Obsessiveness And God

I had a friend named Linda who, after traveling many interesting paths, came to Christ. Sometimes people would ask her why she had such an obsessive personality, and she believed that the reason for this is that this is what God wants.

I think that she may have been putting the cart before the horse. She had an obsessive personality before she became a Christian. However the idea that God wants obsessive focus is correct.

Now there are many people who think that it is wrong to be obsessive. However, as any researcher would tell you, some tasks require an obsessive focus. I have been obsessive for as long as I can remember. I had many different obsessions. My current obsession is with God. I go to church a lot, I volunteer at a Salvation Army church, and I fellowship with several Christians.

I have heard a priest say something to the effect that you can be hot for Jesus or you can be cold for Jesus, but you cannot be lukewarm for Jesus. God wants our full attention. It says in the Bible that God hates divided loyalties, and in another part of the Bible it says that you cannot serve God and mammon at the same time. Now as a father I most certainly need to make mammon. However I am willing to do so in a way that is pleasing to God. As it says in the Bible, seek ye God's righteousness first and all else will follow.

Now psychology takes a completely different view of the matter. They think that it is healthy to believe in God, but not healthy to believe in God intensely. This is in contradiction to the Bible. The Biblical God demands an intense focus. Anything else is divided loyalties.

I have an education in psychology, and I have interacted with many psychologists. Some know what they are doing and some do not. But one thing that I have found interesting is that any number of atheists have become believers in God after seeing psychologists. It appears that this is the influence of Dr. Scott Peck. He was a protestant who was a psychologist, and his influence has been a big one. Another influence that I suspect in this matter is Alcoholics Anonymous, whose founder had a religious experience and who demand that people believe in something.

One thing in which religion is vastly superior than psychology is on the matter of “sociopaths” and “narcissists.” While psychology damns these people and thinks that they can never be good, religion offers all sinners a path to redemption. As for the people of obsessive temperament, religion really is the solution. They can fixate on God and His righteousness; and as a result of that they can become righteous themselves and be a force to cultivate righteousness in others.

In India, there was a poet who was passionately in love with his wife. His wife told him that if he focused on God in the same way, he would become enlightened. The result has been a path called Bhakti Yoga. The people focus on God in love, and they become gifted with enlightenment.

So it appears valid that people with obsessive tendencies should in fact focus on God. And as they put their minds and their heart to Him completely, they would become fully people of God and be a powerful force for God in the world.