What Christianity Gets Wrong About Mental Illness—and What a Biblical Theology Can Redeem

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2019

⏱️ 87 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How should followers of Jesus approach mental health in a way that’s faithful, honest, and deeply human? In this vulnerable and theology-rich conversation, Mike Erre, Bonnie Lewis, and Tim Stafford unpack the complexities of mental illness through a biblical lens. Building a positive theology of mental health, they respond to a viral Christian post that stigmatized mental illness among pastors—particularly surrounding suicide and leadership in the church.

Together, the hosts challenge damaging narratives and explore how the church can become a redemptive, healing community for those navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, and spiritual struggle.

Key Takeaways:
• Theological Missteps on Mental Health – Addressing the harmful assumption that mental illness is incompatible with Christian leadership and exploring the flawed linkage between mental illness, apostasy, and doctrinal doubt.
• A Biblical Theology of Mental Health – How scripture offers robust categories for mental illness through the lenses of the imago Dei, embodiment, communal identity, and the effects of the Fall.
• Jesus and Mental Illness – What the Gospels reveal about God’s presence with the suffering and the misunderstood, and how Jesus modeled compassion and holistic healing.
• Church Culture and Vulnerability – Why the church's overemphasis on strength, certainty, and positivity needs to be replaced by embracing lament, doubt, and emotional honesty.
• Leadership and Struggle – Why brokenness doesn't disqualify leaders, but unacknowledged weakness might. The necessity of structure, accountability, and a broader definition of health in ministry.
• Restoring Belonging – Critiquing the theology of “unbelonging” that drives suffering people into isolation rather than into community, and reclaiming the church’s mandate to embody reconciliation, restoration, and grace.

Resource Highlights:
• Book: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – A key resource for understanding how trauma is experienced and stored in the body.
• Book: Finding Quiet by J.P. Moreland – A theologically rooted personal story of overcoming anxiety and finding peace through integrated care.
• Book: People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck – Explores evil's psychological and spiritual manifestations.
• Biblical Texts Referenced – Psalms (especially 6, 13, 88), Job, Lamentations, the Gospels (Jesus and healing marginalized individuals), and Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19.
• Therapeutic Approaches – Discussion of therapy modalities, including EMDR (referenced but unnamed), the effectiveness of talk therapy, and the mindful use of medication with spiritual discernment.

Engage with this vital conversation and join us in reshaping how the church thinks, talks about, and responds to mental health realities—with compassion, truth, and a commitment to wholeness.

We’d love to hear your story or thoughts as we continue pursuing this essential dialogue. Email us anytime at [email protected], and join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

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Follow Mike on Twitter: @mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford
Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody.
0:09.5	Bonnie, Tim and Mike Erie here.
0:12.6	We are, Bonnie and Tim's last name is not Erie.
0:15.0	So it's Bonnie Lewis, Tim Stafford, and Mike Erie, just to be...
0:17.8	I thought you're making an adoption announcement.
0:19.5	Well, Bonnie is old enough to be my sister as she approaches...
0:25.2	I think what you meant was young enough.
0:27.2	Okay.
0:28.3	And anyway, so welcome to the Vox podcast.
0:33.5	Thank you, as always, for tuning in.
0:35.9	Thank you for all that you do to participate.
0:40.4	And we're so very grateful to be a part of the community that's kind of grown up around this.
0:46.8	And just a caffeine update today on Tim announced prior to recording that his French press has broken and so he is not caffeinated
0:58.6	now to some of you some of you were thinking wow so tim on the rest of the episodes was caffeinated
1:05.7	um and and and and and so what's decaf Tim going to be like?
1:12.9	I don't know.
1:13.8	It's just a little slower.
1:20.6	And on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Bonnie Lewis, who, how many espressoes have you had? Four shots?
1:28.5	I've had four shots so far.
1:30.7	So far. And it is, it is 10.30 in the morning.
1:34.0	I've been up since five, though, so it's not awful. All right. So four shots,
1:40.1	average about one per hour and 15 minutes. Excellent. Excellent. That's the kind of pace. That's
	...

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