Saddleback Church’s Kay Warren lost her son to suicide eight years ago, and since then, has devoted much of her time to raising awareness of mental health in the church through the Saddleback’s Hope for Mental Health Initiative.
Last week, she spoke about mental health at the Evangelical Press Association Christians Media Convention, and delivered this vital message.
Warren, according to the Christian Post:
“Nobody wants to be thought of as having a mental health challenge…..Mental illness is part of our body; it’s part of the physical part of our body. And when you can let people know that it’s not a sin to be sick and your church is a … safe place to bring your brokenness, then we’re beginning to remove the stigma.”
Now…. as we know, Jesus broke health stigmas left and right, and yet the Christian church (particularly the evangelical Christian church) seems to be one of the final institutions in the United States, still stigmatizing mental health.
There are plenty of reasons for this, but a particularly pernicious one is that we’ve preached a Victorious Christianity where our spiritual salvation isn’t just about spiritual salvation, but some kind of “physical-life-salvation,” about the American Dream and living “your best life now.” It’s heresy.
And it’s very difficult for Christians, struggling with depression, anxiety, OCD etc., to feel welcome in these kinds of environments and why should we?
If Christianity is defined by Victory in Life, then I’ve shown up at the wrong building.
And that’s exactly how a lot of us feel.
The Christian Post notes that a 2014 poll found 25% of Christians had either stopped attending churches or switched based on that church’s attitude towards mental health.
In his book chronicling his own battle with depression and anxiety (read our interview here), Christian philosopher J.P. Moreland wrote about delivering a guest sermon at a large California church.
During first service, he explicitly mentioned he took antidepressants and then frankly discussed the reality of depression.
Before second service, an elder pulled him aside, and strictly warned him not to speak about it again.
Moreland, of course, was never invited back.
But I’m sure that his courage changed the life of some poor travelers that morning, who might have called their doctor the next morning.
(Speaking of which, here’s a psychiatrist and therapist near you).
One final note: Warren also pushed Christian churches in another really important direction — we need to provide referrals to qualified mental health professionals in the area.
That’s absolutely critical.
Pastors have degrees of divinity, not psychiatry. They’re very different fields. We wouldn’t expect a pastor treat a knee injury.
The greatest thing a pastor can do is talk publicly about their own struggles with mental health (see some courageous examples here, here, here, and here), and refer patients to professionals.
Oh, and as a bonus, a pastor could hang up the picture below in their office.
It’s an MRI showing a key difference in the cingulo-opercular network of the brain between folks who have OCD and those who don’t (based on this study).
Imagine a Christian struggling with OCD, visiting her pastor, scanning the wall, and finding this, framed. Woohoo!
That might sound weird and completely inappropriate to alpha happy Christians.
But to me, to us, to the weary, to the “weird,” it sounds like home.
