sin? For Schuller it was related to low self esteem.

"... the core of sin is a lack of self-esteem. ... Sin is psychological self-abuse. ... the most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.' For once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ" (pp. 98-99).

With statements like this from presumed moral authorities, is it any wonder the concept of narcissism is in such disarray?

Some of the greatest resistance to the Schuller-esque teaching came from an ironic source: a psychologist who made no particular faith claims of his own. His name was Roy Baumeister, a professor of psychology at Florida State University. In one of his most quoted projects he dealt with four “myths” about self-esteem. What made Baumeister’s work so interesting is that it was research driven:

• Higher Self Esteem Boosts Academic Performance - He studied the link between good grades and self-esteem in school age children. It’s become almost indisputable in most public education circles that if self-esteem improves so will academic performance. Baumeister demonstrated that there is no link between the two.
  

• Higher Self Esteem Reduces the Threat of Drug Abuse - What about drug abuse, promiscuous sex and other socially destructive behaviors? Again, the accepted wisdom is that what abusers really need is just to feel better about themselves; that they are driven to these forms of behavior because of low self-esteem. But the research does not bear that out.
  

• Higher Self Esteem Reduces Bullying and Aggression – Neither is there a link between aggression and low self-esteem. The playground bully is not really suffering from a poor self-image. He may be but Baumeister found no evidence to suggest that it was the cause of the aggressive behavior.
  

• Higher Self Esteem Boosts Job Performance - When he turned his research attention to adults, he studied their job satisfaction and job performance. The results were not at all what was predicted by the conventional wisdom. Baumeister concluded:
  
  

Self-esteem doesn't make adults perform better at their jobs either. Sure, people with high self-esteem rate their own performance better -- even declaring themselves smarter and more attractive than their low self-esteem peers -- but neither objective tests nor impartial raters can detect any difference in the quality of work.

One can almost detect the sadness in Baumeister’s words. Since the days of Alfred Adler (the colleague of Freud), self-esteem has been viewed as the magic pill that will make everything better. Adler himself believed that self-esteem conflicts result from power differentials between small, helpless children and the giants around them. As children are empowered by these “giants” they can take their place alongside them. That’s what self-esteem tries to do.

But there’s a problem with the logic and the evidence. As Baumeister demonstrated, taking their place alongside the rest of humanity does not occur through self-image enhancement but through behavioral output. In fact, if self-image becomes the standard—feeling good about themselves—it tends to undermine social development. In practice, this means people who focus more on themselves focus less on others.

It would be unfair to suggest that Baumeister is accusing all those who emphasize self-esteem of creating narcissists. However, his research points in that direction and highlights the need to look even more deeply into conflicted self-image, not ignore it or explain it away. This is especially important for Christian theorists and therapists and underscores the age-old warning that “he who stands should take heed lest he falls” (1 Corinthians 10:12).

In fact, the Bible has much to say about narcissism. It doesn’t use that term, of course, but the warning about its consequences is everywhere, including the criteria for identifying it. What term does it use? It simply calls it “pride.” If we want to be technical, we can call it “sinful pride” to distinguish it from the more innocuous variety. But it is pride nonetheless. And from a clinical standpoint, this means we must view pride, hubris, arrogance, selfishness and egocentrism as forms of narcissism. I propose a three-fold criteria for diagnosis:

The Deceived Self

Self-image is an important issue in human and social development. There is no escaping that. We must not minimize the effects of a “poor self-image.” However, we must be careful to define it. The terms “self-esteem” and “self-worth” are generally used without qualification or definition. This is part of the reason for so much confusion.

“Worth” and “esteem” are value terms. They describe levels of importance. In mental health, “self-worth” and “self-esteem” generally mean a person likes himself, feels good about himself and doesn’t demean or put himself down. Often such discussions center around the role of “shame” in self-awareness.

So, what is the basis for such a perspective on the self? Clearly, it is the unbiblical notion that we should like ourselves and feel good about who we are; that we should not demean or put ourselves down. There is really nothing to be ashamed of since we’re really not that bad. But this is not a biblical perspective. Therefore, narcissism and pride are the very result of the therapeutic messages intended to change them.

What is the alternative? The biblical alternative to Robert Schuller’s “self-esteem gospel” is a view of the individual self rooted not in good feelings but in truth. The problem with self-image is not that a person puts himself down or doesn’t like himself. The problem is an erroneous view. In other words, a narcissist is deceived about himself.

At the heart of narcissism is a false view of the self that discounts or rejects the truth about who we are and what we need. According to the Bible, God created humanity not to live by himself or for himself but to live in loving community with others. An example of how this worked out in practice is from general system theory: the laws of triangulation.

According to system theory, whenever you have two people in a system there is likely to be stress. That's because in the process of being together they are competing for the same resources. Those resources may be material (food) or social (attention). But the very basis of the system is utilization of resources to advance the system. A profound need of the two members of the system is to restore stability, safety and predictability whenever something comes along to disrupt it. Change is stressful and frightening. And the most natural thing to do when feeling afraid is reach out to someone else: to restore your grip.

This is what human systems do also.

The Desperate Self

One of the most profound needs of the self is validation. Validation means we are acknowledged to be a person. We derive our sense of self not simply from quiet reflections and ruminations but through various social interactions. From earliest childhood we look to others for safety and security in the face of overwhelming dangers and fears. When a child finds that desired safety in a parent or older sibling he eventually develops healthy “attachment patterns” in other relationships as he learns that there are ways to manage the stresses and changes around him.

Meanwhile, the self is desperate. The danger, pain and failure in our world is so intense and overwhelming we will do almost anything to get it. This is the intensity of the drive for self-validation. And the reality is, desperate men do desperate things.

This is the reason so much circumstantial evidence seems to link criminal and psychopathic behavior to those with self-image conflict. It's because they are desperate to deal with the pain inside. The problem is not the existence of pain. The problem is how they try to make it go away: at the expense of others.

The Destructive Self

That leads to my third criteria for narcissism: a desperate individual will be inclined to destroy others to save himself. You remember Charles Darwin and his theory of survival: survival of the fittest. In this world, with limited resources, there will always be competition for who gets what. The stronger will prey upon the weaker. And, according to Darwin, this process drives natural evolutionary development. Now, I happen to reject Darwin's evolution. But I think he was right about survival. In fact, I'll go even farther than he did and suggest that survival—what I call self-protection—is what drives all natural life forms. And if self-survival is at the core of our being, that means we are all narcissists to a greater or lesser extent.

As I write this article there is a massive snow storm blowing through the East coast. As large storms often do, the combination of cold and power outages and clogged roads will most likely result in many deaths. That reminded me of the infamous tragic story of Donner Pass—another storm situation that ended in the loss of human life but also demonstrated my point about self-protection.

You may have read about it. It was back in the 1840s and a few dozen travelers got stuck in a terrible snow storm and were forced to winter there at Donner Pass. They were totally stuck by the conditions and were at risk for dying, without food and shelter. As the days and weeks rolled on they became increasingly desperate. And destructive. Somehow they concluded that it was better to eat the dead people than to die themselves and so that's how the remaining people survived: cannibalism. My point in spoiling your dinner today? That depraved individuals will resort to just about anything to survive. Sure. This is an extreme and bizarre story. But it simply illustrates the human condition. What drove them to eat their friends and family? Narcissism.

I could go on but I need to leave you with some hope. And there really is hope for the narcissism in all of us. That hope comes in the form of a solution that is extraordinary in its simplicity and effectiveness. What drives the narcissism in all of us is not only our need for survival but our desire for validation. We don't just want to live. We want to live well. And that means we want others to notice our accomplishments, to respect our abilities and to affirm our achievements. I'm reminded of how the Apostle Paul handled the deep-rooted narcissism at the church in Corinth; a narcissism that was destroying the very foundations of the church. The specific issue there was factionalism and conflict between various individuals, based, of all things, on who their spiritual mentors were.

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

Some were followers of Paul. Some were followers of other spiritual leaders. The problem was not the spiritual leaders but the way they were using them to feed their own selfish ambitions.

So, notice what Paul said to them:

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (1 Corinthians 4:1-4)

It is easy to miss the power of Paul's instruction, in part because of language. So let me paraphrase it.

I know you are focused on which “spiritual mentors” you have and think that makes you important. And for those who claim to follow me, you may think I even care about your loyalty. But I don't! It's not that I don't care about you. But it doesn't matter to me whether you think I'm special or not. It doesn't matter to me even if I think I am special! The only opinion that matters of me is the one from the Lord.

This is really the secret to conquering narcissism. It involves a death to our desire for self-protection, self-gratification and self-validation strategies. How can we do that? Only when we care more about finding protection, gratification and validation in our relationship with God rather than ourselves or others.

I never said this was going to be easy. But I will say it's really quite simple. Sadly, most will not take this route. And even among those who name the name of Jesus Christ, they will generally continue to nurse and nourish the cannibalistic beast within. But this doesn't undermine the truth nor the power of Paul's simple solution. And even though none of us will probably be successful at slaying the beast, we can make progress. And my plea for you today is that you would try.

In popular thinking, imagination is equal to fiction. Therefore, if a child says he thinks there is a monster under the bed a frustrated parent might say, “you’re just imagining things”—as if that somehow cancels out the frightened child’s fears! More precise use of language proves that it doesn’t. While it is true that he is “just imagining things” that doesn’t exclude the possibility of a monster. 

When it comes to our understanding of the Bible we make the same mistake. Some conservative students of the Scripture get nervous if a teacher or author urges them to use their “imagination” to understand a passage. I submit it’s not because using the imagination is a bad idea but because of erroneous notions about imagination, akin to the monster under the bed variety. My point? Imagination has very little to do with truth or fiction. It is more accurately a description of how we experience truth or fiction than of the facts themselves. In other words, do we experience it vividly and personally (hence with “imagination”) or do we experience it from a cold lifeless distance?

In this article I want to explore some aspects of imagination, how it functions and particularly its significance when it comes to studying and experiencing the Bible. It is my contention that our failure to properly use the imagination in our Bible studies, our sermons and our personal devotions accounts for much of the cold and lifeless experience with it. How can the Word of God be “living, and active, and sharper than a two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12) if we don’t learn to properly read or hear it? I submit they cannot. And part of proper reading involves a correct use of the imagination.

What is Imagination?

To answer it simply, “imagination” is, as the word suggests, “images” in the mind. Technically, the suffix “ation” suggests a process of creating or forming them. So the first thing we need to realize is that imagination is all about pictures or images.

An interesting side-discussion here would be to contrast an “image-based” culture with a “word-based” one, as Neil Postman attempted to do in his classic sociological study, Amusing Ourselves to Death  in which he critiques the modern rejection of concepts in favor of images. Basically he says that an image-based culture is inferior to a concept-based one because images are more limiting in the amount of information they can carry. Like I said, this is an interesting discussion but somewhat afield of where I want to go. But I did want to mention Postman’s criticism because not all scholars agree that we should put a high value on imagination. 

Back to the question though: what is imagination? And further, how does it work?

If imagination is understood as images in the mind that contain information then we can understand why some have developed a suspicion about it. When I say it’s “in the mind” that implies it may not be “real.” Thus, the fear that imagination means “imaginary” or fake. We certainly don’t want to start suggesting that Bible stories are “imaginary!”

Technically speaking, an imagination is an electro-chemical impulse in the neural fibers of the brain. In this way, it’s very similar (perhaps identical) to a memory. Again, with a topic like memory there are a hundred side-trails we could take and I will avoid the temptation. What is memory? How do memories develop? How are memories lost? Those kinds of questions. But one side-trail I believe is germane to this discussion relates to the neural processes involved in imagination. Aside from the fact that I love brain science and it’s a favorite hobby of mine, I want to explore these neural contours because I think they might yield some helpful (and dare I say “imaginative”?) suggestions about how to use it more effectively in the study of Scripture.

Building Imagination

Many experts would scoff at my oversimplification, but I’m going to give you the Reader’s Digest version of how imagination works. To do so I want to introduce you to my favorite part of the brain. It’s a tiny organ called the Hippocampus. The Hippocampus (the name literally means “seahorse” because of its shape) is located in the middle of the brain in a region called the Limbic System. I call the Hippocampus the Navigation System of the brain because it’s so essential in navigating (getting around) from one place to another. The Hippocampus controls our sense of time, motion and space. It enables us to locate ourselves in a given spot and then figure out how to get to the next one.

For decades researchers have recognized the role of the Hippocampus in short term memory. Think of it like the Random Access Memory (RAM) on your computer. RAM, in case you didn’t know, is short term memory—in contrast to your hard drive which is long term (permanent) memory. So, as I type words on my keyboard I have to save my work periodically or I could lose it all if my computer crashes. I believe God designed the Hippocampus for a similar purpose: to gather various bits of information and hold them until the other regions of the brain can fully process them.

Another interesting function of the Hippocampus is dreams. Some researchers believe that dreams are reflections or expressions of the Hippocampus at work. Much of the work of the Hippocampus, related to short term memory processing, is conducted while we sleep. Brain studies show that even though other sections of the brain go into rest mode during sleep, the Hippocampus stays very much active suggesting it is involved in memory processing while we are asleep.

I’m sure you’ve noticed how disconnected and bizarre dreams can be. It’s because the Hippocampus is actually trying to consolidate memories and put them in some kind of meaningful pattern. But some things just don’t fit. So, the Hippocampus cobbles them together as best it can. Think of dreams as the potpouri of the brain. It’s comprised of the left overs from various experiences. But for some of them, the Hippocampus can’t figure out what to do with so it strings them with other random memories and tries to make something useful of them.

A few years ago I was stunned by a book I read by computer genius Jeff Hawkins.

Hawkins is one of the inventors of handheld computer devices like the palm pilot and smart phones. An amateur brain scientist like me (okay, not quite like me!) he believes that if we can learn how the brain processes data it will help us design more efficient computer systems. Particularly, he researched the Hippocampus and how it utilizes “predictive intelligence.” Again, I’m tempted to take one of these little rabbit trails of knowledge but I’ll resist and just get to the point: the Hippocampus takes individual bits of data (experience) and attempts to arrange them in some kind of “meaningful” picture or perception. When it doesn’t have enough data to fill in all the gaps it creates or predicts what should or could go there based on past experiences. This is how the Hippocampus is involved in the imagination process.  It connects the dots of data and tries to make them into some kind of meaningful arrangement.

Remember those old dot to dot coloring books? What looks like a mass of confusing dots on a page, upon closer examination, is a mass of confusing dots with tiny numbers beside them. Only when you draw a line from one to the next, following the numbers in order, does the real meaning become evident.

This is what the Hippocampus does. It connects the various dots of experience and data. By “various dots” I want you to expand your understanding of what I mean to encompass just about everything you’ve ever learned. You think you know what a tree is? Well, you know what trees are because your Hippocampus has assembled an image of trees. That includes everything from the colors in a tree (green, brown, black) to their texture (rough bark, smooth leaves, hard surfaces) to the smell (woody? I don’t know, how do trees smell?). The image in your mind of a tree is actually a composite of dozens, even hundreds of various data points of information assembled in one meaningful picture. The Hippocampus is where that takes place.

Hopefully you are beginning to understand what this all has to do with studying the Bible. Without a robust and dynamic appreciation of imagination, how can you really understand a passage of Scripture? For example, when Psalm 23 says “the Lord is my shepherd,” can you really even get what that means without some understanding of shepherds? And sheep? And pastures? And valleys of dark shadowed death? Without prior experience with these facts the words of the psalm will just be words on page.

I want to also throw out another issue with these data points of experience. Though in a dot-to-dot coloring book there is only one way to connect them (following the numbers) this isn’t always so straightforward in real life learning. In fact, we don’t even possess all the dots. This is where Jeff Hawkins talked about predictive intelligence. What does the Hippocampus do if it is lacking some of the dots? It fills in the gaps with “predictions” about what could or should be there.  According to Hawkins, that’s how intelligence works. It is always making predictions (we also call them assumptions).

Part of the reason is because data is incomplete. Part is for efficiency. By making reasonable predictions we save computing time. We don’t have to figure out how to ride a bicycle every time we get on one. Memory and habit all play into this. It makes life a lot easier.

So, as marvelous as imagination is, there are some risks. In the absence of all the data, we’re going to make some guesses. When it comes to Scripture this is inevitable. But it’s also why there are so many different understandings of the Bible. Because we are filling in the gaps with our own assumptions and interpolations we’re going to do so in different ways.

Expectations and Experience

One other thing I want to say about the Hippocampus and the Navigation System: because it utilizes predictive intelligence it is also the basis for what we generally call expectations. In other words, it has a significant part in the control of our thoughts about the future. Are you a pessimist? Do you see the proverbial glass half empty? Are you an optimist? Do you see it half full? The reason is likely to be found in the way your Hippocampus has learned to expect or predict the future. And the reason it does so is related to the way it arranges and orders the various data points of experience.

I can’t emphasize this enough. If you are a worrier or are plagued by anxieties and dread you know what I mean. What we think is going to happen (or what we dread might happen) shapes not only our view of the future but our experiences in the present. And, in some ways, those expectations become what experts call “self-fulfilling prophecies.” If we think the future will be dark and discouraging we are seldom disappointed! Our expectations of dread end up coloring the experiences themselves and make them seem all that much worse. But to repeat my point: pessimistic expectations of what may happen come from somewhere: they come from the way our Hippocampus connects the dots of experience. Only when others hear us verbalize our gloomy worries does it become evident (at least to others) how incorrectly we are connecting the dots.

I would say that one of the most important reasons to study the Bible is to help us connect the dots of experience more accurately. In other words, to transform our expectations. By the way, the Bible has a wonderful word to describe this process of transforming expectations. It’s called “hope.”

The Sanctified Imagination

So, what do we have so far? We have imagination, which is essentially images or pictures of ideas in the brain. And we have learned how these images are formed. I have also suggested that if we learn to use imagination correctly it will enrich our study of God’s word and renew our hope. So, the remaining task is to figure out how to actually use this information in studying the Bible. Of course, we need to be careful in this process. Just because we have an imagination doesn’t mean we will use it correctly. Imagination is a powerful dynamic in the brain and, like all powerful forces in this world, can be used or abused.

Let’s try to keep this simple by looking at three ways we can cultivate what various authors describe as a “sanctified imagination.”

Analyze the Word

In order to use this marvelous tool God has given us and enrich our own study of the Scriptures we must first of all make sure we have enough “dots” in the Hippocampus to connect together. The more dots we have, in general, the more complete the image. So, how will we do that? By studying and analyzing it.

As important as imagination is in the meditation process it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. As we’ve seen, the Hippocampus “builds” imagination from the raw material of data. The only way we’re going to have that raw material is by the time consuming and demanding task of analysis. I’m not saying you have to be a Greek scholar to study the New Testament (though  it certainly doesn’t hurt). But you do have to have more than a passing knowledge of what the words really say and mean. This is why all Bible study methods involve various forms of “exigesis”—pulling the meaning from the words themselves.

Though you can take short cuts in the analytical process—reading what others say in commentaries or study notes or sermons, for example, you won’t get as much that way. The more work you put into it the more imagination you’ll be able to build. I’m not going to spend time here describing basic Bible study methods but you can find any number of practical resources on this topic.

Visualize the Word

As I’ve said, the imagination involves creating mental images or pictures. This is what I mean by the second step in the imagination process. I’m going to use the word “visualize” to describe it. It’s probably pretty obvious how we visualize some passages of Scripture. For example, in Psalm 23, referenced earlier, you can understand how you might draw mental pictures of the Lord as a shepherd (visualize a middle eastern shepherd, leading a flock in the desert). This is probably why most of us find Bible stories easier to read and study than more didactic portions.

So let’s talk about those portions a bit more. How can we visualize and create mental images for them? Let’s take the Book of Romans.

I’m not possibly able to visualize the entire Book of Romans in this article! But I will suggest ways you could visualize the first few verses as an example of what I mean. Here are the words themselves:

 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God-- 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you want to meditate on this passage you must first analyze it. I know that sounds like a lot of work and it is. As I said, you’ll get out what you put in. So, you’re going to need to use whatever analytical tools you can to begin inserting data points of understanding into your Hippocampus. Thus, you have to know something about Paul. If you don’t know much, you may need to read about him and his story in other passages of the Bible (for example, The Book of Acts). When I say “visualize” do I mean you have to have some kind of picture of Paul in your mind? Well, yes. And no.

We obviously don’t have photographs of Paul! So we don’t know exactly what he looked like. But the shape of his face or whether he was bald or had a beard is only part of this. It’s where we have to fill in the gaps, somewhat. But there are plenty of other things we do know to give us a picture. We can know what town he was born in (Tarsus) and we can know where he went to school (Gamaliel) and approximately how old he was when he wrote these words (most likely around 50). Do you see how we visualize? It’s like building a tower with blocks: one piece of information at a time.

Going on, you need to know what it means when he calls himself a “servant of Christ.” What about this word “servant”’ why does he use it? What does it mean? Unless you’re already a Greek student you will probably have to look it up in a Bible dictionary to find out. But that’s not hard. It just takes time.

As you continue collecting bits of information from these words you will, at some point, need to string them together, connecting the dots you have so far. It is here the process of visualization becomes so important. I’m not going to pretend it’s a simple thing. Especially in these didactic portions of Scripture you can already see how much data you’re going to have in just a few verses. Keeping it all straight in your mind won’t be easy. Frankly, this is why so few people do it.

But let me emphasize the importance of visualization. Realize that each bit of information you collect is a kind of picture or image. A classic Bible study tool was written years ago called “Word Pictures in the New Testament” by A.T. Robertson

I love the title! That’s exactly what words are: pictures. And Robertson’s classic work does a great job of drawing those pictures for you, showing the origins and meanings of Greek words and giving you mental images to add to your collection. 

Personalize the Word

If you’ve analyzed and visualized a portion of Scripture you’ve already made a significant effort in learning to meditate on the Word of God. However, there’s more you can do. I call this step “personalization.” Here you use specific strategies to insert yourself into the text.

 Let me give you a simple example. I’ll try to make this an exercise in analysis and visualization as well. Here is a famous painting of a familiar Bible story:

You probably remember Jesus’ parable about the shepherd and the 99 sheep. He tells it in Luke 15:4:

"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”

The first step in this passage would be to analyze it. That means making sure you understand various things about the history and meaning of the words. You know what sheep are. You may know about how middle eastern shepherds did their jobs and the equipment they used (like the staff in the picture). You might need to bone up a bit on what the phrase “open country” means and even expand your understanding of how shepherds carry sheep (I suspect that picture is fairly accurate).

I reproduced the famous painting of Jesus carrying the sheep at the beginning of this article to assist you in the visualization process. You can now picture the sheep and the shepherd carrying one of them, and even the grassy hills. But in order to personalize it you need to insert yourself in the picture, as it were. For example, instead of visualizing the sheep on Jesus’ shoulder (the sheep that no doubt wandered away from the flock and had to be rescued) picture that sheep as you. You wandered away from the flock. You got lost in the desert. Jesus had to go looking for you. And when he found you he put you on his shoulders to carry you because you couldn’t make it back by yourself. 

I know this sounds very juvenile and like something a Sunday School teacher might do with toddlers. But honestly, I think we all have to approach the Scriptures this way. When we fail to personalize them we lose our connection to them and, eventually, our knowledge breaks down.

There are other steps in the overall process of meditation on Scripture. I’m only focused here on the use of the imagination. But I don’t want to leave you without putting it in the larger context. I’ve talked about the importance of the background and the details. But I can’t fail to emphasize the need for application.

In the Book of James we are warned that those who read the Bible (even study it) and fail to obey it are like people who look in a mirror but then forget what they really look like (James 1:24). Without obedience, Bible study is not just an exercise in futility. It actually makes our state worse than if we didn’t read it at all. Jesus promised that if we know the truth the truth would set us free (John 8:32). But the only way to really “know” the truth is to experience it. That’s literally what the Greek word for “know” means: to know by doing. This implies obedience and action.

I will say in closing that the only way obedience to truth is even possible is a work of God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, equipping us and enabling us to do what it says. We can’t do it on our own. But that’s another article for another time.

 There have been times in my life when I seem extra vulnerable to the weird, bizarre or extraordinary—dare I say paranormal? Notice I’m not saying supernatural. At least not yet. That remains to be seen. But that’s what I mean. I’ve always relied heavily on something called “instinct” or “gut feeling” when making decisions. That’s part of it. But I have something else in mind. 

   You probably know the story of Israel and their miraculous escape from Egypt. It's found in the Old Testament book of Exodus. It's a wonderful story filled with drama and mystery, culminating in God's astounding intervention in the lives of his people. Today we would call the dramatic elements a real “cliff hanger.” Of course, prior to his deliverance God was also trying to make a point: that the Egyptians were not able to receive God's mercy because of the hardness of their hearts. This is where all those plagues came in. There were ten of them—supernatural interventions of natural disasters that were designed to force the Egyptians to their knees in recognition that God was sovereign.

  The other day I was thinking about a different set of ten plagues, however. The flash of insight came as I was studying the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) which is a clinical guide for mental health professionals who are trying to diagnose mental conditions. I don't particularly agree with a lot of the theory and use of the DSM and that's not even my point in this article. Theoretically, the DSM (now in Fourth Edition, soon to be Fifth) was designed around what are called “axis” of problems. I won't go into all of them here but I do want to highlight what is called the Axis II diagnosis. Axis II problems are called “personality disorders” and the editors of the DSM-IV highlighted ten of them. Notice that number: ten. Now you know where I'm headed in this article. There is an uncanny parallel between the ten personality disorders and the ten plagues of Egypt. And in a turn of events, there is also an uncanny parallel in what happens when they are ignored.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

Water, which turned to blood and killed all fish and other aquatic life (Exodus 7:14–25)
Frogs (Exodus 8:1–8:15)
Lice (Exodus 8:16–19)
Flies or wild animals (Exodus 8:20–30)
Disease on livestock (Exodus 9:1–7)
Incurable boils (Exodus 9:8–12)
Hail and thunder (Exodus 9:13–35)
Locusts (Exodus 10:1–20)
Darkness (Exodus 10:21–29)
Death of the first-born of all Egyptian humans and animals. To be saved, the Israelites had to place the blood of a lamb on the front door of their houses. (Exodus 11, Exodus 12)

  Bible teachers have often commented on the escalation inherent in these plagues. They kept getting worse and worse. Others have noted that each of the plagues represented a false god of the Egyptians and, in the process of summoning the plagues and then overcoming them Moses (and ultimately God) demonstrated their power over the gods of the Egyptians.

  Now, let's take a look at the ten “plagues” of personality as mentioned by the DSM-IV. They are divided into three larger groups or categories called “clusters.”

  Cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders)

• Paranoid personality disorder: characterized by irrational suspicions and mistrust of others.
  
  
• Schizoid personality disorder: lack of interest in social relationships, seeing no point in sharing time with others, anhedonia, introspection.
  
  
• Schizotypal personality disorder: characterized by odd behavior or thinking.
  
  

Cluster B (dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders)

• Antisocial personality disorder: a pervasive disregard for the rights of others, lack of empathy, and (generally) a pattern of regular criminal activity.
  
  
• Borderline personality disorder: extreme "black and white" thinking, instability in relationships, self-image, identity and behavior often leading to self-harm and impulsivity.
  
  
• Histrionic personality disorder: pervasive attention-seeking behavior including inappropriately seductive behavior and shallow or exaggerated emotions.
  
  
• Narcissistic personality disorder: a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy. Characterized by self-importance, preoccupations with fantasies, belief that they are special, including a sense of entitlement and a need for excessive admiration, and extreme levels of jealousy and arrogance.
  
  

Cluster C (anxious or fearful disorders)

• Avoidant personality disorder: pervasive feelings of social inhibition and social inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation and avoidance of social interaction.
  
  
• Dependent personality disorder: pervasive psychological dependence on other people.
  
  
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (not the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder): characterized by rigid conformity to rules, moral codes and excessive orderliness.
  
  

  It would be silly and unproductive to try and make a point-by-point correlation between these two lists. That wasn't what I wanted to demonstrate anyway. But I do want to key in on that idea of “plagues” of personality. In what way are they alike?

1.) Natural Events Out of Balance

Each of the ten plagues in Egypt represented a natural phenomenon that ran amok. Flies, lice, hail, darkness—are all natural events and fairly harmless by themselves. I suggested earlier that they were likely forces worshipped by the Egyptians. But when summoned by Moses and relentless in their persistence, unbalanced by other natural forces, the natural events became plagues. This is my first observation about personality plagues. They result from natural processes run amok.

Look at the list of personality disorders again. Notice the broad descriptions of the three clusters: Cluster A are “eccentric” or “odd” behaviors. We all have eccentricities and oddities. Those alone don't make a personality disorder. However, when the eccentricities become prominent and primary features of a person's life, and even more importantly, are not kept in balance by other traits, it likely qualifies as a personality disorder.

In other words, eccentricities, oddities, dramas, anxieties—all the stuff of personality disorders—are in us all to some extent. It's when they get out of balance we have problems with them. In nature, God generally superintends this balance. High pressure weather systems are counterbalanced by low pressure. Summer follows winter. And in terms of personality, relaxation follows stress and happiness follows tears. At least, that's what happens “normally.” When it doesn't is when personality disorders are evident.

The False Gods of our Age

I also want to note that each of the natural events in Egypt was a force of nature worshipped by the idolatrous Egyptians. Here is a brief summary of what I mean:

Nile water into blood - Hapi: god of the Nile
Frogs - Heket, Hekhet, or Heqt: Egyptian goddess of Fertility
Gnats or Lice from dust - Geb: Egyptian god of the Earth also Khepri god of creation
Flies (gadflies) - Khepri: Egyptian god of resurrection, creation, movement of the Sun, rebirth; beetle-headed
Cattle/livestock disease - Hathor: goddess of love and protection
Boils - Isis: goddess of medicine and peace, Im-Hotep: real person turned deity, patron of wisdom and medicine
Thunder/hail - Nut: Sky goddess, Shu: god of air; associated with calm or cooling
Locusts - Senehem: possibly locust-headed, god of protection from ravages of pests
Darkness - Ra or Amon-Ra: god of the sun
Death of the firstborn - Anubis: god of the dead and embalming;

What about the ten personality disorders? Am I suggesting that Avoidant Personality Disorder or Schitzotypal Personality Disorder represent false gods and not merely psychiatric conditions? Yes. That's exactly what I'm suggesting.

Note the three clusters again. Cluster A disorders, characterized by oddity and eccentricity, are actually indications of erroneous belief patterns about ourselves and others. I call them Cognitive Distortions. Ultimately, these false belief patterns indicate that God is not on the throne of our lives. That we are. This is the case for each of the other disorders as well.

The imbalance I described above is one of the evidences of this. It's so easy for us to talk about “balance”--a person is mentally balanced or emotionally balanced. But rarely do people explain how that can happen. If something is going to remain balanced it has to be balanced around something. A wheel can be in balance but that means it isn't wobbling and that's because it is in perfect alignment to the hub.

See, that's the problem with personality. It isn't just aligned to itself. God intended that it be aligned to him. The only way a person can stay mentally and emotionally balanced is when he or she is “spinning” through life in harmony with God himself. Failure to do so is the reason for all our problems.

Now, this sounds harsh and insensitive I know: to suggest that someone with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or Histrionic Personality Disorder is not just “sick” but is worshipping a false god does not go over very well in modern clinical evaluation. However, I will firmly maintain that this is true. And I will also argue that the “bigger purpose” of such afflictions is, like it was in Egypt, to give God a stage on which to demonstrate his sovereign power.

See God's Deliverance

Why would God allow someone to suffer with a mental affliction? The same reason he allowed the Egyptians to suffer: to reveal to them his strength. And by the way, I would say the same thing of any affliction—including cancer or divorce. God's design in every weakness and tragedy in this life is to point us away from ourselves and to him. He intends to show the impotence of the gods of this world—including those of our own personality. Unfortunately, most of us react to suffering like the Egyptians did. We beg “God” for mercy but then, when he grants it, we once again harden our hearts.

I have considerable compassion for those who suffer various personality disorders. I have devoted my life to helping them. But seeing their situation against the backdrop of the plagues of Egypt helps me appreciate what they really need. They don't just need sympathy. They don't even just need therapy. They need a radical transformation of their hearts—something only God can do. I know they can often find short term relief without God—just as some of those Egyptians no doubt found ways to avoid some of their discomfort. But without God those strategies were only temporary. God alone provides the ultimate cure.