When Ignorance Births Scandal

Before I launch into this post, let me say this: as long as Christians continue to be human, there will always be scandals. Some scandals are, indeed, scandalous. TV evangelists will have affairs, commit fraud, steal money, hire prostitutes. Sometimes, however, scandals erupt not because of outwardly evil deeds, but out of an abundance of ignorance.

Let's tackle the second kind of scandal - the kind born of ignorance.
Now, this particular topic is not new, though I am just learning of it this week. It is a topic of great importance to me because I deal with mental illness on a daily basis. The Mercy Ministries Australia home for girls in Sydney is shutting down reportedly due to lack of funds and decreasing public support. However, it has also come to light that some of the tactics used to "treat" girls in the program - girls with eating disorders, sexual abuse issues, and severe mental illness - were quite cruel.

I am unabashedly a pentecostal believer. If you're a Catholic or a Presbyterian, coming to my church would probably land you in the ER with heart palpitations. No, we don't wrestle snakes and people don't knock each other in Jesus' name every Sunday morning, but we get our worship on with a rock praise & worship band, dancing, shouting, words of prophecy, sometimes speaking in tongues. It took the Mormon child in me a while to get used to it, but now I'm on board. So I fully believe in demonic oppression and spiritual warfare. When you're overloaded with blessings, you come to realize it can't be a coincidence. Likewise, when you're struck over the head with bad news over and over again like a 2x4, you also start to realize... hmm, this isn't a coincidence, either. If you believe in good, you have to believe in evil, and vice versa.

The problem is that a lot of Christians (not just the pentecostals) believe that any kind of mental and/or emotional issue is strictly a work of the enemy, nothing more than a spiritual flaw. I will not argue that there IS a demonic element to some of these issues. Take, for example, a woman who was sexually abused as a child who is struggling through life, just trying to survive. Her heart is enrobed in emotional turmoil - relationship problems, low self-esteem, body issues, sexual dysfunction, etc. Maybe she's anorexic or bulimic, or she cuts herself or has attempted suicide.

No one could ever convince me that these are not, in some way, spiritual issues. God created us to have mutually fulfilling relationships; to have confidence in ourselves based on the knowledge that we are created in His image and that if HE is for us, no one can be against us; to love our bodies for the same reason, and to enjoy a rich sexual life within the biblical mandate of marriage. In other words, WE WERE CREATED TO HAVE ABUNDANT LIFE. I know from personal experience that sexual abuse teaches you to believe just about every lie the devil could ever come up with. You believe it was your fault, that there is something deeply wrong with you, that you are not entitled to anything good... the list goes on and on. Abuse teaches you to believe THE EXACT OPPOSITE of what the TRUTH is.

These are lessons that survivors must un-learn in order to live the abundant life God intended for them. They must re-learn who they are, and study who God meant them to be. And, yes, I have seen extreme tactics such as casting out demons work on people. I am not opposed to the idea.

The problem is, we are wrong in assuming that there is no physical element involved. Staying on the topic of child abuse (since it is an excellent example), studies have shown that abuse can directly impact the PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE HUMAN BRAIN. When I worked with teenagers and their babies at a group home some years ago, I went through training to learn about the impact a troubled upbringing or neglect can have on developing brains. It can literally define how the frontal lobe develops.

WE are the ones in need of spiritual intervention when we neglect the physical health and well-being of others, denying them proper medical and psychological treatment, and instead focus on patients as a spiritual 'project.' As a Bipolar Disorder sufferer, I have had my share of well-meaning Christians say to me, in the mist of a depressive cycle, "Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying? Do you have some unresolved sin in your life?" All of these are valid questions that SHOULD be asked. However, often, when I mention medication or counseling, it becomes very evident that the person I'm talking to barely believes those issues are involved at all. As if a brain's chemical composition couldn't possibly be out-of-whack, or a chunk of my thinker couldn't possibly be damaged or malfunctioning. As if everyone with a mental illness isn't really ill, they're just great big, lazy sinners. As if, deep down, our only "problem" is that we don't pray hard enough, seek God enough, or believe fully. Which is entertaining if you think about it, considering NO ONE does any of those things "enough." It's like saying that someone with diabetes is actually being attacked by Satan for only spending 15 minutes in worship last night, or someone with breast cancer has a tumor because they missed church too often last year.

Sometimes, our physical ailments ARE the result of spiritual lack. Does it happen? Of course. The Bible is full of examples of it. Other times... more often than most of us believers want to admit... it is not a punishment for being spiritually inept. Sometimes - for reasons I will never, ever comprehend - God ALLOWS us to suffer because He will somehow be glorified through it, and/or because He wants us to grow as people because of the experience. That's right, chew on that for a bit - sometimes, God allows us to get sick. Look at the example of Job. He was a devoted servant of God who never gave up his faith, and yet God took everything from him. It had nothing to do with him being "bad" and deserving it. And more often than not, God gives us either a remedy or a way to make it easier to endure.

And when God gives us His wisdom and healing power in the form of a wise counselor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or medication, we need to take stock of OURSELVES if we turn it away.

1 Corinthians 15:34 says it all:

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

We are both body and soul, as God created us to be.
We are unwise and in need of spiritual inventory when we refuse to acknowledge and treat the entire package. Pin It