It's very difficult because I definitely experience scrupulosity, and at the same time, I feel like I can't necessarily trust dismissing 'shoulds' as OCD-scruples because I tend to never do what I feel I 'should' and am always trying to justify or defend just being normal.
I ignored a homeless fellow who tried to ask for something, having told myself time and again that it is ok for me to go about my day and not let myself be interrupted or feel obligated to stop to talk to the many folks with similar issues I pass daily - this feels like a scruple and I try to ignore the feeling of guilt or obligation. But then later I found someone else had started trying to help the man and involve community services, so I then stopped and helped them. The end result is I leave the whole situation worrying mainly that the fact that it later proved important to help this person means that I was wrong to dismiss as a scruple the initial feeling that I should stop and do what I didn't feel comfortable doing - and I fear that, especially since I have come to deconstruct a lot of the difficulty and anxieties of faith into feeling safer just living a more normal life and not condemning or pathologizing that.
Ah, see, I think I view recognizing these intrusive shoulds as OCD is a sort of ongoing way to manage what can't be removed, and also I think I am afraid of being back in a situation of clear rock and hard place conviction, which is sort of how I started experiencing all of this - real anxiety about real sin I wasn't willing to give up, which became too much to deal with. But I view everything as an all or nothing moral question that determines salvation or the ability to safely have any peace or enjoyment, and at the same time I think I really hold out to feel more reassurance and freedom to not be afraid and do what I feel like, and come to feel increasing desire for the good.
The fear of working through all this in bad faith and self deceiving is complicated by continuing to want to argue and question and push based on feelings whenever there is a dialogue around any of this.
Thanks Alan, I am tucking this one into my pastor folder and have certainly come across this, super helpful....
Can I change topics? Here is something I am curious about from a study that was posted recently (https://thestateoftheology.com/) and I am interested in your thoughts around one specific finding. Some of the findings are surprisingly unsurprising, but this one is surely an outlier and I know it in my own church to be true. Have you come across any resources or wise guidance on this topic? Doctrinal drivers or foundational blocks that address it? Do you know of any wordsmiths that have articulated this topic well? I know you like when folks post about the things we are interested in...
Here is the section "Is God’s Love Unconditional?"
Perhaps most surprising is the response of evangelicals to the statement “God loves all people the same way,” with 94% in agreement. More evangelicals answered this question incorrectly than the general U.S. adult population, in which 83% agreed with the statement.
95%?! perhaps the question wasn't written well or the set of respondents was funky (my skepticism gets the best of me sometimes) but it seems like something is off...
Maybe it's a good substack post? If not, I am not offended, but wanted to see what you thought about it
I mean, I would identify as an evangelical and go to a Southern Baptist church, and I would absolutely say God loves all people the same way - in fact, this feels of fundamental importance to the goodness of God. I suspect many others feel likewise, so perhaps we have very different ways of reading the question?
Not a minister, but a PCA RE, and this is extremely helpful. I've encountered this kind of scrupulosity before I knew what to call it, and your writing on this topic has been like a skeleton key that unlocked so much truth about how some people see the world and their faith.
Wow. I so identify with many of the issues brought up in this article. Thank you for your insights.
It's very difficult because I definitely experience scrupulosity, and at the same time, I feel like I can't necessarily trust dismissing 'shoulds' as OCD-scruples because I tend to never do what I feel I 'should' and am always trying to justify or defend just being normal.
I ignored a homeless fellow who tried to ask for something, having told myself time and again that it is ok for me to go about my day and not let myself be interrupted or feel obligated to stop to talk to the many folks with similar issues I pass daily - this feels like a scruple and I try to ignore the feeling of guilt or obligation. But then later I found someone else had started trying to help the man and involve community services, so I then stopped and helped them. The end result is I leave the whole situation worrying mainly that the fact that it later proved important to help this person means that I was wrong to dismiss as a scruple the initial feeling that I should stop and do what I didn't feel comfortable doing - and I fear that, especially since I have come to deconstruct a lot of the difficulty and anxieties of faith into feeling safer just living a more normal life and not condemning or pathologizing that.
This is why I think it’s important to have OCD treated, so that you can have clarity about these ethical questions with scrupulosity out of the way.
Ah, see, I think I view recognizing these intrusive shoulds as OCD is a sort of ongoing way to manage what can't be removed, and also I think I am afraid of being back in a situation of clear rock and hard place conviction, which is sort of how I started experiencing all of this - real anxiety about real sin I wasn't willing to give up, which became too much to deal with. But I view everything as an all or nothing moral question that determines salvation or the ability to safely have any peace or enjoyment, and at the same time I think I really hold out to feel more reassurance and freedom to not be afraid and do what I feel like, and come to feel increasing desire for the good.
The fear of working through all this in bad faith and self deceiving is complicated by continuing to want to argue and question and push based on feelings whenever there is a dialogue around any of this.
Thanks Alan, I am tucking this one into my pastor folder and have certainly come across this, super helpful....
Can I change topics? Here is something I am curious about from a study that was posted recently (https://thestateoftheology.com/) and I am interested in your thoughts around one specific finding. Some of the findings are surprisingly unsurprising, but this one is surely an outlier and I know it in my own church to be true. Have you come across any resources or wise guidance on this topic? Doctrinal drivers or foundational blocks that address it? Do you know of any wordsmiths that have articulated this topic well? I know you like when folks post about the things we are interested in...
Here is the section "Is God’s Love Unconditional?"
Perhaps most surprising is the response of evangelicals to the statement “God loves all people the same way,” with 94% in agreement. More evangelicals answered this question incorrectly than the general U.S. adult population, in which 83% agreed with the statement.
95%?! perhaps the question wasn't written well or the set of respondents was funky (my skepticism gets the best of me sometimes) but it seems like something is off...
Maybe it's a good substack post? If not, I am not offended, but wanted to see what you thought about it
I mean, I would identify as an evangelical and go to a Southern Baptist church, and I would absolutely say God loves all people the same way - in fact, this feels of fundamental importance to the goodness of God. I suspect many others feel likewise, so perhaps we have very different ways of reading the question?
I'll take a look!
Not a minister, but a PCA RE, and this is extremely helpful. I've encountered this kind of scrupulosity before I knew what to call it, and your writing on this topic has been like a skeleton key that unlocked so much truth about how some people see the world and their faith.