NLP and Christianity
By Joe Donahue
There is almost always a 'knee jerk' panic when you bring up a christian reference, when it comes to counseling or modeling. If you accept the fact of 'his' place in recorded history, whether proven or not, what he said and stood for was quite amazing, given it's location in history.
You can accept him as a God figure, philosophical figure, whatever...but his example really is extraordinary. He does not take much credit, if at all, for miracles, for example, attributing them to the faith of the healed " it is your faith that healed you". When I read this with understanding, its import astounded me. Imagine... I have the power to heal myself.. through belief!
He quite depended on the person's effective behavioral practices for positive outcomes, a belief system of sharing and avoidance of replicating the past. He was very much future paced and used metaphors almost regularly. My guess is he knew direct answers do not usually work. His stories tell much in odd ways and often remind us that there are some things that we cannot control and we should carefully respect them.
It is a shame that his message ( as well as many other leader/prophets) is not believed through 'acts' by some believers, who prefer to 'know' rather than 'act'. In that vein NLP asks of us 'to act' after sensing and understanding, 'plan and expect change' and to share it with others. If there are no others what good is NLP? It is the fully sensed acceptance of the 'other' that makes NLP special.
Joe Donahue