"It's Ok To Have Jesus and a Therapist, Too": Mental Health and The Church

September 9, 2019. Jarrid Wilson, a pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship and a mental health advocate, took his own life.

Like many people, I found out about Jarrid's tragic death the next day on social media, which so happened to be National Suicide Prevention Day. I was in shock when I heard the news. I had followed Jarrid on Twitter for a while now and was drawn to how open he was about his struggles with mental health. It was a breath of fresh air to me.

At the same time, in my mind, I kept trying to understand, asking why? Why would someone who dedicated his whole life to sharing the love of Jesus and speaking life into others take his own? It devastated and puzzled me.

In the church and in society in general, I feel we tend to view mental health as a sign of weakness. We say to people with depression and suicidal thoughts to just "be happy" or "suck it up" as if it's easy with the push of a button. We sometimes call people who take their own life cowards or that they took the easy way out.

In reality, those who do struggle with mental illnesses, like depression and suicidal thoughts, are some of the strongest people on earth. They decide, each day, that they want to live another day, despite the battles they're facing.

Accepting Jesus isn’t an automatic cure to your struggles. Accepting Jesus means you’ll never be alone in your struggles.

We need to distigmatize mental health, especially in the church. The stigmatization of it is one reason it took me a little while to open up to people at my church about my struggle with anxiety (I wouldn't go as far as to say I have an anxiety disorder, but it stems from my struggles with stress and perfectionism) and being fed with lies upon lies from the enemy.

I didn't want to seem weak, but now I realize that in my weakness, God's strength appears.

We need to normalize mental health discussion. We freely explain our physical health to others without stigma. Why can't we do the same with mental health?

I've come across this quote from the Happy Givers NPO a few times that I feel sums up my feelings perfectly:

" It's Ok To Have Jesus And A Therapist, Too."

The presence of mental health in someone's life doesn't mean there an absence of Jesus in their life. It's a reminder that we are human and that we all have struggles.

It’s ok to have Jesus and a therapist. It’s ok to have Jesus and take antidepressants. It’s okay to admit you’re a Christian who battles mental health.

Mental illnesses don't discriminate. They don't pick and choose who to target.

Church, we need to better. We need to pray for our pastors and for each other. We are not superhuman. Be intentional. Check up on your seemingly strong and happy friends. Check up on your friends, period. We never know what's truly behind someone's smile. Just because it's not National Suicide Prevention Day, doesn't mean we should ignore mental health for the next year.

Let's normalize mental health discussion.

"Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that. "-Jarrid Wilson

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

1-800-273-8255