March 8: Chapel on Eating Disorders
Following this morning's chapel, the three of us that make up Moodybloggers decided to write a short article a piece in reflective response.
Having a few loved ones who have struggled with eating disorders, I found myself greatly appreciative at the willingness of those involved to speak on such a taboo topic. I hope that this morning's chapel brought awareness to the many who are unfamiliar with the nature of eating disorders.
As to the content of each of the three speakers, I am also very thankful. It is on this that I would like to focus. It was identified this morning that eating disorders are a problem primarily of ideology, not of behavior. For those of us who've taken a psychology or counseling class, this is familiar.
We also heard that we should not simply tell people who struggle with the eating disorder ideology to "read their Bibles" - after all, daily devotionals are often already pursued by people who suffer. With this statement I agree, though not without a caveat.
We should beware the refutation of the statement "just read your Bible" - not because we disagree with the refutation, but because it is not enough to leave it at that. To be sure, if what we mean by "read your Bible" is to simply do one's daily devotions, we have taken so much content out of the concept of Scripture. Thinking Christianly can not be defined (or pursued) by ten minutes in the Word a day. Rather, we must exhaustively search God's revealed Word for the theme at hand. Thus our response is to recognize the ethical nature of our reaction to Scripture. God's Word says X about topic Y. Do I believe it?
"Ah ha!" you may say. "Scripture does not speak directly to eating disorders!" Of course, we've identified the issue at hand as one primarily of ideology, not of behavior. After all, if a person who struggles with an eating disorder (or self-mutilation, for another example) simply ceases the behavior, the underlying ideology that led to the behavior has not been dealt with. We can be sure that Scripture has quite a lot to say about the ideologies that may lie behind various self-harm practices.
I recognize that a collection of posts this small can not address all that needs to be addressed. They're not intended to. Instead, we desire to stimulate response and thoughtful, edifying dialog.
Again, I am thankful for this morning's chapel. I am also thankful for the ministry of Kalos and hope you will sponsor the group through your prayers and/or the purchase of the video they've made available.
A few questions for reflection:
How then as people who struggle should we look to change?
How then as members of the local church should we seek to be of service?
What does Christian counseling look like in response to this ideology?
Having a few loved ones who have struggled with eating disorders, I found myself greatly appreciative at the willingness of those involved to speak on such a taboo topic. I hope that this morning's chapel brought awareness to the many who are unfamiliar with the nature of eating disorders.
As to the content of each of the three speakers, I am also very thankful. It is on this that I would like to focus. It was identified this morning that eating disorders are a problem primarily of ideology, not of behavior. For those of us who've taken a psychology or counseling class, this is familiar.
We also heard that we should not simply tell people who struggle with the eating disorder ideology to "read their Bibles" - after all, daily devotionals are often already pursued by people who suffer. With this statement I agree, though not without a caveat.
We should beware the refutation of the statement "just read your Bible" - not because we disagree with the refutation, but because it is not enough to leave it at that. To be sure, if what we mean by "read your Bible" is to simply do one's daily devotions, we have taken so much content out of the concept of Scripture. Thinking Christianly can not be defined (or pursued) by ten minutes in the Word a day. Rather, we must exhaustively search God's revealed Word for the theme at hand. Thus our response is to recognize the ethical nature of our reaction to Scripture. God's Word says X about topic Y. Do I believe it?
"Ah ha!" you may say. "Scripture does not speak directly to eating disorders!" Of course, we've identified the issue at hand as one primarily of ideology, not of behavior. After all, if a person who struggles with an eating disorder (or self-mutilation, for another example) simply ceases the behavior, the underlying ideology that led to the behavior has not been dealt with. We can be sure that Scripture has quite a lot to say about the ideologies that may lie behind various self-harm practices.
I recognize that a collection of posts this small can not address all that needs to be addressed. They're not intended to. Instead, we desire to stimulate response and thoughtful, edifying dialog.
Again, I am thankful for this morning's chapel. I am also thankful for the ministry of Kalos and hope you will sponsor the group through your prayers and/or the purchase of the video they've made available.
A few questions for reflection:
How then as people who struggle should we look to change?
How then as members of the local church should we seek to be of service?
What does Christian counseling look like in response to this ideology?
posted by Adam Fites at 10:51 AM
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