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What do you think of the counsel of Dr. Phil and his popularity today?

Dr. Phillip C. McGraw is now a phenomenon who parallels stars such as Oprah Winfrey in his popularity. Many Christians can now be heard saying, "Dr. Phil says..." The question becomes whether or not his counsel is worthy of consideration.

Pastor Betters responds:

As reformed people we hold to the doctrine of common grace. This means God can and does use truth propagated by the world to benefit the human race. That may be true of Dr. Phil's counsel at times. It appears highly unlikely Dr. Phil is an evangelical Christian since one rarely hears any mention of God from him unless it is to use God's name in vain. His counsel is rooted in a self-actualization form of modern counseling that advances this theory: problems are resolved from the inside out. This means one must be in touch with their inner self where the solutions to all problems reside. It is all about self-awareness and self-acceptance.

In his best selling book Self Matters he writes, "Every one of us, you included, has within us everything we will ever need to be, do, and have everything we will ever want or need." This is certainly a popular belief and who would not want to buy into it? This is self-absorption at its worst and many dive headlong into Dr. Phil because it sounds good and is appealing to people in trouble who are prone to blame the other guy for their pain. Is this what the scriptures teach? Absolutely not! The more we buy into such self-actualization the more selfish we become and the greater is the alienation from a Holy God Who calls us to the very opposite of self-absorption: servanthood. The next time you watch Dr. Phil hold the Bible in hand and read the following:

Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'

Romans 12:33
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Measure his counsel by these scriptural truths. It is not our responsibility to rely upon the internal God-given gifts to the exclusion of the Gift-Giver. We can only change from the inside out as we rest in the promises of God and trust in Him and in Him alone to enable us to change. To rely on self is a sure fire way to rush headlong into an emotional abyss that will inevitably lead to a second condition worse off than the first. Do not get caught up in the glitz and personality of the latest fad. Christians are very prone to easy fix recipes. There are no shortcuts to holiness. If the underlying premise is flawed so is the counsel.

In His Grip,
Dr. Chuck Betters

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