Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

Well, ever since its inception, the church has been known for helping the poor, caring for the sick,

and reaching out to those deemed socially untouchable.

This disposition was a way of following and mimicking Jesus Christ, the founder of the church,

whose life and example challenged the social norms of the ancient world.

Christians across cultures and across centuries followed suit, especially in times of

plague and famine and natural disaster.

Eventually, this kind of behavior, which was deemed strange in the ancient world, changed it.

The modern health care system, disaster relief work, so many other charities really only exist

because of the Christian ideal, that all people have dignity, and how that was embodied by

people of faith and how they cared for others.

Now, of course, today,

health care is the purview of professionals with medical degrees and badges and disaster relief

is shared by nonprofits and government entities. Still, in both of these areas and more, Christians

continue to make an incredible difference. For example, according to a recent religious news

service article,

Christians are at the forefront of helping those with mental health struggles. New research from

New York's largest health care system has found that Christian clergy, faith leaders, and other

so-called non-specialists are often more effective than the specialist in treating and even preventing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

They've been so effective, in fact, that the organization is now recruiting more clergy in order to serve more patients who struggle with mental health issues.

This aligns with other recent findings in the field of mental health.

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