Mental Illness in Church

Over the past 6 years I have been open with the fact that I have struggled with bouts of depression. Last week, Rick Warren, famous author and pastor from Saddleback Church, shared with the world that his son, Matthew, had committed suicide.

 Matthew struggled from birth with mental illness, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of the best doctors, medication, counselors, and prayers for healing, the pain of mental illness never subsided. 

I believe Rick and his wife Kay did their very best to help their son but in many churches mental illness is not dealt with properly. I have been involved in church work for many years and I have heard so many say that mental illness was just a lack of faith, demonic oppression, or something else. Those can be real issues, but so is mental illness-- and they are just not the same thing.

The truth is there are people in churches every week and even pastors, who struggle with depression or mental illness. Pastors are afraid to admit they are dealing with this issue because some will say they are not fit to lead their churches. However if you read the Bible you will see that lots of great leaders dealt with depression, King David, Job, Moses, Paul, Elijah, and Jeremiah, to name just a few.

Christians need to affirm the importance of medical treatment for this issue. It should be handled like any other struggle, --with love and respect for the person dealing with it.

We  need to stop trying to cover up mental illness because church should be a safe place for those who fight with depression or related things. For far too long the church has propped up the misconception that Christians are immune to issues of mental illness. 

I hope you will feel compassion for those who are hurting this week and perhaps even reach out to those you know who struggle with this battle. 

A little bit of love and compassion can go a long way. 

Do You Have That Gut Feeling?

I've discovered  if people are not on my heart, they're on my nerves.  If you don't have your kids in your heart, they get on your nerves.  If you don't have your wife in your heart, she gets on your nerves.

The reason so many relationships are crumbling is that folks are reacting to each other from their mind rather than their heart. When your wife says, "I feel depressed" listen to her; it's legitimate.  When your husband says, "I don't feel this is the right thing we ought to do." Consider what he has to say.

Heart love begins with understanding why someone feels the way they do. Ask questions and then listen. Hear the hurt, look for the problems. We need to understand the moods of the people closest to us, why they act the way they do.  If you care, you'll be aware. I’m not saying this is easy. 
Relationships can be difficult at times, I blow it all the time but I keep trying.

How do you love people who, even when you do understand them, you find them unlovable?

"God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:8 NIV) 

In Greek, (the language I struggled with so much in college), the word "affection" is the word for intestines.
In Greek society, the Greeks thought that the seat of the emotions was in your stomach, your liver, your internal organs.

So Paul was saying, "I've got a gut feeling of love for you." That is not a natural kind of love.  It is a supernatural kind of love and that's why Paul said it's not from himself, but it's the affection of Christ.  Human love wears out and dries up and dies on the vine. The only kind of love that lasts in spite of heartache and difficulty in tough circumstances is God's love.

So how do you get this kind of gut love? God's love is not something you work up.  It is something that is poured into you by the Spirit as you let Him live in you day-by-day.

Do you have a gut feeling about someone?