How does mental health relate to human dignity?

While the question of how mental health relates to human dignity might not be a main talking point in the cultural conversation on mental health, it is a question that sits at the foundation of who we are as people created in the image of God. In recent years, the issue of mental health has been more widely recognized and talked about. Whereas it was stigmatized in the past—and still is in some ways—conversations within the Church are turning toward how to help those who struggle with their mental health and how our mental health affects our spiritual health. 

As an article we posted on erlc.com notes, “a report by Lifeway Research reveals that 26%  of U.S. Protestant pastors overall and 46% of pastors who are under 45 say they face mental health challenges. And more than half of the church leaders have witnessed members of their congregations suffering from conditions like depression and bipolar disorder​.” 

The Bible doesn’t shy away from mental health, though it may not be described in those terms. Biblical figures such as David (Psa. 38:4), Job (Job 3:26), Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), and Jonah (Jonah 4:3) are shown dealing with feelings of despair, anger, depression, and loneliness. And Scripture is clear that we need to bear one another’s burdens in community (Gal. 6:2) and be reminded of the hope we have in our Redeemer (Lam. 3:21). 

Today’s episode on how does mental health relate to human dignity

Our guests will address why mental health is an issue we’re talking about, how it connects to the work of the ERLC, ways it’s related to human dignity, and why it matters for Christians. You’ll hear from Brent Leatherwood, the president of the ERLC, as well as RaShan Frost, a senior fellow of the Research Institute of the ERLC and a pastor. 

Episode transcript

Narration: At the ERLC, we frequently talk about how we work to bring hope to the public square in four broad areas: life, religious liberty, marriage and family, and human dignity. The issue of mental health falls into that last category. So, what is human dignity, and how does mental health intersect with this reality? Here are Brent Leatherwood and RaShan Frost to help us connect these two concepts. 

Brent: The concept of human dignity for us is obviously pretty foundational at the ERLC. That fourth lane of human dignity is probably the largest lane. It can encompass so much. But I would say that it’s actually foundational. And that’s why it encompasses so much. It’s rooted in Scripture right at the very beginning in Genesis 1 where the Lord reveals to us that each and every person is his creation and is specifically created in his image with equal dignity and equal worth.

Brent: And we return to this in numerous conversations with lawmakers and their staff. Because there are, that attach to that reality, to that principle of the imago Dei. And lawmakers and their staff, as they’re conceptualizing policy, as they are voting on policy and implementing it, they have to understand those responsibilities to safeguard life and to ensure that the dignity of each and every individual is both protected and respected.

RaShan Well, I think there’s a lot to it. We all have inherent value, dignity, and worth that’s not ascribed by us. We don’t endow this dignity on others, but rather it’s been given by God holistically. God created us unique as individuals that even within our own dignity there is uniqueness in each person’s value and dignity, regardless of circumstance, regardless of age or cognition, regardless of your financial status, whatever, that we are all unique.

RaShan: But not only that as on the positive side of the imago Dei, but on, for lack of a better term, the negative side is that sin has impacted the entirety of the whole person and the human experience. And so the reason why we have not only physical ailments, but mental health issues, is because how sin has pervaded into the human experience, sin disorders our ultimate loves and affections, it disorders our lives in order for us to fully be who God has created us to be as image bearers. And then lastly, just as human sin impacts the entirety of the human experience, the gospel allows restoration for the entirety of the human experience that we can be redeemed.

RaShan: Our mental health, our physical health, the wholeness of the human, embodiment, can be redeemed by Christ as well. And so when we look at the idea of human dignity and mental health, it applies in understanding who we truly are as human beings. It communicates what is right about us, what is good about us, but it also communicates the brokenness within humans due to sin. And so we have to wrestle with the good world that God has created. The fact that God has created us with dignity worth, but also agency to make something of this world that he’s created, and then on top have to wrestle with the tension of what does that look like in a world marred by sin and what does it look like when it’s redeemed under the Lordship of Christ? 

Narration: The Church has made great strides when it comes to understanding the implications of being made in God’s image and human dignity. But we also have a ways to go. RaShan shares what we’ve gotten right, what we’ve gotten wrong, and how we can move forward in truth and compassion.

RaShan: I think what we’ve done right is we’re in a place where we do a really good job of understanding the problems that plague society. That we see them as human dignity issues that we understand at the roots of a lot of these different issues. It is about human dignity because we’re saying if we love people based on the great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we understand our neighbors have inherent value, dignity worth, we understand the problems that we’re dealing with in society that we’re seeing them as human dignity issues. I think the problem within the last couple of years is we take these issues of human dignity, and we wrap language of culture war issues, if you will. 

RaShan: The problem with war language is that those who we come in contact with, who have points of view that are different than ours, we don’t see them as people to persuade. We don’t see them as people to come alongside with, to share the fullness of the good news of Jesus. We see them as ideologues to be vanquished because the idea becomes the issue of winning and losing. And I think it’s a reminder for us as believers that our job is to be salt and light. And we understand that if we’re salting light because we’re proclaiming the good news of Jesus, and we’re living out this message of restoration and reconciliation anywhere that the curse of sin is found, then we understand that the brokenness by which people view the world comes from the brokenness of sin. And people are trying to have a vision of what the good life looks like, but their hearts and minds are darkened by sin.

RaShan: And so our job is to model and demonstrate loving our neighbor as ourselves means that the people that we have some of the most intense disagreements with are still made in the image of God. Human dignity says, you know what, let me come alongside with you. Let me walk with you. Let me talk with you. Let’s dialogue through this so that we can show the beauty of the gospel. That the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome as Paul told Timothy me, but gentle, able to teach patient with kindness and gentleness, understanding that the people, and I’m paraphrasing, that they may come to their senses and realize that they’ve been deceived by the enemy. And if we take that posture, and unfortunately our common public discourse is more of a combative language than one of reconciliation and restoration.

RaShan: I mean this from a missional perspective on a larger scale is part of the reason why there’s been this increased awareness of mental health. I believe part of it is as a result of the increased secularization of our society causing people to try to find transcendence outside of the gospel. Where the pastor and, and the local church was the place by which people could find their dignity and worth and value. They’re finding it in their therapists. And mind you, there’s nothing wrong with therapy. I’m one of those a Jesus and therapy. But our identity and our value and worth is rooted in Christ. And as we look at how do we deal with the brokenness within our lives practically, I would hope that as believers, we find therapists who affirm that first and foremost, because if we don’t, what ends up happening is that we’ll try to find that transcendence within them ourselves. Why? Because the Scripture says that God has placed eternity within the hearts of every person. And so one of the things that we just have to be cognizant of is that if we’re trying to find the source of all healing from within, we’re only going to feed within the truth of our own brokenness, even though it’s masked in our own wellness because it’s apart from Christ. 

Narration: The job of pastors is to help care for the spiritual health of their congregations. Yet, we have come to realize that there is a relationship between our spiritual and mental health. So, what implications does this reality have for the church and ministry? Here’s RaShan with some helpful and practical advice for pastors. 

RaShan: Well, I think that’s a question that we have to address in the fact that ministry is actually holistic. If we’re saying that sin breaks the entirety of the human experience or disrupts the entirety of the human experience, and we’re saying that Christ redeems the entirety of the human experience, then our ministry should be focused on how the whole gospel, as John Perkins refers to it, the fullness of the gospel, it impacts the fullness of the human experience. And so, we have to be intentional in talking about not only how does the good news save sinners, but how does it make broken people whole, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, and the such. And so, I would argue that not only do they intersect, but they’re intertwined if we want to do ministry. 

RaShan: I think what we’ve done well, we’re having these conversations where we weren’t having them before. I gave my life to Christ in the 90s. And even though I grew up in a Christian home, now, I, I will say this for disclosure. My mother and father are both strong believers, and my mother’s a psychologist. And so a key part of her ministry is caring for the needs of people mentally. So I would say I had an advanced track on the inside, even though, as a church, we never really discussed these things. And so, we would walk at church and we’d say, Hey, how you doing? And we have this mask on. And so I think now in the world of trauma and things, at least our brokenness are coming to the forefront that we’re forced to have this conversation.

RaShan: You cannot treat a problem unless you know the problem exists. The hard part, or the thing that we have not done as well, is that we have not done a good job of putting our words to practice. There’s a point in ministry that it is incarnation and it requires us to enter into the pain of others. And we have not done a really good job of that historically. We have oftentimes, and still do in some instances, look at mental health issues as an issue of weakness.

RaShan: Although we know that it is a result of the fall. And so I would argue that we need to do a better job of, of holistic ministry, of being able to do ministry that’s not in a dualistic mindset where we say the soul is on this side, the body’s on this side and the two are never connected. As we include mind, body, soul, the entirety of the human being, uh, I think we need to be much more intentional about doing the hard labor of life in that tension. 

Rashan We need to caution ourselves on the dualism separating our mental health and our physical health from our spiritual health. We as pastors spend so much time in discipleship in this area, but we don’t in others. The second thing is, and I think this is probably the most important as pastors, is know your capabilities in your limitations. As pastors, we want to be all things to all people, but you’re not an expert in everything. Major in what you major in and have a network. Have a community and network of believers who specialize in areas that you don’t specialize. There are times in my count where I’ve done pastoral counsel where I’m like, you know what?

Rashan Time out. This is beyond my sphere of expertise, and I know any steps we take further here might do more harm than good because I’m just operating out of an area that I’m not competent in. But I do know people who are and are experts in these areas. So I have a network of Christian psychologists, Christian counselors, Christian physicians who want to care for the whole person. And I can send them and refer them to these people. And that third thing is know where your resources are, know who your resources are. Some of us have resources right within our congregations and aren’t fully aware of them. And if we don’t have within our congregations, we may be one or two degrees removed from those different resources.

Narration: Many of us might agree with the need to take care of our mental health, but in the busyness of life, we’re not quite sure how to take the time to do that. In their roles, RaShan and Brent have thought about this and discovered practices that have been helpful for them. Here’s a peek into their routines and their advice for better investing in your mental health. 

RaShan: My mental health is important because I’ve had instances in my life where my mental health wasn’t well, it started prior to pastoral ministry. These disciplines have been so ingrained in me that they are nonnegotiables. The first thing is engaging in the spiritual disciplines. One of the things that I know is that our mental health is directly connected to our spiritual health. So what does that mean by spiritual disciplines? I mean, taking scheduled time for prayer, scheduled time in God’s word, scheduled time in silence, in solitude. So not only are we praying to talk to God, but we’re also quiet to hear from him.

RaShan: And I have found, honestly, silence and solitude to be the game changer for me to be able to detach myself from the noise. These are things I do every day. I and, and every once in a while I’ll do them for extended periods. So it might be where I get away for 24 hours.

RaShan: The other one that I’ve done is I’ve been training Brazilian jiujitsu for the last 10 years. It is important to be involved in physical exercise. For me, I get community, I get competition. I get growing and training together. It is an important aspect of my life where it’s scheduled in my appointments. 

RaShan: And, the good thing for me is it’s a place where I can also be with unbelievers. So I’m still engaging in mission, in ministry while doing things that are positive for my mental health. ’cause I’m in community., The other part is I’m in community with believers, fellow pastors, where we get together and we’re sharing our highs and lows of life. And there are opportunities where we can pray together. We can encourage one another and put language to some of the things that we are dealing with that we may not have words for, but we feel deep within our hearts. And so what I do for my own rhythms is individual and communal and missional. 

Brent: Mental health in our day and age is thankfully growing in terms of the attention that it’s getting. I hope that as the attention is growing, also our understanding of the importance of mental health is, for too long, it’s almost been stigmatized, and in many cases, ignored. 

Brent: We all have stressful seasons regardless of the role that we play. And, in those seasons where stress is heightened or even where it’s a little lower, I think it’s important to maintain certain rhythms.

Brent: So, I get up each morning early before my family and read Scripture and pray about what the word is revealing to me and how that applies to decisions I need to make or actions that I need to take. And I think that sort of basis is important for maintaining good mental health. For me personally, I prioritize my time at home, just being with family. 

Brent: And, so just making sure that every day I’m home to eat supper with my wife and children, that greatly enhances the well-being of my own mental health. And then I think something that is applicable to anyone, right? Because there might be singles out there. They don’t have a family necessarily to go home to. I think reminding yourself that you don’t have to carry burdens alone. And so that speaks to the importance of community, and in particular Christian community. So whether it is with a small group at church, or maybe a few friends, almost like a Bible reading group, where you’re just digging through the word together and holding each other accountable, or just doing events in the wider community at your church.

Brent: From individualized relationships to those larger community relationships, being in community with those folks and sharing with them what you are walking through is so vitally important for the, the well-being of our mental state. And that’s frankly, regardless of what role you have professionally or otherwise. 

Brent: Be in community with the Lord. Make that a priority. And then as you’re in community with fellow believers, fellow churchgoers, right? It’s a Galatians six model of not bearing your burdens alone. I really do believe that seeking out purposeful community, not being isolated, and not turning inward to devices, I think that’s the best kind of advice that, any leader could both follow himself or herself.

Conclusion 

Our mental health matters and greatly affects our spiritual life.  For too long, many of our brothers and sisters, and their loved ones, have been suffering silently behind closed doors, desperately in need of other Christians to come along them and help bear their burdens, all the while pointing them to the hope and help we have in our Creator. Those struggling with mental illness should find wide arms of welcome within the Church as we affirm their dignity as those made in the image of God and walk with them in the messiness of life—until we all reach the day when our faith becomes sight and our minds, bodies, and souls are fully restored to health and wholeness in Christ. 

Thanks for listening to the ERLC Podcast. Join us next time as we continue our series on mental health and the church.