I have to admit. I have never read the book and so cannot speak to its legitimacy, but without a doubt,
the concept of The Power of Positive Thinking is a mantra in the modern church.
I’m sure you have heard it too, right? We are constantly told that our personal well-being and happiness and our future success depend upon eliminating “negative self-talk.”
“Stop telling yourself you are a loser – you are beautiful. Stop feeling guilty – you are forgiven. Quit feeling depressed – you are loved. Believe in yourself, trust your gut, visualize your future success, etc.
There is an element of truth here. Sometimes I hear these words coming out of my own mouth before I catch myself, because the concepts ring true, and have some proven worth. As this article discusses, optimism has been proven to be associated with better mental health.
But the most effective lies contain an element of the truth.
This approach to positivism is based on the subtle lie that unhappiness and failure and depression are based on how we view ourselves. When you look in the mirror, don’t see your flaws – see your uniqueness! When you look at your performance review, don’t see where you are average – see where you excel! Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Cut yourself some slack. The memes are all over the Internet reminding us that “we are special” and so we should stop feeling bad. Take a good selfie from the right angle and we all look beautiful.
But this just sounds right, you say? How can it be wrong to see the beauty and uniqueness within ourselves? Isn’t that better than always harshly criticizing our own flaws and failures?
The world rightly tells us that the view is what matters. But it lies when it tells us that we should be looking in the mirror. It doesn’t matter if we are looking at our blemishes or our beauty, the mirror reflects only ourselves.
I have two stories to use to answer that for you.
Elijah:
I Kings 19 and 20 tell the story of how Elijah, physically and emotionally spent from his victory against the supporters of the false God Baal, ran in fear for his life and was overwhelmed with feelings of gloom and loneliness.
Not once does God reprove Him for feeling lonely or scared. Not once does God tell Him “think about how awesome you are and the great victory you had.”
What did God do to help Elijah?
- He met his physical needs by providing food, water, and safety while he rested.
- He instructed Elijah to come and seek Him out.
- He promised Elijah that He would be present.
- He spoke to Him gently, after the storm was over, and gave Him a purpose.
- And He corrected Elijah’s perspective, by reminding him that HE was still at work in Israel and HE had preserved followers for Himself.
Did you follow all that? God didn’t tell Elijah to have a better “self-perspective”. He didn’t give him a pep talk or remind Elijah he was “special”. He told him to focus on God, seek Him out, serve Him, and remember that God is in control.
Certainly, when “self-talk” is wrong it must be corrected, and God did so with Elijah. Elijah said “I am alone in serving God”. And God said “No you aren’t, either.”
But how would Elijah have even heard that if he weren’t already seeking God out and listening for His voice?
And another example I KNOW you already are thinking about. When Peter walked on the water toward Jesus, as long as He kept his eyes on Jesus, he succeeded. It was when he looked at his circumstances that he failed.
And when Peter denied Christ? It was when he wasn’t focused on who Jesus was. He was focused on what Jesus enemies might do to him. But when he preached to the masses in Jerusalem with power? He was focused on who God is and the amazing power of the Holy Spirit.
So that’s the lie. The lie is that “Positive Thinking” is in any way about “thinking about oneself”. The power of positive thinking is in who were are focusing on.
Depression, fear, and loneliness happen. They are part of life and we all experience it. Sometimes, we have physical needs that cause our depression (chemical imbalances are real) and we need doctors to assist. But in all types of depression, whether minor every day or seriously debilitating, a simple “remember you are special” doesn’t work.
What works is the powerful truth that our God is powerful and in control and He wants us to seek Him out.