This is the fourth part of my blog series where I critique John MacArthur's "Anxiety-Free Living" sermon. I must reiterate that this is not an attack on Mr. MacArthur personally. I highly respect the man for his bold stance against the culture. However, his views on mental health are dangerous to Christians who suffer from mental illnesses, as this series is proving. As Christians, we need to be careful that we are not unintentionally causing harm to the people we are preaching the Gospel to just as much as we are to make sure that the Gospel we preach is in line with the Scriptures. Also, as Christians we reserve the right to critique the teachers we feel are out of line. The purpose of this series is not to malign Mr. MacArthur but to demonstrate that not all Christians hold harmful views on mental illness. His sermons titled "Anxiety-Free Living" are based on Luke 12:22-34. In that text, Jesus is telling us that we have no reason to worry if we trust in the sovereignty of God. Jesus uses the metaphor of the birds and the lilies as examples of why we should not worry. I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. MacArthur's interpretation of this text. Where I disagree with him is his oversimplification of mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders. He pretends that it is easy for someone with an anxiety disorder to not worry or be afraid just because Jesus says so. When someone is dealing with an anxiety disorder, mere platitudes to "not be afraid" or "not worry" are pretty much-pouring salt on an open wound. Furthermore, this sort of rhetoric makes a Christian who suffers from an anxiety disorder feel like they are alone and that something is seriously wrong with them. This is why Mr. MacArthur's sermons on mental health are so dangerous.
The next part of the sermon that I'd like to address appears close to the bottom. He says the following,
And He says to His disciples, picking up after the interruption... You remember in verse 13 a man interrupted Him by telling Him He ought to say to his brother, "Give me my share of the inheritance," and Jesus gave the wonderful parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to keep everything for himself and the Lord said, "Tonight, your life will be required of you," and then Jesus said, you know, "You should lay up treasure in heaven,” you should be rich toward God and not selfish, and that's how that story ended in verse 21. And after answering that young man's plea with that parable, He resumes His teaching but He connects the two together, as verse 22 says. "For this reason I say to you...." What reason? The reason that I've just stated, verse 21, you make a choice in life as to whether you lay up treasure for yourself or are rich toward God, which is just another way to say lay up treasure in heaven, and that's how He said it in Matthew 6:19 to 21. So you make a choice. Either you are selfish and materialistic and keep everything, or you lay up treasure in heaven. That's the choice you have to make. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said you can't serve two masters. You'll love one and hate the other. You'll hold to one and despise the other. You can't serve God and money.
The next part of the sermon that I'd like to address appears close to the bottom. He says the following,
And He says to His disciples, picking up after the interruption... You remember in verse 13 a man interrupted Him by telling Him He ought to say to his brother, "Give me my share of the inheritance," and Jesus gave the wonderful parable of the rich man who built bigger barns to keep everything for himself and the Lord said, "Tonight, your life will be required of you," and then Jesus said, you know, "You should lay up treasure in heaven,” you should be rich toward God and not selfish, and that's how that story ended in verse 21. And after answering that young man's plea with that parable, He resumes His teaching but He connects the two together, as verse 22 says. "For this reason I say to you...." What reason? The reason that I've just stated, verse 21, you make a choice in life as to whether you lay up treasure for yourself or are rich toward God, which is just another way to say lay up treasure in heaven, and that's how He said it in Matthew 6:19 to 21. So you make a choice. Either you are selfish and materialistic and keep everything, or you lay up treasure in heaven. That's the choice you have to make. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said you can't serve two masters. You'll love one and hate the other. You'll hold to one and despise the other. You can't serve God and money.
The next portion of the sermon I'd like to address is two paragraphs after the last one. He says the following,
Well the answer, of course, that the Lord gives here is this, that God's going to take care of you. God's going to take care of you. God is the one who feeds the birds. God is the one who will raise the grass in the field. God is the one who knows what you need. God is the one who will give you the kingdom. You just came under the care of God. First Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care on Him, He cares for you." So if He asks you to give up everything like He did the rich young ruler, sell everything you have, give your money to the poor. Not on your life, he said. Turned around and walked away for he was very rich. And he wanted his money and he didn't want to give it away and depend on God. But on the other hand, Jesus said if you want to come after Me, Luke 9:23, you have to deny yourself. You have to lose your life. Or in the words of Matthew 13:44 to 46, you sell all to buy the pearl, you sell all to buy the treasure in the field, you abandon everything. Or in chapter 9 verses 57 and following of Luke's gospel, Jesus said, "Follow Me," and the man said, "I'll follow You wherever You go." Jesus said, "The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” If you follow Me it may cost you everything. It cost the apostles everything. They dropped their nets, dropped everything and followed Him. He said to another, "Follow Me." He said, "Wait a minute, I want to go bury my father." Remember, his father wasn't dead, he wanted to go home and get his inheritance. He wanted to follow but not until he had all the money he needed. And He said to another, "Follow Me." And he said, "I want to go home and say goodbye,” I want to collect some money from my relatives. And He said, "If you put your hand to the plow and look back, you're not fit for My kingdom."
Again, Mr. MacArthur is absolutely correct in his exegesis of this passage. As Christians, we absolutely SHOULD be willing to give up all we have, including our very lives, for the sake of the Gospel. As a matter of fact, I would say that if you are not willing to give up your very life for Jesus then you are not truly saved to begin with. The apostles readily gave up everything for Jesus just as Jesus gave up everything for us first. For this reason alone, we should be willing to do the same. So, John MacArthur and I are on the same page here. My contention with this portion of his sermon is that he is assuming that people who suffer with mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders, are not already willing to give up everything for Christ. Sure, there may be some of us who are not there yet. However, it is wrong for him to generalize all of us by assuming that if we suffer from mental illnesses we are just unwilling to give up everything for His sake. This is consistent with what he said above about us being selfish and materialistic. So, I have to give him credit for consistency in his sermon. However, I know for myself personally I am willing to give up everything for the Kingdom. My mental illness does not cause me to be unwilling. Furthermore, I know of many other Christians with mental illnesses who are also willing to do the same. So, it is highly offensive for him to insinuate that we are just unwilling to give up everything because of selfishness, especially when I can accuse him of the same thing. As the saying goes, "If you live in a glass house, do not throw stones".
This concludes this part of the blog series. Please stay tuned for Part 5.
I would like to thank you for reading this blog series and I sincerely hope that this encourages you to live for the Lord even if you have a mental illness. Do not listen to people like Mr. MacArthur who are only trying to make you feel like a second-class citizen in the Kingdom of God. I hope you enjoy this series and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
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