RAFT

This paper details my own journey with mental health struggles and includes information on the Mental Health Epidemic, The Church and Mental Health, and How Do We Respond When Jesus Does Not Heal?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), nearly one in five adults in the United States struggle with some form of mental illness in statistics that predate the COVID-19 Pandemic. ^[1]This number has only grown over the past two years of isolation, lockdown, and global trauma. Men, women, adolescents, and children across the globe continue to struggle as the world tries to return to normal. With an increase in the number of people who struggle, the Church must be a beacon of hope and healing.^[2]

[1] “Mental Health,” National Institute of Mental Health article Accessed March 1, 2022, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness.

[2] Quoted from original work by Dr. Hald

Scripture is clear that there is a reality of suffering as a result of the Fall.^[1] Humankind suffers from sickness and disease, not only of the body, but of the mind. When it comes to sickness of the mind, "The church allows people to suffer because we don't understand what they need and how to help them."^[2] The Church cannot continue to ignore or deny the suffering of so many. Jesus sees the suffering of His people and He calls them blessed. Galatians 6:2 demands that followers of Christ not only acknowledge the suffering of their brethren, but also carry the burden. In Romans 12:2, Paul admonishes believers to be different, transformed, changed. “Only when the Church welcomes and accepts those with mental health issues instead of ostracizing them can it become a place where the “poor in Spirit” no longer have to hide.”^{[3] [4]}

^[1] In Romans 5:12-21, Paul makes it clear that sin and death entered the world through Adam, saying in verse 18, “one trespass led to condemnation for all men…”

^[2] Amy Simpson Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 20013), 19.

^[3] Becca Marie Hald, “Mental Health and the Church: A Character Study,” Quadrum Volume 2 Issue 2 (December 2019): 100, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56b52f34044262f13e3199a5/t/5e29d4c1f7494974b2a2cec6/1579799759695/Quadrum+2.2+v2+%28final%29.pdf., 113.

[4] Quoted from original work by Dr. Hald

God intended for the Church to be a place of healing. Believers are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), not to judge others (Matt. 7:1). In fact, judgment inhibits relationship. Paul compares the Church to a body: On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor. 12:22-26, emphasis added) There is a part of the Body of Christ that is suffering. “Any living organism functions properly only when its parts are in intimate and harmonious relationship with each other and with the total organism.”11 The Church has a responsibility to change the way it responds to the suffering members of its body^.[1]

[1] Quoted from original work by Dr. Hald