Soul Care and The Local Church The mind is important, especially in Christianity. But the soul is more than the mind. The question I want to address this evening is how can the local church minister to the whole soul of individuals?

Why does the church exist? Worship and spiritual growth Fellowship and social support Service So, the church should be one of the best places for those with serious psychospiritual problems to get help

God’s design for the local church And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:11-16

Reasons why the church often falls short There are many good things for churches to be doing Working with people with serious psychospiritual problems is very difficult Most people feel ill-equipped to help those with serious psychospiritual problems Many churches are perfectionistic and find it difficult to be a place where such people feel welcome

Understanding perfectionism in the church God is a perfect, holy, and righteous being and his children are called to be like him (Mt 5:48) Becoming aware of our deficiencies is painful Christians promote behavior and speech codes that conform outwardly to God’s law And then we live in the illusion that we are pretty righteous and don’t have problems

Understanding perfectionism in the church These religious perceptions and social pressures make it very difficult to be honest with ourselves about our sin and limitations and share our struggles with others in the church This creates two groups in most churches: the “good Christians” and those who are “messed up”

The church’s goal To maintain the highest moral standards, with the widest embrace of brokenness and sinners, challenging ourselves to grow in both dimensions How can we do this? We can’t in ourselves But we can on the basis of the gospel and with the help of the Holy Spirit

With the Spirit’s help, how can churches become safe places for broken sinner/saints? 1. Accept deeply that only God is perfect 2. And that we can’t be perfect and we don’t have to be to be completely accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:7) 3. So, we are psychospiritually perfect in Christ 4. And we will become psychospiritually perfect in heaven 5. Normalize suffering, struggle, brokenness, and sin 6. So, the Christian life is a journey down here

Teach that negative emotions are healthy in a fallen world 1. Humanity is fallen; negative emotions pervade the narratives in the Bible 2. Consider the lament in the Psalms 3. Consider Jesus Christ 4. The apostles teach the value of negative emotions and of suffering (PTG) So, rather than avoid negative emotions, we are to learn how to tolerate and process them with God and others

Create an environment where brokenness and sinners are welcome Sunday service 1. Sermons that exemplify transparency and honor suffering, struggles, and the journey 2. Include songs with lament 3. Include reference to a variety of struggles in the prayers and liturgy 4. Allow those who have suffered well to share their testimony: realistic exemplars

Create an environment where brokenness and sinners are welcome Supportive church structures 1. Empathic pastoral counseling 2. Small group leader training that exemplifies transparency and creates safe groups 3. Support groups for various kinds of problems, including addiction 4. Lay counseling ministry 5. Becoming a church of supportive friends

Create an environment where brokenness and sinners are welcome Highlight specific needs 1. Hold weekend workshops on anxiety, grief, and different kinds of addiction 2. Mention a psychospiritual struggle in each service and pray for those affected 3. Make a commitment as a church to become a mental health refuge (see Saddleback’s Hope for Mental Health resources)

Create an environment where brokenness and sinners are welcome Share the gospel of Christ 1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Mt 5:3) 2. He died to forgive us our sins and so take away our shame and guilt, transcendently 3. On the cross he prayed lament and identified with the godforsaken 4. We have to teach people how to appropriate such teachings in deep, therapeutic ways: what to do in soul-work

Some specifics about a Christian approach to addiction 1. I recommend we not refer to people with an addiction in the 3rd-person as “addicts.” That labels them by their struggle. They are persons, images of God, even saints with an addiction 2. When working with such people, we need to be firm, but compassionate I’ve become uncomfortable with “tough love” Unless it’s necessary for our sake

Some specifics about a Christian approach to addiction 3. Maintain a realistic hope for recovery 4. While OA is not a disease, there is a strong biological aspect of addiction. Genetics is involved, and opioids are among the most powerful causes of physical pleasure on earth 5. There is always a story that contributes to an addiction. The story is not an excuse, but it is an explanation. And Christianity values people’s stories

Some specifics about a Christian approach to addiction 6. Therefore, OA is best understood as both a sin and a weakness/disability Sin because the person bears some responsibility for acting to establish the condition, and the person can act to break free, with God’s help and relevant supports This means we should view people with an addiction as personal agents, with at least some degree of responsibility for their condition

Some specifics about a Christian approach to addiction 6b. Therefore, addiction is best understood as both a sin and a weakness or disability A disability because such persons have lost much of the power to act that got them this condition This means we should take into account their compromised personal agency and have extra compassion

Some specifics about a Christian approach to addiction 7. People with addiction, therefore, will sometimes behave terribly, because some features of their humanity have been damaged Like a conscience (due to compromised frontal lobe functioning) This is a given. Ideally, we won’t take their actions personally. At the same time, this needs to be balanced with compassion for the victims of their misdeeds

Conclusion These are some of the ways that the church can become an increasingly strategic “mediating institution” to help those struggling with psychospiritual problems, including opioid addiction

www.ICPconnect.org www.Christianpsych.org