I Feel Like A Bad Christian If I Take Anxiety Medicine

I had a friend say this to me recently. It broke my heart.

I know talking about mental health is such a thing right now, but I’m discovering how broken our system is when it comes to this, especially in the Christian community.

This is exactly why our language matters.

When we say things like, “God is bigger than your depression”, or “trusting God more will take away your anxiety”, or “this is just a spiritual warfare issue”, what we’re actually doing is communicating that if this person knows Jesus, then anxiety or depression shouldn’t be a struggle. And if it still is a struggle, then it must mean that they’re not doing something right. They’re not trusting God enough, they’re not praying hard enough, and therefore they must be a weaker Christian.

This is dangerous because it ends up heaping so much shame upon the person struggling. A person who is already battling a lot of mental confusion and discouragement. In addition to that, it also makes them feel hopeless that they’ll ever be free from the pain and oppression that mental health can bring. Especially if they’ve already spent most of their life doing all the “right Christian things” and still have yet to experience true health and freedom.

It is much easier to identify a broken arm than a broken part of the brain.

We would never tell another believer that God is bigger than their broken arm. We would never tell them that if they trusted God more, it would heal their arm. And honestly, if this person with the broken arm just stayed home trying to pray their way through the pain, I think we might even get frustrated that they hadn’t gone to the doctor yet.

Yes, it’s true that God is bigger than mental health issues. Yes, there is spiritual warfare when it comes to mental health issues. And yes, trusting God more is something we need to do when feeling anxious. These things ARE all true. However, I hope you hear what I mean when I say that language matters very very much. And here’s why:

While these things may be true, they can’t be the ONLY thing that we’re saying. And when it comes to a more severe mental health condition, we probably shouldn’t be saying them at all.

Carlos Whittaker said it so well when I heard him say that we have our HOPE, which is Jesus. And we have our HELP, which is our medicine and doctors and therapists and all the wonderful resources the Lord has given us to heal and thrive. Both our hope and our help are from God. Both are so beautifully essential to true and complete healing.

Mental health may not be your battle. But I guarantee it’s a battle for someone very close to you. And I would love to invite you to learn as much as you can about this issue and be a part of changing the game for other struggling believers. It’s important that we encourage them to pursue true help alongside the hope.