A SYMPTOM IS NOT A DIAGNOSIS, AND FAITH IS NOT A DELUSION

“Distinguishing Biblical Christianity, Spiritual Grandiosity, and Mental Illness”

My Dear Bamidupe Soyege,

Anxiety, sadness, feelings of emptiness, fatigue, low energy, difficulty sleeping, excessive sleeping, loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, and difficulty making decisions can all occur as symptoms of clinical depression.

At one point or another in our lives, however, most of us have experienced one or more of these symptoms. Experiencing a symptom does not, by itself, mean that a person has clinical depression.

A diagnosis of major depressive disorder is generally based on the presence of at least five specified symptoms during the same two-week period, with clinically significant distress or impairment, while also considering and ruling out other possible causes.

The point is simple: possessing a particular trait or experiencing an isolated symptom is not the same thing as having a psychiatric disorder. In other words, a symptom is not a diagnosis, and a trait is not a disorder.

With that distinction established, let me address the specific issues and questions you raised. 

1. Grandiosity: Believing One Belongs to an Elite Group Chosen by a Deity for Eternal Reward

Those who have repented of their sins, placed their faith in Christ, been redeemed through the finished work of Christ, and received into the family of God are, according to Scripture, children of God.

Ephesians 1:4

“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13

“As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.”

Romans 8:29–30

“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”

Romans 8:29–30 speaks of those whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified.

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

Therefore, in the biblical sense, a true Christian belongs to a people specially called and chosen by God. He is foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and adopted into God’s family.

But none of this provides grounds for personal boasting or self-exaltation. The Christian did not earn this standing. He did not achieve it through superior spirituality, intelligence, morality, prayer, fasting, mystical experiences, or religious performance. It is entirely a work of divine grace.

That is radically different from someone claiming a uniquely privileged relationship with God unavailable to ordinary Christians.

It is one thing to say, “I am a sinner saved by grace and accepted by God because of Christ.”

It is another thing entirely to say, “I belong to a superior spiritual class. Heaven summons me for private strategy meetings. Jesus gives me exclusive briefings. Satan personally appears to me because he needs my assistance with his projects.”

Those claims are not equivalent.

The former rests upon explicit biblical teaching concerning the believer’s union with Christ. The latter consists of extraordinary personal claims that require their own evidence and should not be shielded from scrutiny merely because religious language is attached to them.

Biblical election humbles the Christian. It does not inflate his ego. The person who truly understands grace does not walk around announcing his supernatural importance. He marvels that God would save him at all.

2. In-Group Bias: Viewing Non-Believers as Inferior, Lost, or Deserving of Punishment

A Christian who regards unbelievers as inherently inferior has misunderstood the Gospel.

Christianity does not divide humanity into naturally superior Christians and naturally inferior unbelievers. Scripture places the entire human race under the same indictment.

We are all sinners. We have all rebelled against God. None of us possesses an inherent righteousness that makes us worthy of His favor.

Paul summarizes the human condition in stark terms:

Romans 3:10–17

“As the Scriptures say, ‘No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.’ ‘Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.’ ‘Snake venom drips from their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.’”

And verse 23 summarizes the matter:

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

But thank God the story does not end with Romans 3:23.

Romans 3:21–26 immediately points us to the righteousness God provides through Jesus Christ.

The Christian therefore has no grounds whatsoever for boasting. He cannot stand over the unbeliever saying:

“Look how much better I am than you.”

His confession should instead be:

“Apart from the grace of God, I stand under exactly the same condemnation.”

Salvation, according to Scripture, is not a trophy awarded to morally superior people. It is mercy extended to guilty sinners.

God, according to His sovereign purpose, determined before the foundation of the world to save a people for Himself—not because they had earned salvation or because He foresaw superior righteousness in them, but because of His grace and because of what Christ would accomplish on their behalf.

Grace, by definition, is undeserved favor.

That leaves no room for Christian arrogance.

3. Unfalsifiable Claims: Relying on Untestable Assertions of Special Status That Cannot Be Questioned by Evidence

Here again, an important distinction must be made.

A Christian may speak of possessing a special status before God only in the sense explicitly taught in Scripture: he has been forgiven, justified, adopted, reconciled to God, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

But none of this arises from some intrinsic greatness within the Christian. The Christian is simply a sinner saved by grace. His righteousness before God is not his own righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ credited to him.

Consequently, no Christian has biblical grounds for claiming an elite spiritual status over other believers—as though he possesses secret access to God, superior heavenly clearance, private revelation that places him beyond examination, or some unique position that ordinary Christians cannot enjoy.

The New Testament knows nothing of a spiritual aristocracy in which a handful of Christians enjoy VIP access to Christ while everyone else waits outside the celestial boardroom.

There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, and one body of Christ.

Extraordinary personal claims should therefore never be shielded from scrutiny merely by attaching the words “God told me” to them. Scripture repeatedly commands Christians to exercise discernment, test claims, examine teaching, and reject falsehood.

A person who habitually and repeatedly presents himself as possessing extraordinary supernatural importance may be spiritually deceived, deliberately deceptive, psychologically unwell, or something else entirely. Determining which explanation applies requires evidence and, where mental illness is genuinely suspected, assessment by a qualified mental-health professional.

4. Your Question: “Brother Akin, Do You Think Religious People Should Go for Psychiatric Evaluation?”

No.

Being religious is not, by itself, a reason for psychiatric evaluation. Nor should ordinary Christian belief be treated as evidence of mental illness simply because it involves belief in God, salvation, Heaven, miracles, or eternal life.

Psychiatric assessment becomes appropriate when a person exhibits symptoms suggesting a genuine mental-health disorder—for example, significant loss of contact with reality, severe impairment in daily functioning, dangerous behavior, extreme mood disturbance, hallucinations, delusions, or other clinically concerning symptoms.

And even then, diagnosis belongs to qualified clinicians—not theologians, critics, pastors, friends, or social-media commentators.

I would also phrase the Christian distinction this way: Christianity is not merely the performance of religious rituals or the pursuit of spiritual status. At its heart is reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ.

The Christian does not say:

“I am important enough to deserve special access to God.”

He says:

“I was guilty and undeserving, yet God showed me mercy through Christ.”

That distinction matters enormously.

There is a world of difference between confessing the biblical promises that belong to all who are in Christ and constructing an elaborate mythology in which one becomes the indispensable protagonist of cosmic events.

One is faith grounded in the shared teaching of Scripture. The other consists of extraordinary personal claims that should be examined rather than automatically believed.

And if those claims are accompanied by genuine signs of psychological distress, impaired functioning, or loss of contact with reality, then professional evaluation may certainly be appropriate.

I hope that answers your question.

Best,

Akin