THE CHURCH'S MINISTRY TO THE MENTALLY ILL

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).

Every winter I try to do something to continue my education.  Last year I went to fire school to learn how to do prairie burns, next year, the Lord willing, I will either re tour the Holy Land or do the "seven churches in Asia" tour.  This year I did a 220 mile round trip commute each day for five days to Sioux Falls Seminary to take a class on the Church's ministry to the mentally ill.  I think this is an important subject because a lot of us are not comfortable in dealing with mental illness, yet 25% of us will deal with it in a years time.  Some of us will move in and out of it like one deals with the flu, while others mental illness will be life-long.  It is important for those who are dealing with mental illness to understand that God doesn't love them less than anyone else!

One of the things it means to live in a fallen world is that human beings have to deal with illness and body parts that get broken and do not work right.  The brain is one of those body parts.  The brain is one of the organs of the body, a very complex one, but an organ, nevertheless.  Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are a couple of examples of true mental illness that result from dysfunctional brains.  It could be said that we all suffer from mental illness, and quite probably, we do, from time to time.  For the Schizophrenic and those bipolar, though they have better days than others, they will always have to deal with their illness.  Should they be loved less?  No!  They certainly are not valued less by God; the population of Heaven will reveal that!

The Church on earth, to be true to the ministry of Christ, has to be a source of hope to the mentally ill!

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom