...Amy states it well; “Spiritualizing mental illness translates to blaming sick people for their illnesses. It also means that family members of people with mental illness also get the message that their sin and lack of faith may be the problem. It traps people into working harder and harder to achieve a level of righteousness that will justify their freedom from illness. This is not the gospel message”. This can only lead those struggling with mental illness into isolation and fear. The fear of being rejected by the church keeps them in shameful silence. Our fascination with quick fixes and wanting people to get it together in our churches leaves families exhausted from carrying the load alone isolated and in despair. Dwight L. Carlson writes in his book, “Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded”, “Most churches have their measure of success; a certain number of converts, a specified increase in giving, a ‘star’ pastor, an array of flashy programs, or the numerical growth of the congregation. When we focus on these external things, however, all too often we neglect and inadvertently hurt the wounded among us”. Churches have become obsessed with church growth and attraction. This has resulted an obsession with image - something which welcoming the mentally ill and the broken would sabotage - so we cover up our imperfections to attract the attractive. clarion-journal/clarion_journal_of_spirit/2013/07/review-of-amy-simpsons-troubled-minds-by-connie-smith-jakab.html
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 08:29:49 +0000
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