Mental illness is a hot-button topic in today's society. Some say mental illness does not exist and that those who claim to have mental illness are just making an excuse for laziness. On the other hand, some claim mental illness is the cause of every evil action that one does. Both of these views are wrong and do nothing but promote the stigma against mental illness. The Church is no better in this regard. The Church has been on the wrong side of this issue throughout history. In the medieval days, Christians believed that mental illness was demonic and the answer was an exorcism; some Christians even believe this today. Most Christians in these modern times merely ignore mental illness because they think that by ignoring this issue it will naturally diminish. In this blog, I shall give three reasons why the Church should not only care about mental health issues but also why the Church should work towards fighting against the stigma of mental illness. The purpose of this blog is not to demean my Christian brothers and sisters who are not ready to engage with the mental health community, but I am to exhort them to at least care for those who suffer from mental illnesses. My hope is that after you read this blog you will walk away with a renewed interest in at least learning about mental illness because it could save the life of one of your loved ones.
The top three reasons why I believe that mental illness should be cared for within the Church are the following:
1) Mental illness is very common
2) Jesus Christ tells us to care for the "least of these"
3) We are called to love our neighbor
I will elaborate on each of these three points, but first I'd like to say that these are not the only three points for why we should care for the mentally ill. There are a plethora of reasons but for the sake of this blog, these are the main points I am choosing to focus on. If you can think of any more reasons, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Mental illness is very common
According to the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI), over 20% of the population suffers from a clinical mental illness and some estimates say that it is well over 50%. This means that about 20-50% of the population suffers from a mental illness. This would mean that mental illness affects people within your very church congregation! For this reason, we should care for those within our church walls who struggle with mental illness because we are called to carry one another's burdens. The sad reality is that many people within churches who deal with mental illnesses are suffering in silence because they do not know who to talk to. We need to do better as the Body of Christ in this regard because it is unfortunate that the world is doing much more for the mentally ill among us than we are currently doing.
Jesus Christ tells us to care for the "least of these"
In Matthew 25:31-46 we read Jesus' parable of the Final Judgement. In this parable the Great King separates the sheep from the goats, He then turns to the sheep and commends them for feeding Him when He was hungry, clothing Him when He was naked, visiting Him when He was sick or in prison, and much more. The sheep then turn to Him and ask Him when they do all these things. Then, in verse 40, The King says something truly remarkable. He says the following,
"Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of these least of these my brothers, you did it to me"
Jesus is essentially saying that whatever we do to the less fortunate among us, we are doing that action to Him. Christ so identifies Himself with the less fortunate. If Jesus cares this much for the naked, hungry, and so forth, then how much do you think He cares for those who suffer from various mental illnesses? We should take this to heart next time we see someone walking the streets talking to themselves because that just might be an opportunity to show them the love of Christ.
We are called to love our neighbor
In Mark 12:31, Jesus tells us something very remarkable after telling us the first great commandment is to "love the Lord with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind". What He says next ought to make any of us feel guilty because we do not fulfill this perfectly. He says,
"The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself..."
As you can tell by this text, we are to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Loving oneself is not inherently sinful, but we should not love ourselves at the expense of others. Paul tells us elsewhere, that we should regard others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-5). If this is true for our brothers and sisters who do not deal with mental illnesses, how much MORE true is it for the ones who do deal with mental illnesses? We should always keep this in mind whenever we interact with a brother or sister who may disclose to us their own mental health struggles.
I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope that this opens your eyes to the fact that we as the Body of Christ should care for those who struggle with mental illness. We are called the Body of Christ for a reason and how do they know the love of Jesus unless we go out to them to share that love with them? I hope that you found this blog to be a blessing to you and may you go out and serve your King, May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all. Soli Deo Gloria!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
The top three reasons why I believe that mental illness should be cared for within the Church are the following:
1) Mental illness is very common
2) Jesus Christ tells us to care for the "least of these"
3) We are called to love our neighbor
I will elaborate on each of these three points, but first I'd like to say that these are not the only three points for why we should care for the mentally ill. There are a plethora of reasons but for the sake of this blog, these are the main points I am choosing to focus on. If you can think of any more reasons, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.
Mental illness is very common
According to the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI), over 20% of the population suffers from a clinical mental illness and some estimates say that it is well over 50%. This means that about 20-50% of the population suffers from a mental illness. This would mean that mental illness affects people within your very church congregation! For this reason, we should care for those within our church walls who struggle with mental illness because we are called to carry one another's burdens. The sad reality is that many people within churches who deal with mental illnesses are suffering in silence because they do not know who to talk to. We need to do better as the Body of Christ in this regard because it is unfortunate that the world is doing much more for the mentally ill among us than we are currently doing.
Jesus Christ tells us to care for the "least of these"
In Matthew 25:31-46 we read Jesus' parable of the Final Judgement. In this parable the Great King separates the sheep from the goats, He then turns to the sheep and commends them for feeding Him when He was hungry, clothing Him when He was naked, visiting Him when He was sick or in prison, and much more. The sheep then turn to Him and ask Him when they do all these things. Then, in verse 40, The King says something truly remarkable. He says the following,
"Truly, I say to you, as you did to one of these least of these my brothers, you did it to me"
Jesus is essentially saying that whatever we do to the less fortunate among us, we are doing that action to Him. Christ so identifies Himself with the less fortunate. If Jesus cares this much for the naked, hungry, and so forth, then how much do you think He cares for those who suffer from various mental illnesses? We should take this to heart next time we see someone walking the streets talking to themselves because that just might be an opportunity to show them the love of Christ.
We are called to love our neighbor
In Mark 12:31, Jesus tells us something very remarkable after telling us the first great commandment is to "love the Lord with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind". What He says next ought to make any of us feel guilty because we do not fulfill this perfectly. He says,
"The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself..."
As you can tell by this text, we are to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Loving oneself is not inherently sinful, but we should not love ourselves at the expense of others. Paul tells us elsewhere, that we should regard others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-5). If this is true for our brothers and sisters who do not deal with mental illnesses, how much MORE true is it for the ones who do deal with mental illnesses? We should always keep this in mind whenever we interact with a brother or sister who may disclose to us their own mental health struggles.
I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope that this opens your eyes to the fact that we as the Body of Christ should care for those who struggle with mental illness. We are called the Body of Christ for a reason and how do they know the love of Jesus unless we go out to them to share that love with them? I hope that you found this blog to be a blessing to you and may you go out and serve your King, May the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all. Soli Deo Gloria!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
Check out the other Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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