Preface and Disclaimer

This author believes, that after knowing many pastors over the many years of being a Christian, along with the problems being encountered in Churches, this is an area that

• Pastors and other Church paid and volunteer position receive no basic training necessities.
• Congregations in a Church can become hurt, victimized and even perpetuate a problem in a person with a Psychological Disorder (PD). 

This topic is not about the methods or solutions in dealing with anyone with a PD.  It about exposing the reality and absolute need for those who are Pastors, Leaders in Christian roles and even for the common Christian to recognize the traits and problems so that time, efforts, money and the well-being of others is not sacrificed along with handling a problem person correctly. 

Summary

A Psychological Disorder (PD), which also can be called a mental illness, is defined as thinking processes that is rigid and contains unhealthy patterns of thinking, functioning and behaving.  The problems with PDs is they may be

• Continuous,
• Persistent,
• Spontaneous without explanation, or
• Dormant but will resurface. 

PDs can be mild or very dominate. The partial list of PDs, shown below, does not contain all the types of PDs.  This is a list of some of the most problematic disorders that will affect the well-being of:

• The person who has a PD,
• A marriage with someone who has a PD,
• A Christian Fellowship,
• A Church, and
• The day-to-day social interaction between everyone and a person with a PD. 

Leaders in a Church should have some training in recognizing and understanding PDs.  This can be very vital on how to deal with the problems and when to refer someone to get professional assistance. 

Encouragement, Training and Help

There are many programs and classes that are offered online and with educational systems to help anyone who may have psychological issues, stress or unresolved problems in their lives that do not rise to the level of a PD.  These programs can also be a great resource for everyone. 

Many of us are familiar with self-help and motivational video and audio presentations.  Many companies require employees to attend classes on recognizing personality traits, with people that do not have PDs, to help in communication.  As an example, some people only want explicit instructions quickly give to them to handle a task, and others want to repeat back everything said to them to verify they understood the task.  This author remembers one very talented IT professional who always had to repeat back what was asked of him, where initially I felt was annoying until I understood it was his personality trait.

For those who have different types of PDs, there is professional programs with councilors that should be known about and utilized for a leader in a church when inevitability encountering someone who has a PD and needs help.

Incorrect Assumptions

In many Christian Denominations there is an incorrect assumption, without proper understanding, that can lead to an incorrect belief that:

1. All or some disorders are caused by Satanic influences that may be possession or oppression.
2. All or some disorders are fixable and curable by prayer only. 

Note that this author is not saying God doesn't not fix people with disorders. A person who prays and waits for a miracle on someone, who has a PD, must understand that God may not heal someone for reasons that we cannot understand.  Therefore, prayer is the starting point and other actions might be required.   Prayer is absolutely a requirement in all Christian lives where we must pray for healing and recognize that with God all things are possible. 

Causes of Psychological Disorders

The unfortunate realization that is not often recognized by most leaders in Churches and Christians are PDs, is this summary information that this author has found in research.  Note that as stated above, this author is not a trained and licensed Psychiatrist or Therapist where the reader should consult licensed professionals when dealing with someone who may have a PD.

1. Can be caused because of psychological abuse in childhood or other ages.
2. Can be caused by abandonment of a child in the first two to three years of a child's life can cause a brain to not develop completely.
3. Can be caused by the use of illicit or even prescription drugs which might/can cause PDs that are temporary, or permanently, that will damage, change or destroy the brain's neural pathways.
4. Can be caused by years of heavy alcohol consumption which might/can damage, change or destroy areas in the brain's neural pathways. 
5. Can be caused by defects in the person's DNA or chromosome abnormality which can result problems in normal brain formation. This is the most difficult and possibly impossible to be treated from a medical standpoint. 
6. Can be caused by brain injuries from any type of head trauma.  As an example, it was recently discovered that many American Football Players have developed a Degenerative Brain Disease or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) through repeated head trauma from playing the game.  CTE can cause many negative and potentially violent mood swings in those who have CTE.  One of the famous identified cases in the National Football League (NFL), was Kenny Stabler who died from colon cancer but suffered and was diagnosed with CTE. 
7. Can be caused by severe psychological drama in cases such as war where soldiers have experienced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) when returning home.
8. Can be caused by giving into one's own selfish desires for years and years can result into the consequences as described in Romans 1:28.  This is most exemplified in Movie Actors or Rock Stars who put themselves into a place in their mind that thrives on others worshipping them.  As an example, people who become "star struck" will feed into the Movie Star or Rock Stars addiction.  An additional example type are the owners and high-level management of companies who use their power wrongly.  The desire of worship by others is one of the most grievous sins which is putting oneself in a position that is similar to idol worship.

Warnings

There is the possibility, with some people that have PDs, that these people can never be cured without God physically changing them in a form of a miracle.  As pointed out above, prayer can change a person but we cannot assume that prayer or a person accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior means the problems is their brain, such as defects will be instantly remedied. 

The importance of knowing and recognizing people and their behavior patterns along with PDs will give the best information on how to help in counseling and problem solving in people's lives.  Five of the most problematic disorders, listed below in the next section can be the most difficult when:

1. Counseling a broken marriage.
2. Assisting in troubled children.
3. Discerning when to help a person or family that is in desperate financial need.
4. Allowing someone to participate in specific Church or Home Fellowship roles, positions of authority or even be allowed to enter a congregation activity.  One unfortunately common and horrible reoccurring example, seen in the news, is someone, who was part of the Church congregation, comes into a Church Service with a weapon and kills people.

Five of the Most Problematic Disorders for Christians to be Aware<

This list represents a few of the key PDs that require special management of time, effort and resources in regards to all aspects of relationships, marriages, a Church, and a Home Bible Study Fellowships.  As stated above, PDs can be mild or very dominate.  This short list with a brief summary explanation, does not represent a full assessment or explanation where the intention is to expose the Christian, the Pastor, the Councilor and the Leaders in a Church to recognizing problems in people and when to refer someone to get professional assistance.

Sociopath and Psychopath Additional Notes

1. Both Sociopaths and Psychopaths have the ability to be violent but according to many psychology sources, they are not.  This does not stop them from doing very immoral and unethical activities.
2. A Psychopathic person does not necessarily desire to be a criminal or even a Serial Killer because their disorder makes them have a fear of being caught with dreading the potential consequences.
3. Both Sociopaths and Psychopaths have the ability to lie, commit adultery, steal and murder without remorse.
4. Both Sociopaths and Psychopaths tend to be highly intelligent because of the development of mental skills to manipulate others.

More information on Serial Killers

This section of the topic is mentioned to further open the mind of Christians that we are in Fallen World, where we all are sinful, and we are fighting Satanic Forces who have made many people their emissaries.  Furthermore, this section of the topic is not about looking for Psychopaths in Church, but that we must be aware of the realities.                      

Many of us, including this author, when growing up in a good Christian based family, were unaware of the problems that many people face that can result in PDs.  We are told to not judge a person by their outward appearance where we are also led to believe that if a person goes to Church, then they must be a good person.  These two naive beliefs cannot be relied upon. 

A prime example of deception by someone going to a church and also taking leadership roles is the BTK Serial Killer Dennis Rader.  Rader was active in a Church and was secretly hiding his evil lifestyle, taunting police and killing people for 17 years.  As a possibility for many Serial Killers, which include Rader, besides their psychopath disorder, they also have high narcissistic traits were going to a Church feeds into their addiction to having attention and power. 

Some points to consider on Serial Killers which gives some light to the conclusion that the creation of Serial Killers may be blamed because of problems with the family they were raised or abandoned in, whom might even be Christians.

1. In case studies on Serial Killers, there is an abundance of information that the Serial Killer showed very definitive signs of problems at a very early age.  One example is the Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer who was discovered to be torturing and killing animals in the backyard during his youth.
2. Scans of Serial Killer's brains before death showed parts of the brain were dark or turned-off. 
3. In a few reported autopsies of the brains of some Serial Killers, after execution, showed defective or missing areas in the brain. 
4. One theory, by a Doctor who has extensively studied Serial Killers, states there is a pattern showing that Serial Killers were always abandoned from normal parental love, attention and care during the first years of their lives.  This theory continued on to explain that this is the cause of the brain not fully developing.

This author remembers my father telling me when I was a teenager in the 1970s, about babies that were dying in Eastern European orphanages right after WWII for initially unknown reasons.  What stopped the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) was a change in the care of the babies by increased time in being held, spoken to and have at least two hours of social interaction daily.  Before the realization, the infants were not getting attention because of shortage of orphanage workers and the abundance of orphaned babies and children who lost parents in the war.  This would also be a corroboration to the theory on Serial Killer informative years deficiencies causing development problems and showing that neglect of parents, who may be Christians, can have far ranging consequences.

Here are a few of hundreds of Internet sources:

https://www.medicaldaily.com/serial-killer-criminal-mind-brain-scans-374994 (if missing click here.)
https://infogram.com/a-serial-andnbspkillers-brain-vs-a-normal-brain-1go502yex816mjd     (if missing click here.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_in_the_United_States

Can People with Severe Psychological Disorders have Salvation?

There are two questions of many concerning the possibility of someone who has a PD and if that prevents them from recognizing a need for a Savior:

1. If someone does not have the mental ability to recognize their need for a Savior, such as someone with a PD, can these people have Salvation?
2. What about people who have PDs, that does not allow them to understand right and wrong, such as the extreme cases of some Serial Killers?  Can these people have Salvation? 

This author believes the answer is yes for at least some groups of PDs for the following reasons:

1. If the person dies before the Age of Accountability then there is scriptures that points to a possible Salvation.
2. There are aspects of the Age of Accountability and the areas described in this topic that points to the possibility of exclusions for many people where someone who is:
   (a) Mentally handicapped since birth,
   (b) Became mentally handicapped in the years before the Age of Accountability where they live into adulthood before dying.

When reading the research documentation, concerning a person not developing all the brain centers that give full cognitive abilities as describe above, there can be the case when someone appears to everyone as being normal, but just does not have a desire or have the realization of the need for Salvation. 

We do not know how God will handle all the situations, for those who have PDs, as there are no explicit scriptural references.  There may be inferences and discussed in the Classical Objection topic that point to the fact that there is no one deserving of Salvation, Romans 3:11-12, but that is why Jesus Christ came into the World to save us.

As an example of a PD Salvation problem, consider a child born and denied the normal loving parents where there are parts of the brain that do not develop.  We have to trust God's righteous judgment to decide if the person was ever able to discern and seek Salvation at all ages of that person's life. 

Incorrect Assumption by some Christians

The incorrect assumption by many Christians, is there are sins such as those made by severe cases of someone with a PD, that includes Serial Killers, which makes these people not able to receive Salvation.  The only sin that prevents us from being in Eternity with God is not accepting Jesus Christ as a person's Savior. 

Therefore, if a Serial Killer or anyone with a PD, does not have the cognitive abilities to accept Jesus Christ as their savior, regardless of age, then they may fall into the special circumstances for those falling under the Age of Accountability.  We will not know until we see how God reveals His Judgment at either the: Judgment Seat of Christ or Great White Throne of Judgment.

The next incorrect assumption is the thought that we are not to forgive those who harm us or kill someone that we love.  While this can be extremely difficult to do, we can look at the life of Saul, who became the Apostle Paul.  Saul participated and organized the arresting, harm and stoning of Christians, such as Stephen, in Acts 22:20.  Paul was forgiven by God, Acts 22.6-8 (forward), which is one part of the scriptures of many that is evidence of how we are to act and think.  Paul, through other scriptures passages, showed us that he had problems forgiving himself that was even at the point of being torture with sorrow, regret and desire to fix his previous deeds against Christians. 

Every one of us is guilty and not worthy of Salvation as read in Romans 3:23-26.   When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we begin a process of recognizing our faults, inadequacies and even patterns of punitive righteous consequences (suffering) in our lives that God uses for our benefit that helps us to grow in our Christian life.

In our human capacity, we may have forgiveness issues that are never able to be healed.  Perhaps the best advice that can be given is always to ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in the path of forgiveness, and secondly avoid anything that reminds ourselves of someone who caused us pain.  As an example, if you have been through a divorce and are living in the house you shared with your spouse, the best thing often is to sell the house and move to a new home where there are not the subtle things to bring back anger and sadness. 

This author does NOT get any satisfaction out of saying that in my 61 years of life, I have absolutely always seen consequences for absolutely everyone who does evil as God is not mocked.  Thank God for Grace and Mercy in all of the Christian's lives.  As a great example, see the life of King David who was forgiven of Murder and Adultery where there were very punitive consequences, and King David still saw, knew and felt the love of God in his life.  Besides consequences in our earthly lives, there is the possibilities of loss of Rewards in Heaven.

What to read next?

What is Salvation?  Is it possible to lose Salvation?  We have eternal life.  Evolution is not real.  When a Christian suffers is there benefits from it.  Rewards in heaven.  Do we Tithe?  What does the 3rd Commandment tell us?  What is Grace and Mercy?  Is there an Age of Accountability?  Is there a place of unending punishment and exile form God?