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One of the completely unexpected things that has happened to me in the years of living and ministering in an urban context is the crash-course education I’ve had with issues of mental health & mental illness. From narcissism to bi-polar disorder, from hypochondria to paranoid schizophrenia, we’ve had to learn a whole new language- a whole new world!- that the church never prepared us for. While some of these experiences have been deeply tragic, others have filled us with hope and humility.
When I was asked by Tony Campolo to write a blog post for his excellent new Red Letter Christians site, I was thrilled. I could not think of a better tale to tell than about our friendship with Jimmy, a young homeless guy who lives with us off and on.
Check it out here: “Did I Just Tweak Jesus’ Nipple?”
Tags: mental illness, Missional
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Jamie,
That story about Jimmy made me laugh out loud! I have little doubt that Jesus would have responded in precisely that way!
Mental illness is such a crippling reality. Mostly its crippling because our standard religious paradigms have little to offer us. We’re used to the western expectation that if you get your life in order and believe in Jesus you’ll have all the help you need to…well, get your life in order and believe in Jesus.
When I lived and worked in the New Orleans area I had several friends who suffered from various mental illnesses and serious chemical dependencies. Drug/alcohol abuse, clinical depression and paranoid schizophrenia were common. I was in no way the only one in our congregation that befriended and loved these folks, but still the system just didn’t know how to cope (and I honestly, in the midst of our system, I didn’t either). Some of them found a place to belong, as long as they stayed on their meds. But in the long run, churches tend to get tired of and impatient with people who continue to struggle with something after having a public “thank you Jesus” experience.
In our current context the problems are perhaps even more sinister in that they aren’t as easily identifiable. Marriage problems, corporate ladders and expectations of comfort are crippling in part because for the most part they are considered “normal.” However, those who struggle the most; who experience the most pain and find “normal” life difficult because of it, receive the same exasperated and impatient looks…too often from me. Thanks for the reminder and encouragement to continue loving those who aren’t as good at hiding their dysfunction as some of us are.
Thanks Bret. Great insights. Mental illness, like poverty, is obviously not a good thing, but the redemptive gift it can offer is more freedom from pretense. It is that pretense that blinds us from the less identifiable dynamics you mention.
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