Anyway, so Mr. MacArthur is basing his sermons off of Luke 12:22-34. In that text, he is rightly interpreting that text as Jesus saying that we should never worry about anything because if we truly trust in the sovereignty of God, then we wouldn't worry. Jesus uses the metaphors of the birds and lilies and how God takes care of them as examples of how God will take care of us too. As I have said in my previous blogs, I have no issue with his interpretation of this text. However, where he makes a fundamental mistake is when he trivializes certain anxiety disorders by making it seem like sufferers of these disorders should not be suffering if they truly believed certain platitudes such as "Do not worry" and "Do not be afraid". He assumes that anxiety disorders would be eliminated if people just believed the Gospel. In my previous blogs, I make the case that it is not that simple for a Christian to just let go of an anxiety disorder and how Mr. MacArthur's sermons can make real Christians who suffer from anxiety disorders, or any mental illness, feel alienated from the Body of Christ.
The next portion of his sermon that I'd like to address comes from the seventh paragraph in the sermon. There, he goes on to say the following,
Now you have to understand the promises of God and you have to understand the purposes of God to come to this worry-free, anxiety-free living. So let me help you with that. In these verses as they unfold, down all the way to verse 34, there are several points that I want to unpack for you, six of them, and they show that worry rises from a failure to understand something about God. First of all, let's look at the first one, worry is a failure to understand divine priority. Worry is a failure to understand divine priority. Let's go back to verse 22.
"And He said to His disciples, 'For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, nor for your body as to what you shall put on, for life is more than food and the body than clothing.'" That's not hard to understand and yet there are some things below the surface there that I think are going to open up a deeper understanding of this.
In this text, Mr. MacArthur repeats that anxiety is a "failure to understand divine priority". By this, he is implying that if Christians truly "understood divine priority", then their anxiety disorders would immediately disappear. He says that if a Christian understood God's sovereignty, then there is no reason for them to have an anxiety disorder. My contention with this is that this totally misunderstands anxiety disorders and what they are about. A Christian can fully trust in the sovereignty of God and fully understand "divine priority" and still struggle with OCD or Panic attacks. The fact that some Christians still deal with OCD and Panic attacks is not evidence that they do not truly trust God. In reality, a Christian can suffer from these disorders and still know that God is in control. Mr. MacArthur is setting up a false dichotomy here by implying that one can either trust God's sovereignty or suffer from anxiety disorders. The situation is a lot more nuanced than that.
The next portion of Mr. MacArthur's sermon that I'd like to address comes from the eighth section. There, 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.
First, I'd like to point out how this specific text is not even related to anxiety whatsoever. Mr. MacArthur is trying to tie it to anxiety disorders, but when you carefully read it in context, you'll see that it does not have anything to do with anxiety disorders. This specific text is solely about being materialistic instead of being rich in faith toward God. Secondly, he again makes the simple mistake of setting up a false dichotomy by saying that you either trust God and "store your riches in heaven" or you build your riches on earth. This is coming from a man whose net worth is net worth is approximately $14 million. I am not saying that to demean the man. I believe that there is nothing wrong with a Christian being rich, but it is quite hypocritical that he can say that we should not build our treasures on earth, while he is that rich currently. But, I digress. Thirdly, this section reveals even more that he has zero understanding of anxiety disorders. He is essentially saying that a Christian who suffers from OCD or Panic attacks is "Serving two masters". This is a ridiculous thing to even imply. I know of many solid Bible-believing Christians who trust in God's sovereignty and even do work to serve His kingdom, but they deal with certain anxiety disorders that cripple them. As I have already said, there is a certain nuance that Mr. MacArthur seems to be lacking in understanding. He is assuming that there are no solid Christians who suffer from anxiety disorders, which causes me to wonder how the people in his congregation feel about that. I am sure that at least half of his congregation deals with anxiety disorders or other clinical mental illnesses, so this sort of rhetoric most likely makes them feel ashamed. They may even feel like they are worthless Christians.
I will end this blog here, but please stay tuned for Part 4, which will be available shortly.
Thank you very much for being willing to read this blog and I hope that you understand that not all Christians are close-minded like Mr. MacArthur. If you are a Christian who suffers from any kind of mental illness, I want you to know that there is hope in Jesus Christ. He has suffered in every way we suffer, yet He was without sin. This means He understands the struggle we go through and He identifies with our pain. We can boldly run to Him. This does not mean that our mental illnesses will go away, but it does mean that we are being held together by His sovereign hand. 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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