Someone once told me that everyone has their own view of Jesus. One person worships the “Love Jesus”, who goes around preaching peace, love, and acceptance. Another worships the “War Jesus”, who is calling his followers to fight against anything that doesn’t align exclusively with scripture. A third worships the “Genie Jesus”, who’s only function is to give the seeker whatever they want. Though I found this to be a rather cynical observation, I couldn’t deny there was a grain of truth in their words.

Christians all share a belief in God, but sometimes our fears and insecurities can paint a false picture of who God really is. Like a compass with a broken needle, these false views can steer us away from Christ and burden us with an unhealthy faith that decays the spirit.

I believe that religion is one of the fundamental and inescapable components of the human being and also (therefore) of human society, just as are sex and family and trade and politics. All of these things can be less or more healthy depending on the overall relational and emotional healthiness of the person or of the society as a whole. I don’t agree with the New Atheists that we can make society better by eradicating religion; we might just as well try to eradicate sex. But what we can do is seek healthier forms and expressions of religion.

Unlike the stages model, spiritual health is more a spectrum than a journey. However, most of us are at least aiming for greater spiritual healthiness and wholeness; that’s a large part of what the spiritual journey is about, though some get a lot further along than others. I also believe that a mature, long-standing faith which has faced difficult questions and survived painful struggles and doubts is likely to be healthier than a young and untried faith.

However, there’s clearly a distinction between unhealthy and merely immature faith. Everyone on the spiritual journey has to go through the early stages of faith, just as everyone has to go through the early stages of human physical and psychological development. Immaturity isn’t inherently unhealthy. It becomes unhealthy when an adult remains locked in immature patterns of thinking, behaviour and relationship that belong to childhood; and the same applies in the spiritual life.

Unhealthy faith is a destructive, dangerous relationship that allows the religion, the church, the beliefs or the group, not the relationship with God, to control the person's life. It is a defective faith and has an incomplete or contaminated view of God. It is abusive and manipulative. Family and friends become insignificant compared to the need to uphold the beliefs. Unhealthy faith is used to avoid reality and responsibility.

It has nothing to do with God, and everything to do with men and women who concoct a god or faith that serves them rather than honouring God.

Harmful faith is an excuse to put off dealing with lifes pain, to "wait on God" for "direction" rather than getting on with life or to abuse one's wife because she must submit to him as if he were God. It provides a distraction through religious ritual and "religaholicism."

Faith becomes unhealthy when individuals use God or religion for profit, power, pleasure or prestige. These four ambitions are the foundation of any dependency. But they must be totally separated from faith. Each time faith is distorted or minimised because of these four ambitions people are hurt, some are killed and many are left to suffer alone after families, friends and fortunes have been lost.