Title: Christianity and Mental Health - 4 Truths the Church Needs to Know About Mental Illness
Headings: 4 Truths People With Mental Illness Need The Church To Know
4 Truths People With Mental Illness Need The Church To Know
1. Mental illness is not a character defect or a spiritual disorder.
2. People with mental illness don’t just need prayer.
3. Mental illness doesn’t reveal a lack faith in God.
4. People with mental illness don’t need to ‘get fixed’ before they can be used by God.
Learning To Talk Openly About Mental Health
Churches need to become places where people feel welcomed to talk about mental health.

Content: Love them right where they are. Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/asiseeit
3. Mental illness doesn’t reveal a lack faith in God. Ed Stetzer notes, We can talk about diabetes and Aunt Mable’s lumbago in church—those are seen as medical conditions, but mental illness–that’s somehow seen as a lack of faith. I’ve heard pastors and teachers tell people with mental illness to, get in the Word for two weeks and their problems will go away. Mental illness has no correlation with levels of faith or spiritual maturity. Some of the greatest pastors, theologians, and founders of the faith like C.S.Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther among many others, struggled with depression and a host of other mental health disorders. Thankfully, Scripture is full of broken, hurting individuals who were passionate in their faith and powerfully used by God to accomplish His purposes. He also uses individuals today who are suffering with physical and emotional illnesses.