Broken

It doesn’t make much sense. At least, to myself, internally. The news this past week shared the death of actor Robert Carradine. Depending on your age group you either know him as Lizzy McGuire’s dad, or the leader of the nerds in the Revenge of the Nerds movie franchise. Was it really a franchise? Not sure what makes a series of movies a franchise, but anyway. He was the leader of the nerds. It wasn’t that he passed away that caught my attention. It was that the subline of the title said he had struggled with bipolar disorder for years. That line was an immediate indicator of the nature of his death. In his 70’s and after years of fighting, he took his own life. He joined, what seems to be, a growing list of celebrities and athletes who have made the choice to end their own lives.

Robert Carradine, like all of us, lived in a broken world. His choice, along with all the others over the years, hits home to me especially. I have written plenty about my own story. I came to faith and begin following Jesus after being invited to church by the girl I called after attempting suicide. I was broken too. Still am, but by the grace of Christ I go on. Why, as a society, are we so afraid to acknowledge and recognize that we have brokenness? Even more so, why is the church so often built to push people to hide their broken areas? It is the broken who need to be connected to Jesus so much more than others. And the reality of broken people is that they know they are broken already. They don’t need you to point it out. What they need is to be brought to the true answer to the brokenness. Jesus. And, yes, people will still be broken after salvation, but learning to live in the complete grace of Jesus begins to build a foundation that counters that brokenness. As a church, you can make a difference in a world clouded by brokenness.

Mental health struggles are not sin

Things like bipolar, depression, anxiety, and all the others are not signs, or evidence, of a lack of faith, or salvation. It isn’t sin to wrestle with ending your own life. Ever. There might be a sin as a symptom, or a driver, of the struggles. But to deal with emotional trial isn’t sin. Even if you are a strong believer you may still wrestle with emotional trauma. You are full and complete in Christ, but your earthly life is still trying to catch up to your spiritual reality. How you respond, as a small group, as a church, as a pastor will make all the difference in how that person will deal with their struggle. You can condemn them and their struggle. Not with harsh words, though that happens all too often, but with silence and a lack of acknowledgement that their struggle is real. Respond with honest hope. You don’t have to know all the answers. Or, really, any answer. Unless you have actually walked the path of struggling with suicide you can’t really know what is taking place inside that person’s head. Give them affirmation that they are human. They are normal. Dealing with normal person things. Bring their struggle into the light. Monsters are rarely as scary in the light as they are in the dark. More than anything, keep pointing them to the hope they have in Christ. And, probably, most of the time you just need to shut your mouth, be quiet, and be present with them.

Broken people are special to Christ

Jesus told us that it isn’t the healthy that need a doctor but the sick. Churches are filled with people that have learned, and been taught, to keep their broken areas to themselves. But the entire Gospel of Matthew is geared towards showing that Jesus sought after the broken. The despised. The “unclean.” The outcasts. That is who Matthew was. A tax collector. We still don’t really like the tax collectors. Matthew was cut off from everything in his Jewish faith. He was rejected. He was broken. But Jesus called him to follow. And he did. Time and again Jesus stopped to interact with the broken of society. They were special to Him. They should be special to us today.

It’s a long journey

Dig in. Pack some snacks. The journey towards a place of health, especially emotional health, is a long one. It takes time. It has setbacks. It has ups and downs and everything in between. But it is worth it. And it is a fundamental mission to the people of God. The Great Commission wasn’t a call to send people through a bunch of six-week bible study classes and then ignore them. It is a call to walk through life with people. To invest in them. To stand beside them in the good and the bad. To guide them to walk in Christ. It’s long. It’s frustrating at times. It’s difficult. But we all need it. When you come to terms, like Paul, with your own brokenness you find yourself free to really help others do the same.

We cannot expect the world to act like anything other than the world. We can look at ourselves, as followers of Christ, and ask how Jesus wants us to engage the world. It is broken. And its people are broken. When they turn to the church and seek an answer they should be met with the hope of Christ, not blame or guilt. How can your church begin impacting the broken of the world?