Mental Health and the Church
I’ve always believed that our greatest ministry comes out of our greatest pain. My desire and focus has always been to help others engage people with mental illness. I believe there are 3 things to consider when dealing with mental illness:
1. Every person has dignity.
God made every single person in his image and for his purpose. Mental illness doesn’t change that truth one bit. If a person’s heart is beating right now, God has a purpose for his or her life, even if it isn’t easy to see.
Isaiah 46:3 says, “I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born” (NLT). God cares for us from the moment we are conceived to the moment we stop breathing. We don’t have dignity because of our economic status or where we live. Our dignity doesn’t come from our appearance or from psychology.
God gives us our dignity.
Psalm 139 says that God formed each of us in our mother’s womb. He saw us before we were born and scheduled every day of our lives.
You can’t imagine how much God thinks of us—and all other people on this planet, no matter how confused their minds may be.
2. We are All broken.
As we deal with people struggling with mental illness, we must remember that we live in a fallen world. We all have our own weaknesses and wounds. We have our own fears, obsessive thoughts, and compulsions. All of us have been affected by mental illnesses.
We can’t minister to those with mental illness by lording or holding our mental state over them. We’re not better than them. We are them and they are us.This means we need each other. This could be why God allows disabilities. If you didn’t have any disabilities, you would be arrogant. You’d be self-centered. You wouldn’t need anyone’s help. This is my opinion.
3. Though we are broken, we are loved and valued.
I love what God says in Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (CSB). God’s love for you and for everyone living with mental illness is unconditional and unending. God’s love isn’t fickle. It’s consistent. Our brokenness doesn’t make God love us any less. The same is true for people who are struggling with mental illness. No matter how sick people are, God still loves them. God still values them. We should, too.
I believe we’re just at the beginning of what God wants to do through the church to minister to those with mental illness. With these three truths as the core of our ministry, God can and will use the church to heal the broken and battered of this world.
