Is "Family Systems" in the Bible?

So if you're following this series of posts, you might be asking, what does this idea-- this notion that a problem is not found by looking at an individual, but the family system that person came from--have to do with faith? Can you find these principles (the last 2 weeks' posts) in the Bible?

This is a great question I want to explore further, because as Christians we want all our lives to come under the lens of Scripture, right? And it's a very relevant question for Christian counselors, because the idea of meshing Christianity with psychology is a highly debated issue. There is a wide spectrum between those who see the Bible as the only text for the counselor, those who give psychology precedence over the Bible, and every view in between. So, this post is aiming at a larger question--what is the proper relationship between Christianity and Psychology? Is it OK to take cues from secular psychology? Or should my advise only come from thoughts I can substantiate with verses in the Bible?

So is "family systems" (or other "extra-biblical" counseling models) supported in the Bible? My initial stab says both yes, and no.

Yes! As far as "family systems" supports a pervasive view of the effects of the fall, it is biblical.

Family systems does not use this terminology, but I think this is exactly what it does. The more I chew on this question, the more I think that one key element has to do with how you view sin. Is the individual's sin the main problem to tackle in the counseling room? (One brand of counseling says exactly that.) I believe the Bible supports the idea that "my own individual sin" is not the whole scope of the problem. The Bible teaches that individuals sin & are responsible, but the scope of sin is much bigger than that. Individual people, whole nations, political structures, the arts, culture, ecosystems, ants, mental and emotional processes, and every institution under heaven, have been influenced by the fall. Applied to counseling, it means that I am wise to look at the individual, AND all the "fall affected" influences (like family background, personal experiences, cultural influences) that have shaped a person, in comprehensively viewing their situation.

This view doesn't make the individual less responsible for individual choices, but I feel it actually takes sin MORE seriously, seeing its all pervasive effects. Thus, if I am seeking to help someone by identifying sinful thoughts and behaviors alone, I am missing a whole scope of factors contributing to their problem. Similarly I want to add that some people's issues are not a result of their own personal sin at all, rather resulting from sins committed against them. (Strong biblical support exists for this too!) But I will also fail them if I don't eventually help them see how the sin committed against them significantly shapes the driving influences of their hearts, i.e., their own sinful patterns, whether doubt, fear, lack of faith, etc...ultimately, a lack of love for God and people.

And so back to my question-- No! From another angle, Family Systems is not in the Bible.

Neither is the law of gravity, a map of the human development process, or instructions for baking a blueberry pie. And yet, we live our lives significantly helped and shaped by these discoveries that are not found in the Bible. Non-Christians can make pretty darn good observations about human behavior and how people work (and discoveries in other areas of science, arts, culture, etc...), in a sense (though perhaps unintentionally) continuing to discover the natural laws of the universe that God put forth but did not write down.

So while we as Christians take advantage of many of these extra-biblical discoveries without thinking, we still must strive to make Scripture the lens through which we view the world. In essence, God's truth always "trumps."

These are not my polished convictions, but my honest wrestling with a challenging question. What do you have to add?? What can you affirm? What am I not thinking about; where do you disagree?

And another post I'm brewing on next... so what's the point? What's the point of counseling, especially the kind we want to call "Christian?"