Edwin Leap’s piece (“What To Do with Mental Illness?”, October issue) is a great help in starting a needed conversation in the church, especially for pastors such as myself who sometimes counsel families with this problem. The conversation needs to include how biblical counseling fits into the issue. Views vary among biblical counselors, but a recent counseling case, as well as my past experience in law enforcement and with my own child who died of a fatal brain disorder, have convinced me there are brain defects that cause a change in behavior. I am not a neurologist, but our daughter’s neurologist taught us that everyone’s brain is structured slightly different. Therefore, is it possible to have a slight and unique brain defect that would not necessarily stand out on an MRI? Is it possible this defect might affect behavior?
This is not to ignore the sin issue. Scripture states, without exception, that everyone has a sin problem, even the mentally ill. How do we help someone with their spiritual struggle if they can’t even grasp or hear the counsel we give? I think of it like someone with a hearing impairment. I can share the gospel with them, but speaking it audibly won’t be effective. There has to be a compensation in place to share the gospel (writing or using sign language). In the same way, we can make accommodations for the mentally ill. This may include medications and long-term inpatient facilities (which are difficult to find in South Carolina).
However, we must also not swing that pendulum too far. The more common problem is that folks want a quick and easy solution to their depression or anxiety. It is easier to ask the doctor to prescribe a pill than deal with the underlying issue. Medications can effectively reduce the symptoms, but they do not solve the problem. In some cases, a medication might be a short-term accommodation that is needed to make counseling more effective, but if the underlying problem is not addressed, it will not lead to healing.
Assessing where spiritual issues are muddled by brain defects is very difficult, if not impossible. Thankfully, I believe brain defects are rarely the issue with most people we counsel. Yet, for a few, we need to be sensitive to this idea and be accommodating. As Leap points out, we need to come alongside those who suffer mental illness just as we do those who suffer heart disease.
— Jeff Smoak, Anderson