Everyone is broken.
It’s a fact of life that’s not only clear from the pages of the Bible but also from the practical reality of what we see around us and in our own lives. Our bodies are broken. Our emotions are broken. Guess what? Our minds are broken, too.
If your liver stops working, you can go to a doctor to get it fixed. If you have a broken bone, you can get it set.
We don’t look down on people who get sick. We don’t second-guess the fact that they need medicine. We don’t tell them they need to pray harder.
But what do we say to people with mental health challenges?
We’ve stigmatized mental health for far too long. But the truth is, your brain is just another organ. It’s not a sin to be sick. Your character isn’t defined by your chemistry. Your identity is not your illness.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1 in 5 Americans experiences mental illness, and nearly 10 million Americans live with a serious mental illness.
Every single one of us knows someone with a mental illness.
Yet, for some reason, the stigma surrounding mental illness is profoundly and deeply ingrained in our culture. It’s even in our churches.
Stigmatizing mental illness isn’t just unkind. It can be lethal. Many people believe they have to hide their mental illnesses from their church families, who should be loving and accepting of them. That just makes the problem worse. It leads to despair.
So what can we do about this awful stigma?
We can constantly tell the stories of how God is using people with mental illnesses.
Many of you know that my son Matthew struggled with mental illness for 27 years before he lost his battle in 2013. I received probably 35,000 letters of condolences after his passing. Honestly, it was quite overwhelming. But of all the letters I received, it wasn’t any from kings, queens, and presidents that meant the most to me. The most meaningful letters came from people Matthew led to Christ. People would tell me, “I’m going to be in heaven because your son told me about Jesus.” I remember getting those letters and then writing in my journal, “In God’s garden, even broken trees bear fruit.” If God only used perfect people, nothing would ever get done. God uses all of us in spite of our struggles. To end the stigma of mental illness, we must constantly tell the story of people with mental illnesses whom God is using. I have them in my church. You have them in yours. Let’s tell people their stories.
As leaders, we must be honest about our own mental health challenges.
We struggle with mental health just like anyone else. Becoming a leader certainly doesn’t insulate you from depression, anxiety, or any other mental health challenges. Honestly, I was depressed my entire second year as pastor of Saddleback Church. My goal wasn’t, “God, build a great church.” My goal was, “God, get me through Sunday.” But I never gave up. More importantly, God didn’t give up on me. God used that time in my life as a leader. Some of the most significant developments of my ministry at Saddleback can be traced back to that period. God never wastes a hurt. Leaders should never shy away from showing people this truth. When leaders begin to show their own frailty with mental illness—and how God has used their struggles to make them better—it’ll wipe out the stigma.
We need to provide a safe place for people to talk about their mental health challenges.
This is how Celebrate Recovery® can play a huge role in eliminating the stigma of mental illness. At Celebrate Recovery you know how to provide a safe place for people to openly share about their struggles. You do it every week. When people come to CR, they’re not identified by their habit. They identify with Jesus. The same needs to happen with mental illness. The people who come to your church with a mental illness shouldn’t be defined by it, either. In Celebrate Recovery, you have an opportunity to lead the way in providing a safe place for those with mental illness. As you model this behavior to other areas of your church, this dangerous stigma will fall.
It’s time for us to end the stigma of mental health. It’s time for the church to take the lead in helping people with mental illnesses. Jesus cared about the mental health of people. He ministered to those with mental illnesses.
If Jesus thought it was important to minister to those with mental illnesses, shouldn’t we do whatever we can to end the mental health stigma in our churches so we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community today?
How can my church help!
Amen.
Excellent!! Well said. Thank you, Pastor Rick.
I suffer from & struggle with Recurring Major Depression Disorder.
You said it perfectly. My brain is broken.
It would be so great if there was a Bible study for people with mental illness. Or a support group of some kind. It would also be great if there was Christian counseling at my church not only for those of us struggling with mental illness, but for anyone who needs Christian based counseling
Hello Lizzie,
Thank you for sharing your story.
You can find resources on Mental Health on Kay Warren’s website at http://kaywarren.com/mentalhealth/
She has some materials on Mental Health that you can purchase, recommendations of support groups, and mental health services locator.
Hope this is of help to you!
Dear pastor Warren,
Thank you so much for your encouraging words on “mental stigma”
Mathew didn’t lose the battle he won the battle through bringing people to Christ even me here in France ( through this testimony.
Praise God even when in bodily pain.
“We’ve stigmatized mental health for far too long. But the truth is, your brain is just another organ. It’s not a sin to be sick. Your character isn’t defined by your chemistry. Your identity is not your illness.”
Thank you for validating the message I have been sending in my CR as MHI Champion since the launch of the initiative at the Summit in 2016. Sometimes, I feel lonely, it seems no one wants me to talk about this topic, and their silence seems to prove this to me. But I know with all my heart, God has a purpose for me and my life, and even though their silence may sting, I will not stop saying Jesus can change your life in spite of your mental illness, and we are not victims we are survivors. He calms our souls, and our minds.
Mental illness is misunderstood
I am an active member of my Community Church in East Williston on LI, NY and have been accepted in my church as a servant of God even though I have bipolar disorder. I was balanced with medication when I was 53, (now 74.) No one in my church community, to my knowledge, looks down on me because I have a mental illness.
Brilliant loved it. I teach on Addictions and it all stems back to a hurt hangups habits. Love Christy x x xx
We lot our 30 year old son to depression leading to suicide. My husband is a Pastor and I a Nurse-Midwife. We are active in our communities working hard on removing the stigma and helping people receive help. thank you for your love and honest reflection
I have a friend who has had a tough struggle with anxiety and depression racing thoughts real bad and used to be suicidal from the depression but is not having suicidal ideations now fortunately. She has known another Christian woman for more than 20 years who is convinced that her medication is causing a lot of her problems and that if she were more active, ate more healthy, which I don’t deny would be wonderfully helpful to her but to look down on this person’s use of medication prescribed by a psychiatrist I think in large comes from this the stigma of mental illness as you were writing and in the church. also it seems that she over emphasizes the spiritual and demonic as largely responsible for being oppressed by the devil or demons. that this condition she thinks is a huge stronghold for my friend and that the devil is playing havick in her mind and body causing the anxiety and racing thoughts or worse suicidal thinking. I really would like it if people could respond to my post here what you think, do people largely think this woman’s take on my friends mental illness is accurate? or helpful? or is it just me who is wrong about this. But I’ve had to take 2 different medication since I was a young adult for schizophrenia and depression and I’m now 60 and I really believe it has given me a far better quality of life than I would have had since my thought process was disordered and the antidepressants help me feel quite a lot better. personally I believe the medications in recent times have done wonders for so many people that it seems quite unhelpful or counterproductive to suggest with better health and fitness practices one can live best when mental illnesses are real diseases that need medical treatment and not just diet, exercise, or prayer. What are your thoughts? thanks Carrie
Glad you shared…so sorry for your loss. I too suffer from depression..Bipolar Depression..I know what being depressed is like …I keep my diagnoses to myself, for fear of what people would say and think about me. I don’t want to be stereotyped. This is my cross to bear…please keep me in your prayers. ❤️
It’s important that like minded people have the opportunity to share their struggles and their triumphs.
When is the mental health initiative?
Hello Chester,
You can find upcoming “Hope for Mental Health Community” events at this link: http://kaywarren.com/upcoming-events/
These events are held monthly at Saddleback Church. Hope you can join!