Good discussion among Russell Moore, Rick Warren, and Tony Rose on the church and mental health.
Pastor Rick Warren:
“Jesus cared about mind, body and spirit….The Bible says it twice in Scripture — Jesus went into every village, preaching, teaching, and healing. One third of Jesus ministry was healthcare.
He didn’t care just about getting people to heaven. He cared about the mind, the body, and the soul. We must too. We have a preaching, teaching, healing faith…. that’s why you go into any country in the world, and the first hospital and the first school were started by Christians. Because we’re a preaching, teaching, healing faith.”
Yes. The idea that somehow Christianity is only about the spirit has always been rooted in heresy. Archbishop William Temple has noted how central this phrase is to our faith — “The Word was made flesh.”
Here’s Pastor Tony Rose talking about stepping way back in time, in order to step forward (read more of Rose’s thoughts on the Puritans, depression, and melancholy in our interview here).
“Pastors hundreds of years ago used to have a natural scheme they followed when a troubled soul would come to them.
The very first thing they did was they talked with them about the Gospel in Christ…. when they felt like this guy was in love with Jesus but he’s having troubles, the first place they went was the broad category they called ‘melancholy’.”
