Monday 8 April 2013

Suicide, Mental Illness, Depression, and the Church

Here's a useful post on Depression from Justin Taylor:


Suicide, Mental Illness, Depression, and the Church:
David Murray, an unusually wise teacher and the author of Christians Get Depressed Too, addresses 7 Questions about Suicide and Christians. He writes, “As well-publicized suicides tend to increase the suicide rate quite dramatically, I thought it would be good to address seven of the questions that arise in our minds at times like this.” Here are the seven questions he answers:
  1. How common is suicide?
  2. How do I know if someone is thinking about suicide?
  3. What should I do if I’m worried someone I know is going to commit suicide?
  4. Do Christians who commit suicide go to hell?
  5. Who is to blame?
  6. What if I’m thinking of suicide myself?
  7. What can the church do to prevent suicide?
See also Ed Welch’s wise counsel on how to answer the question, “Do People Who Commit Suicide Go to Heaven?
Here is a sermon by John Piper (2007) for a young member of his church, the son of an elder, who committed suicide after a long struggle with depression.
Michael Patton writes an incredibly painful post about Matthew Warren, with no easy answers, about the torture of those who cannot clearly see the light and suffer the asphyxiation of hope.
Ed Stetzer has a piece at CNN’s religion blog on mental illness and the church, arguing the following points:
  • There are people in the pews every week—ministers, too—struggling with mental illness or depression.
  • People of faith know that God has freed them to love others, and that love extends to everyone, even (and sometimes especially) those we don’t understand.
  • Christians need to affirm the value of medical treatment for mental illness.
  • Compassion and care can go a long way in helping people know they don’t have to hide.
  • Mental illness has nothing to do with you or your family’s beliefs. It can impact anyone.
Here are some resources on battling depression and ministering to those who do:
For those in ministry, the writings by and about Charles Spurgeon on depression may be particularly valuable:

No comments: