During those early informative years of our lives we learned how to cope, succeed, or just plain survive independently of God. Psychologists call these strategies defense mechanisms. There are potentially an infinite variety of ways and combinations that people could choose to defend themselves. Some of the more common defense mechanisms are: lying, denial, projection, fantasy, emotional insulation, regression, displacement and rationalization. Since children could feel threatened if they tell the truth, they lie to protect themselves or they blame somebody else. If they repeat this behavior for several weeks, it will become a habit, and if it persists it will become an established part of their temperament.
Defense mechanisms are similar in concept to what the Bible calls strongholds, which Paul talks about tearing down in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Strongholds are mental habit patterns of thought. They are memory traces burned into our minds over time or by the trauma of certain experiences. Some Christian groups call them flesh patterns. They represent the old nature, i.e. how I learned to live my life independently of God. A mental stronghold is like tire grooves in a dirt road that has been traveled over and over again. If one drives that way long enough, it wouldn’t even become necessary to steer the car. It would naturally follow those grooves and any attempt to steer out of them would be met with great resistance.
For instance, an inferiority complex is a stronghold. We weren’t born inferior to one another, but many began to believe that way because of the world system in which they were raised. Somebody always did better on their exams, ran faster, looked prettier, played better, had more money, a better job, a bigger house, more education, etc., etc., ad nauseam. How could one not develop some sense of inferiority in our fallen world or struggle with their identity and sense of worth?
The world has recognized that most people do not have a healthy sense of who they are, and most struggle with a poor sense of worth. Some people respond by trying to be prettier, stronger, wealthier, and more popular than anyone else. They are going to beat this fallen world system. Other people employ more humane approaches and try to build up the self-esteem of those who are beaten down by the system. Stroking one another’s egos and picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps won’t work, however. Others rebel against the system and become part of the counterculture. In the end, everyone loses in the kingdom of self-sufficiency (see Overcoming A Negative Self-Image, Regal books, 2003).
Most adult children of alcoholics have developed mental strongholds or defense mechanisms in order to survive. Suppose a father of three boys is an alcoholic. All three boys choose to respond to their father in different ways. The older boy stands up to his father and physically defends himself if he has to. The middle son chooses to accommodate his father, and the younger son runs and hides whenever his father comes home drunk. Thirty years later, the father is long gone and the three boys are now adult men. When confronted with a hostile situation, how would they respond? Chances are the older one will fight, the middle son would accommodate, and the younger son would run and hide. These are their flesh patterns.
Do we have to live that way the rest of our lives? Can these mental strongholds be torn down in Christ? Can our temperaments be transformed by the renewing of our minds? If we have been trained wrongly, can we be retrained? If we have been taught wrongly can we be taught the truth that will set us free? If we have believed a lie, can we renounce that lie and choose the truth? The answer is an emphatic yes, and that is the purpose for discipleship, preaching and teaching in our churches,
