This is going to be a continuation of my blog series where I critique Pastor John MacArthur's sermons titled "Anxiety-Free Living". If you have not read the previous blogs, I recommend you do that before reading this. If you do not, then you will be missing some vital context. I will say once more that this is not a personal attack on Mr. MacArthur. I have a lot of respect for the man, despite my many disagreements with him. However, no Bible teacher is without error and because of this no Bible teacher is above being criticized. Since Mr. MacArthur has a huge influence on people, I believe his harmful teachings need to be exposed. That's the purpose of this blog series: expose his harmful teachings so that Christians with mental illness can know that not everyone holds to these harmful views. Mr. MacArthur bases his two sermons on Luke chapter 12:22-34. The context of that passage is Jesus telling us not to worry or be afraid because God will take care of us. Jesus uses the analogy of the birds and lilies as examples of God's sovereign care. I have no issue with Mr. MacArthur's interpretation of this text. What I disagree with him on, and what this series is making clear, is his trivialization of mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders. I will now continue to make my case here.
The portion of his sermon that I will focus on comes near the end of his sermon. He says the following,
What Jesus is saying is how desperate are you? How much do you want to be in this kingdom? If you're still holding on to money, then according to the parable of the soils, what will happen is the seed will go in, and there will be a little bit of a reaction and response, but the love of riches, the deceitfulness of riches will choke out that seed, choke out that life. In other words, salvation is for people who are desperate enough to say, "Look, I don't...I don’t care what it costs me, if You want everything I have, I'll give it. If You want nothing, that's fine, too. Whatever it is, I'll give it." And even if You don't ask, like Zacchaeus in chapter 19. The Lord gives the gospel to Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus says, "I'm going to pay back everybody I ever extorted anything from in multiples." It just came out of his heart. If you respond to the truth and you come into the kingdom, then you become His to care for. And in the words of the apostle Paul, he said this, chapter 4 of Philippians, verse 11, "I learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I've learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and suffering." What's the secret? Trusting God. Sometimes you have a lot, sometimes you have a little, but you always have enough.
I do not have any issue with Mr. MacArthur saying that it will cost us everything to follow Christ. I actually agree with him about this. Following Jesus Christ will cost us everything, sometimes even our very lives. If we are not ready to give up everything, including our lives, then we are not fit to follow Jesus. However, my contention with this portion of his sermon is that he is insinuating that people who suffer from anxiety disorders are not willing to give up everything for Jesus. What he is essentially saying is that if you suffer from an anxiety disorder, it is because you have not fully surrendered to Christ. This is a heinous thing to assume about someone. While it is true that we should give up everything for Christ, it is not true that someone with an anxiety disorder is not willing to give up everything for Christ. One can be willing to give up everything for His kingdom and yet still struggle with OCD, PTSD, or SAD. Being willing to surrender all to Christ will not necessarily cure your OCD, PTSD, and SAD. It can help you cope with your anxiety disorders, but it will not make them completely go away without medication and therapy. Also, he says that the secret to living a life of contentment is "Trusting God". That's fine and dandy. However, people with various anxiety disorders do trust God, but they still suffer from their anxiety disorder. Mr. MacArthur is essentially saying that there is something inherently wrong with these Christians, which is the same logic that faith healers use when someone is not healed by them. I know Mr. MacArthur would come against these faith healers, but here he is using the same logic as they do.
The next portion of his sermon that I'd like to address is just a couple more paragraphs. He says the following,
So if God gave you life, and He did, if God redeemed you and He did, if God has a purpose for your life and He does, then He will provide what you need to survive. So be rich toward God and you will have the promise that as you're rich toward God, He'll be lavishly rich toward you. As long as He has that unfolding plan in your life, He will sustain it. We have a life, we have a body for the purposes of God to live to His glory, to fulfill His will, to fulfill His plan and as long as that plan is operating, He will sustain us. You don't have to build bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger barns to take care of yourself, to protect yourself. Be wise, be faithful, don't be foolish, be a good steward, do some planning for the future, but you're not the one who has obligated himself to your care, God has. No need to horde so that you can survive in the future. You will be sustained by the Creator until His purpose for your life ends. He'll feed you till the very, very end. You could divest yourself of everything, everything you have, that wouldn't change God's commitment to sustain you until it's your time to enter into His heaven. So you have to understand the priority, right? And the priority is spiritual purpose. If you understand that, if you understand God's gifted you, He's called you, He's regenerated you, He's put you into His family, He's put you into a place of witness and ministry and service, and all He wants you to do is live to His glory, and He will take care of your life. Your life is not about food. Your life is not about clothing. It's not about making sure you can survive. That's God's commitment. That's the priority. And if you understand the divine priority, that is that you live and exist for the purpose of God, and God will sustain your life until that purpose is fulfilled, then you don't have to worry about it. Worry then fails to understand divine priority.
Again, on the surface what he is saying is correct. If we truly believed and trusted in God's sovereignty, there would be no need for us to worry. We do not need to build doomsday bunkers underground because we know that God will take care of us. The knowledge of God's divine providence has been one of the most comforting doctrines for me to grasp. So, I initially do not have any issue with what he is saying here. However, my issue is coming from what he is implying. He is implying that people who suffer from anxiety disorders do not properly understand God's providence. He even explicitly says "Worry then fails to understand divine priority". This is especially heinous because it causes a Christian who suffers from PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to feel like a second-class citizen in the Kingdom. Mr. MacArthur is essentially saying that these Christians are sinning by not trusting in God enough. The reality is a Christian can wholeheartedly trust in the sovereignty of God and still suffer from an anxiety disorder because trusting in God will not erase that from them. Trusting in God may work toward helping these people cope, but they will continue to suffer from anxiety disorder. I know of many very godly men and women who wholeheartedly trust in the Lord, but they still suffer from Panic attacks and GAD. Mr. MacArthur would say they are not truly Christians, but I beg to differ.
This concludes this part of the series. Please stay tuned for Part 6.
I would like to thank you very much for reading this blog series and I hope that this helps you know that if you are a Christian who suffers from mental illness you are not a second-rate Christian. God loves you because you are in Christ. Because of this fact, you can rejoice. 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
The portion of his sermon that I will focus on comes near the end of his sermon. He says the following,
What Jesus is saying is how desperate are you? How much do you want to be in this kingdom? If you're still holding on to money, then according to the parable of the soils, what will happen is the seed will go in, and there will be a little bit of a reaction and response, but the love of riches, the deceitfulness of riches will choke out that seed, choke out that life. In other words, salvation is for people who are desperate enough to say, "Look, I don't...I don’t care what it costs me, if You want everything I have, I'll give it. If You want nothing, that's fine, too. Whatever it is, I'll give it." And even if You don't ask, like Zacchaeus in chapter 19. The Lord gives the gospel to Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus says, "I'm going to pay back everybody I ever extorted anything from in multiples." It just came out of his heart. If you respond to the truth and you come into the kingdom, then you become His to care for. And in the words of the apostle Paul, he said this, chapter 4 of Philippians, verse 11, "I learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I've learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, of having abundance and suffering." What's the secret? Trusting God. Sometimes you have a lot, sometimes you have a little, but you always have enough.
I do not have any issue with Mr. MacArthur saying that it will cost us everything to follow Christ. I actually agree with him about this. Following Jesus Christ will cost us everything, sometimes even our very lives. If we are not ready to give up everything, including our lives, then we are not fit to follow Jesus. However, my contention with this portion of his sermon is that he is insinuating that people who suffer from anxiety disorders are not willing to give up everything for Jesus. What he is essentially saying is that if you suffer from an anxiety disorder, it is because you have not fully surrendered to Christ. This is a heinous thing to assume about someone. While it is true that we should give up everything for Christ, it is not true that someone with an anxiety disorder is not willing to give up everything for Christ. One can be willing to give up everything for His kingdom and yet still struggle with OCD, PTSD, or SAD. Being willing to surrender all to Christ will not necessarily cure your OCD, PTSD, and SAD. It can help you cope with your anxiety disorders, but it will not make them completely go away without medication and therapy. Also, he says that the secret to living a life of contentment is "Trusting God". That's fine and dandy. However, people with various anxiety disorders do trust God, but they still suffer from their anxiety disorder. Mr. MacArthur is essentially saying that there is something inherently wrong with these Christians, which is the same logic that faith healers use when someone is not healed by them. I know Mr. MacArthur would come against these faith healers, but here he is using the same logic as they do.
The next portion of his sermon that I'd like to address is just a couple more paragraphs. He says the following,
So if God gave you life, and He did, if God redeemed you and He did, if God has a purpose for your life and He does, then He will provide what you need to survive. So be rich toward God and you will have the promise that as you're rich toward God, He'll be lavishly rich toward you. As long as He has that unfolding plan in your life, He will sustain it. We have a life, we have a body for the purposes of God to live to His glory, to fulfill His will, to fulfill His plan and as long as that plan is operating, He will sustain us. You don't have to build bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger barns to take care of yourself, to protect yourself. Be wise, be faithful, don't be foolish, be a good steward, do some planning for the future, but you're not the one who has obligated himself to your care, God has. No need to horde so that you can survive in the future. You will be sustained by the Creator until His purpose for your life ends. He'll feed you till the very, very end. You could divest yourself of everything, everything you have, that wouldn't change God's commitment to sustain you until it's your time to enter into His heaven. So you have to understand the priority, right? And the priority is spiritual purpose. If you understand that, if you understand God's gifted you, He's called you, He's regenerated you, He's put you into His family, He's put you into a place of witness and ministry and service, and all He wants you to do is live to His glory, and He will take care of your life. Your life is not about food. Your life is not about clothing. It's not about making sure you can survive. That's God's commitment. That's the priority. And if you understand the divine priority, that is that you live and exist for the purpose of God, and God will sustain your life until that purpose is fulfilled, then you don't have to worry about it. Worry then fails to understand divine priority.
Again, on the surface what he is saying is correct. If we truly believed and trusted in God's sovereignty, there would be no need for us to worry. We do not need to build doomsday bunkers underground because we know that God will take care of us. The knowledge of God's divine providence has been one of the most comforting doctrines for me to grasp. So, I initially do not have any issue with what he is saying here. However, my issue is coming from what he is implying. He is implying that people who suffer from anxiety disorders do not properly understand God's providence. He even explicitly says "Worry then fails to understand divine priority". This is especially heinous because it causes a Christian who suffers from PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder to feel like a second-class citizen in the Kingdom. Mr. MacArthur is essentially saying that these Christians are sinning by not trusting in God enough. The reality is a Christian can wholeheartedly trust in the sovereignty of God and still suffer from an anxiety disorder because trusting in God will not erase that from them. Trusting in God may work toward helping these people cope, but they will continue to suffer from anxiety disorder. I know of many very godly men and women who wholeheartedly trust in the Lord, but they still suffer from Panic attacks and GAD. Mr. MacArthur would say they are not truly Christians, but I beg to differ.
This concludes this part of the series. Please stay tuned for Part 6.
I would like to thank you very much for reading this blog series and I hope that this helps you know that if you are a Christian who suffers from mental illness you are not a second-rate Christian. God loves you because you are in Christ. Because of this fact, you can rejoice. 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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