Your worldview is unbiblical. That’s the claim of the bestselling author of Victory over darkness (Bethany House), Dr Neil T Anderson.
The 81-year-old founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries believes Westerners are to blame for compartmentalizing life. We go to doctors for physical problems, counselors for emotional problems, and pastors for spiritual problems. Dr. Anderson’s argument is that these boundaries are more blurred than we realize. He advocates a “holistic” way of thinking, meaning that what appears to be a medical problem could perhaps be a spiritual one.
However, the former aerospace engineer wants to emphasize his respect for the medical profession. He doesn’t blame doctors when they misdiagnose patients, but he says it happens. “Taking a pill to heal your body is commendable. To take a pill to heal your soul is a shame,” he says, adding, “And God help us know the difference.”
If this sounds controversial, that’s because it is. The ministry began in 1989 and his discipleship course has been adopted by many evangelical churches in the UK, with followers praising it for helping them “break free” from depression, eating disorders, anger, fear and other problems. But freedom in Christ has also come under fire, something Anderson has no problem admitting. He knows that his books are not welcomed everywhere. But when I ask him about his legacy, he doesn’t brag about book sales (which are in the millions) or even tout his latest offering (Success in recent times). He just talks about kindness.
What was your experience with God as a child?
I went to a liberal church. I heard all the Christian stories and the moral message of the faith, but no one ever told me the truth about who I really am in Christ and what it really means to be a child of God.
How is it possible to go to church and yet not encounter this truth?
Well, the truth can’t set you free if you don’t know the truth! This has been a struggle throughout the history of the Church. I used to always behave this way [nominalism] of Catholics, but not anymore.
Now I see an awful lot of cultured evangelical Christians who sit in church every Sunday but have not engaged with God in a personal way. That’s really, really sad – spending all that time in church and missing the real thing. But it can happen. It’s been happening to me for 20 years.
What changed?
Someone invited my wife and I to the Lay Institute for Evangelism. I discovered as I was learning to share my faith that I didn’t have one! That was key. I gave my heart to Christ in the middle of that week, then went door to door that Saturday leading people to Christ. Soon after, God called me into full-time ministry.
How did freedom develop in Christ?
I eventually became a pastor, but I had people in my church who had problems that I didn’t have adequate answers for. I was leading many people to Christ, but they were struggling with the same old problems.
I was invited to teach at Talbot School of Theology [in California], but I went more as a student than a teacher. I began to realize that we are all in a spiritual battle. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12, KJV). I began to get a comprehensive answer for our people. [Separate categories] it was embedded in me from a young age – do you have a spiritual problem, a psychological problem or a physical problem? The answer, of course, is yes. I’ve been trying to find a true integration where all of this is essentially addressed and combined.
Can you give examples of how your holistic approach has helped people?
We had a person at church come to me and say, “Pastor, I have this voice in my head.” The problem is, if you share this information with a secular psychologist, they will put you on antipsychotic medication. Then the doctor might say, “Well, the voices stopped.” But that didn’t really address the problem, because if you took the medicine, the voices would come back. What if you could get rid of them entirely?
I have had the privilege of sitting with people who struggle with these things and have no peace of mind whatsoever. I helped them obey God, resist the devil [James 4:7] and leave freely. Many experience God’s peace that “passes all understanding” [Philippians 4:7, RSV]for the first time in his life.
God has brought me to the end of my resources so that I can discover his
This sounds like a spiritual problem misdiagnosed as a mental health problem. But can it work the other way around? When a pastor mistakenly tried to cast a demon out of someone who was mentally ill?
Oh, absolutely. If a pastor reveals a dissociative disorder, for example, when a different personality suddenly appears, [and] he thinks it’s a demon and tries to cast it out, it will just feel like a rejection to that person.
So how can pastors properly tell the difference?
The author of Hebrews said that we must have our senses trained to discern good and evil [5:14].
I simply help a person to submit to God and resist the devil. If there is no devil to resist, I have just helped this man submit to God. Whether the problem is 50 percent spiritual or 90 percent spiritual, it really makes no difference. If you have a truly holistic answer and a means by which you can achieve it, you are doing no harm.
Medicine is a big part of my life. Thank God for the hospital. The combination of God’s work through the hospital to bring about a healing that only a doctor can achieve and The church is the answer I’m looking for.
I experienced a full frontal spiritual attack at three o’clock in the morning every night
What doctors tell us is that most people are sick for psychosomatic reasons. The doctors I know love what I do. We have to teach [people] how they can cast their anxiety on Christ [1 Peter 5:7]and how the joy of the Lord can overcome the problems of depression.
I think I’m being as holistic as possible, but honestly, my Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” [Matthew 6:33] so why not go to church, find your freedom in Christ, and then if you still have a physical problem, go to your doctor.
Often those who speak of spiritual warfare report an “opposition” that has been thwarted. Has leading Freedom in Christ cost you personally?
When I started I wasn’t well prepared to handle the onslaught. My wife went through a period of illness of 15 months. We lost our house. And this proved to be the birth of freedom in Christ’s ministries. What God did in my life was bring me to the end of my resources so I could discover his.
Then my daughter was raped when she was 15. We don’t believe in abortion, so my first grandchild was a product of that. So yeah, we’ve been through some really tough times. It’s hard to watch your family go through this because of what you’re doing.
We don’t want to talk much about brokenness today, but it was a broken time in my life. God showed me how my self-sufficient, Norwegian, stoic farm was the greatest enemy of my sufficiency in Christ.
A person who wrote articles about me called me “the manufacturer of slavery.” People canceled conferences because they read his garbage. I couldn’t fight back. I just had to accept it because I was trying to follow the example of Christ who “when … he was reviled, [didn’t] curse in return” [1 Peter 2:23, ESV] and keep silent before my accusers. I had to trust God and honestly, he fixed it.
If you ask what gives Satan the greatest access to the Church, it is unforgiveness
Between 1990-94 I experienced a full frontal spiritual attack at three o’clock in the morning every night before starting a conference. The first time it happened I couldn’t say anything – it felt like a pressure on my chest, something grabbed my throat. I had to learn how to deal with it, obey God and resist the devil. All you have to say is, “Jesus,” and it stops.
Unforgiveness is one of the main themes that your ministry deals with. Why is it so important?
There is no more important question. If you ask what gives Satan the greatest access to the Church, it is unforgiveness.
When you forgive another person, it is the most Christ-like thing you will ever do. If you don’t forgive, you’re still addicted to that person. You wake up at night and can’t sleep because of the unfairness of the problem. Where is the justice? This is the cross. Christ died “once for all” (Romans 6:10), for my sins and yours.
To forgive another person is to release a captive and realize that you were the captive.
How optimistic are you about the state of the Church today?
I am not optimistic about the established Church in America or England, but I am much more optimistic about the Southern Hemisphere. I wrote Success in recent times because I’m very concerned that we’re losing people because they haven’t really gotten hold of the real thing. Jesus said, “When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith?” [see Luke 18:8]. Peter says, “Knowing that these things will happen, what kind of person should you be?” [see 2 Peter 3:11]. If there was ever a time to clean house, it’s now. If God came back tomorrow, would you want to have an affair? Do you want to be out of touch with other people?
I’ve always been a firm believer in not procrastinating. Get to know God. I don’t know if these are the end times or not. Everything certainly seems to be lining up that way.
Don’t be fooled. Deception is the main struggle for spiritual well-being. Therefore, if you want to know God’s perspective on this world right now, read John 17:15: “I [ask not] that you take them from the world, but keep them from the evil one”. how? “Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy word is truth” (v. 17). The church is the pillar supporting the truth. You cannot compromise what you believe or who you are.
To hear the full interview listen to Premier Christian Radio at 8pm on Saturday 12th August or download The Profile podcast
Success in recent times (Freedom in Christ) is out next month. For more information visit ficm.org.uk