mental health

22
Jul
2024

Called to be alongside of others

A message for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost

Sharing peace in Christ, leaving no one out 

by David Sellnow

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Texas_Tech_University,_Student_Union.jpg

In my early years of ministry, I led weekly Bible studies on campus for a student group at a large public university in Texas. Anybody was welcome to attend. One who began coming regularly was Linda, who was somewhat older than the traditional college-age students in the group. After attending for a couple of months, asking many questions herself and listening to the discussions I led with the group, Linda approached me after one of the evening sessions. She told me, “I’ve decided you’re not a cult leader.” “I’m glad to hear that!” I said. Linda explained she had spent over ten years of her life stuck in a thought-controlling cult. After getting out and getting reoriented, she became a cult interventionist, helping extricate others from similar situations. The religious body that was the parent church for our student organization had a reputation for fixed doctrines that everyone agreed to. That had been a red flag for Linda, and she had decided to investigate our group. Thankfully, I had passed the test and was not a cult leader. I wasn’t mind-controlling anyone or causing spiritual damage. We were digging in Scripture together and sharing thoughts openly and equally.

Sadly, there are religious leaders and religious organizations that dominate in ways that are abusive and harmful. Much research has been done into complex post-traumatic stress disorder, including religious trauma, when religious systems harm rather than help. It happens when individuals are made to feel fearful and trapped and depressed and lose who they are. They experience an erosion of their individual personality. They are compelled to conform themselves to the dictates and decisions and rules of the group (CPTSD Foundation). 

Not all stern, unbending churches are inflicting religious trauma in the formal sense of the term. But they may be ignoring the hurts and hopes and needs of many who are looking for good news and instead find mostly restrictions and legalisms.

I knew a young woman whose pastor preached that any and all forms of birth control were wrong. The young woman’s fiance had the same, unyielding view. As he and she talked about marriage, he insisted they should have as many babies as they could. Any attempts to limit that he saw as sin. The young woman was terrified, wondering if her body and mind and emotions could handle so much. Her pastor and her fiance were overemphasizing one thought in Scripture, that a man who has many children has been given a great blessing (cf. Psalm 127:3-5). They meanwhile were ignoring another Bible imperative, that husbands are to show consideration and concern for their wives and honor their needs of body, mind and spirit (cf. 1 Peter 3:7).

I knew young men and women who were training for roles in ministry in the church, who would not talk about internal struggles they had. If they had doubts or questions about any particular spiritual teachings, they were afraid to express them. If they experienced any mental health challenges, such as feeling anxious or depressed, they did not dare admit these things out loud. The church culture that surrounded them made them feel that any admission of weakness would disqualify them from ministry. They feared being dismissed from pre-ministry training because they weren’t good enough, weren’t strong enough, weren’t perfect enough to be pastors or teachers. Somehow they were forgetting the stories of all the human faith leaders we see in Scripture. Scripture openly shows the flaws and shortcomings of Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul, and others whom God called into leadership. Good leaders lead through God’s strength, not their own (cf. Philippians 4:13). We don’t lead—and we are not disciples—because we are perfect people. 

Religious groups and religious leaders can lose that understanding and that humility. They can begin to view themselves as having a rightness that’s righter than others, a betterness that’s better than others. They overlook their own failings and inconsistencies and judge persons who don’t adhere to their rules as out of line, as less than, as falling short. 

These are the kinds of things that the LORD spoke against, through Jeremiah, saying, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! … You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them” (Jeremiah 23:1,2).

In One Coin Found: How God’s Love Stretches to the Margins,” Emmy Kegler points us to Jesus’ parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). She says, “The thing about coins is that they can’t get lost by themselves. They can’t roll away on their own. Coins get lost because their owners aren’t careful; whoever was in charge was wasteful with them. Coins get lost because they lose their shine, because dirt and rust cling to them, and without careful attention, they turn a color indistinguishable from dust and mess.”  Lost and dismayed and scattered souls are often in that condition because persons charged with responsibility in faith and religion have not kept their focus on God’s grace, have not maintained mercy in their preaching and their practice. As a result, people are cast aside—or they pull away because they are afraid, because they feel shamed and judged, because they are not led forward in hope and joy.

Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bob5d/16730007506

Do we do things in our own ministries and dealings with people that make others feel less than, as not properly in line? Are we more concerned about holding onto our own traditions than we are about welcoming others who have different backgrounds and different perspectives? Do we think of the church as our church, as if it belongs to us and anybody coming to us needs to fit in with our expectations and think the way we think? Do we put signs outside our churches and banners on our websites saying, “All are welcome,” but if folks come who aren’t the kind of people we were expecting to join us, make them feel unwelcome?

Back in the early days of the Christian church, the members who had been part of the Jewish traditions of faith did not easily adjust to having Gentiles joining the faith. The new Gentile Christians did not share the cultural context of Judaism, and often were made to feel like second-class citizens. The apostle Paul, who had described himself as the most enthusiastic proponent there could be of the Jewish faith (cf. Philippians 3:4-6), addressed that problem. In the church in Antioch (in Syria), he even confronted the Apostle Peter for going along with the standoffish behavior that Jewish Christians there were showing over against Gentile believers (cf. Galatians 2:11-21). In his letter to Gentile Christians in the Greek city of Ephesus, Paul reassured them that they were fully equal members of the church.  He wrote to them, “You were [once]  without Christ … aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise. … But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall between us. … You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:12-14,19).  Paul also strongly made this point:  Christ “has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace …. Through Christ all of us have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:15,17-18). Jesus had fulfilled God’s laws for all of us. So laws and rules of the Jewish community were not to create a barrier to Gentile persons finding a spiritual home in the church. The church was not to have rules that made people change who they were in order to belong.

Nearly two thousand years have gone by since Paul wrote those words to Gentile Christians in what was then primarily a Jewish church. Today, do we Gentile Christians, with a long history and tradition in our practices of faith, need to hear the lesson Paul was teaching to Jewish traditionalists back in his day? Have we become so used to the church fabric and makeup as it has been that we don’t (or won’t) open our eyes to new people and new possibilities for the church in our own time? Do we truly welcome everyone, as Jesus welcomed everyone? Or are we sometimes too focused on ourselves to be full of caring and compassion for others?

Think of the ministry of Jesus. He labored with all his energy to reach out to every soul in need. At one time, when he and his disciples were exhausted from their work and had not even had time to eat, he said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). They decided to cross Lake Kinneret, but the crowds hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them (Mark 6:32-33). What did Jesus do as he went ashore?  He saw the great crowd (over five thousand people),  “and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Tired as he was, he took the time to teach them, delivering words of comfort and hope. And along with his teaching, Jesus then also did a miracle of mercy, providing a meal of bread and fish for that whole crowd, more than they could even eat (cf. Mark 6:35-44).  We’re told of the general pattern of Jesus’ ministry that “wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6:53-56). 

We are called by Jesus to carry on ministry in the same spirit as his ministry. Do you remember the woman who had been suffering for twelve years from hemorrhages, who said she just hoped to touch Jesus’ clothes and his power would heal her (Mark 5:25-34)? Do you remember the Syrophoenician woman, from outside of the children of Israel, who came to Jesus for help for her daughter, and said to him, “Even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28). People of all sorts and all needs reach out for love and acceptance and hope and help. They may not even be consciously reaching out toward the church. But they may be reaching out to you, if you are in their circle of acquaintance. Don’t look down on them. Don’t turn away from them—any of them, no matter who they are or what they are. Reach out to take their hand. Reach out to put an arm around their shoulder. Reach out as an ally to them, as an advocate for them, as a friend and partner.  If I may use a Greek word, be a “paraclete” to them. That’s a word that Jesus used when he promised to send us his Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “ I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete [Παράκλeτοß], to be with you forever. …  You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (John 14:16,17). The Greek word parakletos, literally translated, means one who is called to the side of another. Jesus has been that for us. God’s Spirit has been that for us. We are called to be that for one another, for our neighbors, for our friends, for strangers, for enemies, for everyone. 

We are not a cult, trying to control others and make them follow us without question and without thinking. We will not be like the shepherds Jeremiah described, who scatter and drive souls away in fear and trauma, rather than attending to them with care. We hope to be the sort of shepherds the LORD said he would raise up, providing a witness to God’s love and an embodiment of his grace, so that those whom we reach “shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing” (Jeremiah 23:4).  We will not demand people fabricate their own righteousness; rather we will point to the Savior God raised up in Jesus, whose very name by which he is called means: “The LORD is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6).  We are the church, established by Jesus, being “built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God” (Ephesians 2:22)—and for all of his people.  Once we were not a people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy (1 Peter 2:10). Christ, in his mercy, has called us alongside him that we might call others alongside us. We  proclaim the mighty acts of the one who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). Let us be that light, in Christ, to all of our neighbors, near and far. 

For a related devotional thought, see this post on The Electric Gospel: https://theelectricgospel.com/the-house-of-disposable-souls/

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Posted by David Sellnow
06
Feb
2023

Not hiding from our own flesh and blood

We share love in a lonely, hurting world

February 5th / Epiphany 5

Readings: Isaiah 58:1-12, 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Matthew 5:13-20


More than fifteen years ago, The Barna Group conducted a survey of non-Christians aged 16 to 29.  The predominant perception about church people was quite negative. 85 percent of church outsiders said they perceived present-day Christianity as hypocritical and judgmental.  I remember when the book from that study came out, called unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity…and Why It Matters.  I attended a study group that discussed the book and its implications. The group spent much of its time protesting conclusions the book presented. One participant kept objecting that survey respondents were using an incorrect definition of what “hypocritical” means. I found myself getting frustrated with the discussion. If we sat and debated whether outsiders’ perceptions of the church were unfair, we were failing to acknowledge what we needed to acknowledge. If churches and their members lived up to the calling we have in Christ, would public perception of the church be so low? Jesus said, “Everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The corollary is also true:  If we are not known for the love we have for others, if we are not seen putting love into action, people will question whether we are indeed Jesus’ disciples.

Barna Group graphic from https://www.barna.com/research/christians-more-like-jesus-or-pharisees/

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (in April of 2020), religion writer Jonathan Merritt argued that some of the most visible Christians in America were failing the coronavirus test. “In place of love, they’re offering stark self-righteous judgment,” Merritt observed.  He followed up with David Kinnamon, coauthor of that 2007 book, unChristian. Kinnaman told him the Barna Group continued to monitor attitudes toward Christianity and perceptions hadn’t improved.  There has been a further erosion of connection by young people to churches. Kinnaman reported that “those who walk away from the church are most often struggling with the hypocrisy of other churchgoers” (The Atlantic, April 4, 2020). Many are viewing the church today the way the Pharisees were seen in Jesus’ day—as people who talk amongst themselves about being righteous, but do nothing for people in their communities. We need to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). We need a better sort of righteousness, keeping the highest command, to love our neighbors as ourselves (cf. Matthew 22:39, Romans 13:8-10).

The first generations of Christians put love into practice toward their neighbors—and it led people to think differently of Christians. As Christ’s followers let their light shine before others, others saw their good works and gave glory to God (cf. Matthew 5:16).   A writer about the church’s early history has said:  “At no other time in the history of Christianity did love so characterize the entire church as it did in the first three centuries.” As a result, “Christianity spread rapidly throughout the ancient world, even though there were few organized missionary or evangelism programs. The love they practiced drew the attention of the world” (EarlyChurch.com).  

The early Christians had a dramatic impact on their world by serving, in quiet, unassuming ways. They busied themselves with everyday actions of kindness and compassion. Some of the most prominent times when their faith-filled behavior was a blessing to others was when Christians served the sick and the dying during epidemics and pandemics (Barnabas Today, 4/19/2021). COVID-19 is by no means the first pandemic the world has seen, but now in our own lifetimes we have seen what a pandemic can do to society. Imagine the devastation in the ancient world, when there were no vaccines or antiviral drug treatments. For fifteen years, from 165 to 180 AD, the Roman Empire experienced its first pandemic. It was known as the Antonine Plague (named after the imperial dynasty in power during that time). Roman legion troops brought the disease back with them from the eastern frontiers of the empire. People died by the millions. The mortality rate is estimated by scholars to have been 7 to 10 percent of the population of the empire, in some places as high as 15 percent. One chronicler documented a year during the plague when 2000 people a day were dying in the city of Rome. What were Christians doing during those days? Early sources document that Christians did not abandon their neighbors or their communities. Rather, to quote Dionysius of Athens, they were “unsparing in their exceeding love and brotherly kindness. They held fast to each other and visited the sick fearlessly and ministered to them continually, serving them in Christ” (quoted in Barnabas Today). In the process, of course, many Christians lost their own lives to the pandemic. But their actions had impressed the world around them, and interest in their faith grew. 

Epidemics and pandemics continued to occur in the decades that followed that first plague. The conduct of Christians remained resolute in those difficult times, loving their neighbors even to the point of death. Within a couple centuries, even the most powerful opponents of the church had to acknowledge the love Christ’s people showed.  The emperor Julian, an enemy and persecutor of Christianity, wrote a letter in 362 AD to a high priest of the Roman religion. Referring to Christians as “Galileans” (because Jesus was from Galilee), he wrote that Christians were making his priests look bad. He said that while “the poor were neglected and overlooked by the [pagan] priests … the impious Galileans … devoted themselves to philanthropy. … [They] support not only their poor but ours as well, [while] all can see that our people lack aid from us” (Letter to Arsacius, quoted in BibleMesh, 3/20/20).  Julian, by the way, is known as “the last pagan emperor” in the Roman era.  He had tried to restore the old Roman religion to dominance, but by his time, Christianity had taken too deep a hold in too many people’s hearts. 

Photo by Chalmers Butterfield, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons

In today’s world (and rightfully so), we look to public health departments and medical facilities to carry the largest share of helping our communities through public health emergencies. That doesn’t mean opportunities are lacking for Christians to help and comfort people in need. There are so many needs of so many kinds across all our communities. There is, in fact, another sort of public health crisis calling out to us now, calling us to reach out to others with compassion and kindness. This health crisis afflicts millions of people. Research has shown it to be as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. It’s a condition that creates a 20% overall increase in the chance of experiencing an early death (Michigan State University Extension). What public health crisis is this? Research by Cigna has shown that more than half of U.S. adults (58%) are experiencing loneliness. Researchers at Harvard, Columbia University, and elsewhere are calling it the loneliness epidemic. We are surrounded in our communities by people who are deeply lonely. Maybe we ourselves are affected by the same loneliness and isolation. Can we, as Christians in our communities and as church groups, become Christ to our neighbors who are lonely? The loneliness epidemic is not like smallpox (such as Antonine Plague) or a dangerous coronavirus (such as COVID-19). We won’t be risking our lives by making efforts to engage with persons who need befriending. If anything, our own spirits may also be lifted and encouraged by sharing life and love with others.

Many years ago, I did a year of internship in Houston, training for ministry. I was a northern boy in a big Texas city. The congregation where I served was wonderfully friendly, but I was many miles from home and away from familiar surroundings and classmates I had known. The congregation had set me up in an apartment of my own, and there were nights I would get lonely. First I felt sorry for myself, feeling like I was stranded by myself. Then I decided to make the most of opportunities that were, quite honestly, right in front of me. The church in suburban Houston had a long list of outreach contacts. My internship duties didn’t require me to go out visiting those persons as much as I did. But I learned that the best cure for my own loneliness was to take time to go out and visit with people who’d had some contact with our church. Making efforts to show friendship to other persons in the church’s neighborhoods brought benefits to me as much as to those I visited. We gave encouragement to each other.

My friends, you and I are “the salt of the earth,” as Jesus has told us (Matthew 5:13). We are here to preserve and extend the lives of others, the way that salt was used as a food preservative in Bible times.  We are also here to enhance others’ lives with flavor, making life less bland. As the apostle Paul said, “Conduct yourself with wisdom in your interactions with outsiders; make the most of each opportunity [treating it as something precious]. Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt” in the way that you relate to others in the community (Colossians 4:5-6, The Amplified Bible).

The prophet Isaiah described the sort of actions we will undertake as God’s people, striving to bring goodness to others in our world.  We will seek to “loose the bonds of injustice … to break every yoke” (Isaiah 58:6) that weighs on the bodies and souls of others.  As Scripture says elsewhere, “ Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).  Isaiah urged us to share our bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into our homes, clothe those who are lacking clothing, satisfy the needs of the afflicted (Isaiah 58:7,10). 

Isaiah told us also: “Do not “hide yourself from your own kin” (Isaiah 58:7). “Our own kin” is more than our own immediate family or the relatives at our family reunion. God’s prophet was calling us to think of all our fellow human beings as our own flesh and blood, because, ultimately, “from one blood [God] made the whole world of humanity” (Acts 17:26, The Aramaic Bible in Plain English). So, we can’t hide ourselves away and ignore others’ needs, pretending we can’t see them or what they are suffering. All the people in our neighborhoods and communities are our brothers and sisters, our neighbors and countrymen. We want to see them, pay attention to them, be there for them.

I’m not saying you individually are going to take away the loneliness and needs of everyone around you in your communities. But each of us can do what we can do. We can start small. We can do the little things.  Let me make a proposal to you.  In a short time, we’re coming up on Valentine’s Day.  Valentine’s Day can be a difficult day for persons who don’t have the companionship in their lives that they wish they had, or who are missing family members far away or out of touch. A couple weeks ago, I got an email from Etsy (an online company) acknowledging the difficulty of such holidays for lonely people.  The email said, “We understand this time can be tough. If you would prefer not to receive Valentine’s Day emails from us, you can opt out by clicking below.”  I was reminded of an old Peanuts TV special from years ago, when Charlie Brown went to school hoping to get many Valentine’s cards from his classmates, and got none (Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, 1975).

So, maybe if you want to reach out to someone this month, someone who may be lonely, someone who may be hurting, or maybe someone you just haven’t connected with for a while, you don’t need to make it about Valentine’s Day. You can reach out just because. You can take time to connect with others in a variety of ways.  You can send a card—a general friendship or encouragement card.  You can write a letter, sharing with someone what you have appreciated about them. You can go knock on someone’s door, say hello. As one Christian writer has said, “Showing love needn’t be that involved: a compassionate phone call made, a greeting card sent, a door held. If you bake, make a batch of cookies or brownies for a friend. Provide an ear and heart to listen. All these gestures communicate love” (Warner Press blog). We can apply to our own witness what the apostle Paul said of his:  Our speech need not be with “persuasive words of human wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:4, Young’s LIteral Translation).  We need no fancy language or elaborate efforts. Our simple words and acts of kindness will be “a demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). 

If you’d like some resources for ideas about showing kindness or helping the lonely, here are some worthwhile ones: 


Very early in the Bible, we are told, when God created human beings, that it is not good for a person to be alone (Genesis 2:18). “That statement of need actually predates the first sin” (Christians for Social Action). Think about that. Even when the world was perfect, loneliness would have ruined the joy and beauty of the Garden of Eden. How much more difficult loneliness can be in our fallen, fragile, imperfect world! We need each other. The people around us need us.

As Christ’s people, filled with the Spirit of fellowship in our hearts, let’s reach out in fellowship to others. “Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all” (Galatians 6:10). “Let mutual love continue” (Hebrews 13:1)—not only within our own family of faith, but also showing hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2). And perhaps let’s focus our efforts by thinking about those who may be lonely, those who may be isolated, those who might be the Charlie Browns of our neighborhoods, not receiving many encouragements or greetings. Let’s pick up a pen and write, pick up the phone and call, step outside of our comfort zone and visit people we may not know very well. May the light that has brightened our lives in Jesus be like a lamp on a lampstand, (Matthew 5:15), bringing light to our neighbors in our communities by each small act of kindness that we can do. 

—

Scripture quotations, except where otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Posted by David Sellnow
06
Sep
2020

Work is essential

by David Sellnow


When the COVID-19 pandemic began, state governors issued orders identifying essential workers whose labors were needed for community health and sustenance and safety. As pandemic conditions have persisted, we’ve come to see how work is essential for everyone. Those who’ve been forced into unemployment are painfully aware of how much their work mattered, especially as extended unemployment benefits ran out.

Even in Eden, work was provided for Adam and Eve. We may sometimes think of work as a necessary evil, but meaningful labor is actually an ongoing good that God intended for us in this world. Being on a perpetual vacation with nothing to do would not be paradise. Vacations provide needed respite from overwork. A weekly day of rest (sabbath) is a divinely designed time to withdraw from busyness and renew our spirits in communion with our Creator. But work itself is a vital part of our human experience. Anyone who has ever lost a job and been out of work knows what a blow to personal identity and security and hope it is.

Work is God’s way of providing for our needs in daily life, as well as the needs of our neighbors and communities. Studies have found that job loss and insecure employment have damaging effects on individuals’ emotional well-being and overall health. A 2009 study found that “unemployed workers died more than a year earlier than average” (Houston Chronicle, 2/1/2019).  As to community wellness, a study published in 2001 in The Journal of Law and Economics found that “a substantial portion of the decline in property crime rates during the 1990s [was] attributable to the decline in the unemployment rate.” When work is unstable, our own health and the stablility of whole communities is threatened. .

All work that has a beneficial purpose is godly work. A devoted church worker, Martin Luther, labored hard to teach this truth about work outside of church. In his era, clergy persons were held to be somehow holier than ordinary people simply by virtue of the religious positions they occupied. Luther reshaped the outlook on vocation or “calling,” assigning honor to all community members who were doing good work for their neighbors.  

In his address To the Christian Nobility in the German lands (1520), Martin Luther wrote: “A cobbler, a smith, a peasant—each has the work and office of his trade, and yet they are all alike consecrated priests and bishops. Further, everyone must benefit and serve every other by means of his own work or office so that in this way many kinds of work may be done for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the community, just as all the members of the body serve one another.”  Luther also has been quoted saying, “Every occupation has its own honor before God. Ordinary work is a divine vocation or calling. In our daily work, no matter how important or mundane, we serve God by serving the neighbor and we also participate in God’s ongoing providence for the human race.”   Marc Kolden, writing in the Lutheran Journal of Ethics (2001), emphasized that Luther’s thought wasn’t so much about what formal occupation you might have. Any and every role in which you labor for others–even “the most mundane stations” and lowest tasks–”are places in which Christians ought to live out their faith” and help others by their efforts. In his writing On the Estate of Marriage (1522), for instance, Luther highlighted the noble duty of a parent changing diapers as an act of faith and love and service.

As COVID-19 began to ravage the United States, healthcare workers were hailed by members of their communities, from the banging of pots and pans each evening at 7:00pm in New York to residents going outside and howling at 8:00pm each night in Colorado. This was welcomed as recognition of essential efforts. I pray that through this present crisis, we learn to applaud work and workers in all sorts of needed roles, and also respect and remunerate workers appropriately for what they do to hold our communities together. Many of those considered “essential workers” under governors’ orders are in positions that are paid minimum wage or not much more. In my state, someone working full-time at minimum wage must spend roughly half their income to afford a one-bedroom apartment. They’d spend quite a bit more than half their income on rent in a metro area. According to government-defined standards, households that spend more than 30% of their income on rent are defined as “cost-burdened” and qualify for public assistance. Those spending more than 50% of their income on rent are “severely cost-burdened.” Something does seem amiss when persons doing work that we consider essential to community life have a hard time making ends meet as residents in the community.

So, as we observe Labor Day, let us pray:

  • with deep thanks for our own employment if we continue to have employment;
  • with passionate concern for all who are facing unemployment or reduced employment and income;
  • for generous gifts to churches and charities who work with persons in need; 
  • for strength and hope and help if we ourselves are financially burdened and at risk;
  • for recognition of all workers’ worth and the value of others’ work on our behalf;
  • for a willingness to share in supporting one another as neighbors in society;
  • for wise leadership in our nation and world to guide economies through difficult challenges;
  • for personal commitment to do all forms of labor and service as acts of faith in answer to our calling as Christ’s people.


“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms“ (1 Peter 4:10).

“Brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good” (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

—-

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Posted by David Sellnow
10
Jan
2020

God has it handled

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on September 19, 2017.

God has it handled

by Holly Bahr

Anxiety is a feeling of worry or uncontrollable nervousness when thinking or obsessing about an event or a situation where the outcome is uncertain. Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness in the United States. According to Scott Stossel, author of My Age of Anxiety, “Forty million Americans have an anxiety disorder.”  He goes on to report, “One in six people in the world will have an anxiety disorder for a minimum of a year within their lifetime, and one in four people will experience crippling anxiety some time in their life.” With these staggering statistics, one has to ask: Is the person sitting next to you in church suffering from anxiety? Have you felt the worry or fear of the unknown in your life? If you haven’t experienced the life-changing panic associated with anxiety, odds are someone worshiping with you suffers in this way. So, in the life of a Christian where trust in our Savior is first and foremost, what do we do with anxiety?  We understand pain and suffering are part of our lives.  We dive into God’s promises for strength—his gospel means of grace.  Knowledge of life-giving rebirth we experienced through baptism and the forgiveness of sins received through the Lord’s Supper can ease the hurt of anxiety.

Even with God’s grace coming to us through the gospel in his Word, in baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, our human weakness gets in the way.  The devil uses anxiety as a weapon causing us to doubt ourselves, our faith in God, and God’s power.   We need the gospel to speak to our worries and strengthen our innermost being.  God’s assurances to Joshua put down the devil and point us to the strength we develop through trust in God. “Have I not commanded you?” God said. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). When the panic of anxiety stubbornly takes hold of us, we look to the Lord for strength to overcome our worldly doubts.

The sacrament of baptism is a rebirth for us and a powerful reminder of the work of faith the Holy Spirit continues tirelessly to perform in our hearts. We may feel anxiety and worry, but we also know the Holy Spirit continues to nourish faith in us and connect us to our all-powerful God.  Suffering from anxiety is a never ending cycle of negative self-talk and hopelessness, but remembering the benefits we receive through baptism can encourage us to switch from negative thoughts to the positive work the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.

Baptism started our faith life, and holy communion offers ongoing reminder of the peace we receive through the means of grace.  Communion gives us forgiveness of sins, lifting the burden of anxiety off our shoulders and placing this burden on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God sent his Son to die for our sins, even the sin of worry and doubt. God’s forgiving love can lessen anxiety and comfort us from the fear of the unknown.

Anxiety is a real mental illness with debilitating symptoms, but with faith in God and his promises, along with professional help, this disease can be eased. God is our great healer. He has our future planned and will not let us fall into harm’s way.  We look to the Lord for strength. We trust in his unfailing love for us. We seek his peace in regards to our fears and worries. “’Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2).   Instead of dwelling on the fear within us, we turn this gripping fear over to God and his promises.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).  Fear and worries will keep coming, keep changing.  But we can find solace in the never-changing promises and all-encompassing love of our all-powerful God.
Posted by David Sellnow
10
Jan
2020

A letter to the depressed

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on August 26, 2017.

An open letter to those dear to me who are suffering with depression

by Hannah Carter

First of all, I just want to say that I love you immensely. As do all of us—your family, your best friends, and most importantly, God loves you more than anything.

I know how hard it is to describe how you’re feeling.  I know it makes it even harder that very few people seem to actually understand you. I, too, don’t understand why your emotions are the way they are. I know you often times don’t understand why either. Why God chose this to be your cross to bear. I know you feel weak, but I’m here to tell you how strong you are – rather, how strong God has made you.

You are strong, so unbelievably strong. You feel so many things that you can’t describe, and yet you still live each day, day-to-day, like anyone else. Not many people can even tell what you go through. You put on a brave face and a wonderful contagious smile. When you tell people about your depression, they are shocked. They would never have guessed.

I know you feel like you have to hold things in. You don’t want to burden others with your problems—which you feel are insignificant, but they aren’t. They are significant to me and, more importantly, they are significant to God. I am here for you as much as humanly possible, but God is there for you always. Every single second, you can always go to him in prayer and he hears you. You can trust him no matter what, and he promises to sustain you. He will never leave you.

I know you don’t feel like you are worthy of anything – unworthy of love, unworthy of happiness, and many other things – but you are! You are worthy. Through Jesus’ death on the cross for you, you are worthy of God’s love. And does he ever love you! He loves you more than I do and that’s saying a lot.

Please never think that you shouldn’t belong here. God placed you on this earth for a reason. He knew you at the creation of the world and he created you with a purpose in mind. You are such a blessing in my life and lives of all of those you touch. Never let depression be the only thing by which you define yourself. You are so much more than that. You are funny, caring, and kind. You are smart. Your soul is beautiful.  You are a child of God.

My prayer for you is that God continues to grant you the strength to carry on. That he continually shows his love to you and gives you many wonderful gospel lights in your life to motivate and remind you of his love and faithfulness.

Remember that I am always here for you, always praying for you, and sending love to you always.

Posted by David Sellnow
04
Jan
2020

A letter to my peers, under pressure

by Hannah Mielke

Originally published on the Electric Gospel on March 10, 2017, this is a letter intended for young Christians who are feeling the pressures of the world around them. It is intended to remind them of their sin, but more importantly to remind them of God’s love, encouragement and peace.

Thanks to social media, the modern generation is a tight-knit community.  Of course, it can be argued that person-to-person connections have a greater value. This is true; there is a large benefit to talking to someone in person. However, in-person connections are limited by distance and time. Social media allows an opportunity to forge connections with people all around the world. This is great; there is a network of support and encouragement for everyone who may need it.  However, there is a downside. We violate this command: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). I am guilty of this and I know you are as well. It is so easy to let negative and degrading words slip. Maybe to fit in, maybe to blow off some steam – pick your reason. Any words that are spoken, whether in person or online, have the potential to be heard, but social media can make that all the more likely. When words are exchanged in “the real world,” the speakers tend to be more careful of the other person’s feelings. The person is a real, physical, being who is standing before them. That physicality is lost on the Internet, and so it is even more vital to be careful about words that are exchanged through online posts.

When people are ridiculing you for something your life centers around, it can be hard to respect them.  Respect is a word that applies to every aspect of our lives.  We all know that we should respect our parents and others in authority. However, we sometimes forget just how far that respect should extend. Christ asks us to respect and show honor to those whom we may feel deserve the least respect from us.  We are the tools through with the Spirit changes hearts … and you never know whose heart is about to be softened.

What you say is a big deal. People judge you based on your words. This is especially true when it comes to poor language. You may not mean this intentionally, but people will judge your faith based on the words that come out of your mouth.  So “simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one”(Matthew 5:37).  If your language is filled with cuss words, you will not stick out from the coarse world around you. As Christians, God asks us to stick out, to be different. That difference can be hard. People who are different attract attention and not all that attention is good attention. However, we can face any amount of ridicule because Christ’s love protects us. He never leaves our side, and he sees what we are facing daily. He is pleased to call us his own.

Right now you are rolling your eyes, because you have heard this all before. I am not the first one to tell you that you are sinful. Every generation looks down on the generation after them. They judge those younger than them in every way possible. It seems like the judgment is especially strong for the youth today.  We have different beliefs than the generation that came before us. God understands those struggles, and he will see you through them. He speaks straight to your soul: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
One of the struggles that young people face every day is anxiety about their lives ahead. More people speaking out about those fears has led to an increased awareness of mental health in young adults. Anxiety is overwhelming and frustrating. God knows that, and he has spoken about it. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).   God understands; Christ promises peace.

You know those days when your worries are so great that you feel that you are nothing special? Well, guess what?  It is that feeling that makes you special. It’s okay to be a bland person. God took the blank canvas of your life and turned it into a breathtaking piece of art.  Some of my favorite verses in the Bible are these:  “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).

So don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Live in truth and purity.  God will do amazing things with you.
Posted by David Sellnow
30
Dec
2019

Encouragement concerning depression

Originally published on The Electric Gospel on May 21, 2016.
Collin wrote this letter for a friend of his who was dealing with feelings of depression.  Her name is changed for privacy.

****************

Letter to a friend

by Collin Wenzel

 

My dear friend Olivia,

The Lord’s blessings to you—I pray you are doing well. I was glad to have heard from you earlier this year. However, when I learned of your recent struggles with feelings of depression, my heart went out to you. I would like to offer you spiritual guidance and encouragement from our heavenly Father.

I smile and laugh as I frequently look back on all of the memories we have stored up with our friends over the past three years. How much longer than three years it seems! I thank God that extra-curriculars brought us all together when we were in high school. Now, although we are in different states and only see each other a few times a year, I still care deeply for you. Concerning the hardships you wrote to me about, I often ask God in my prayers to help you through this difficult time.

Sin entered the world at the fall of the first man. Through sin came sorrow, pain, despair and feelings of hopelessness. I understand that what you are feeling seems unexplainable and unreasonable. Olivia, you know that at conception, we were enemies of God. We were born into this world as truly hopeless beings. But you also know that we have a Father who loves us so much that he gave his Son for us. Jesus lived the life for us that we never could live ourselves—perfect in every way.  Jesus bore for us the punishment that we merited. Because of Jesus’ work and through faith in him, we are justified before God.

I know that you know this. Why, then, did I write it? I want to remind you of the blessings we receive through this justification. To us belongs hope—hope of the greatest kind. We know that we must go through many trials on this earth. But we have hope to help us get through them. We have hope that God is on our side. We have hope that God is guiding us and holding our hand—that he will never leave us. Take joy in this! Our strength comes from the Lord. He empowers us in every situation. He will help you with your feelings of depression; in him alone can you trust. Call upon him! As David wrote,  “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psalm 55:16).

Your thoughts of depression may be telling you that you are losing purpose to press onward, and that you can’t do it. But God will never let the righteous fall. God will not let the burdens pressing you down become so heavy that you will be crushed. God will sustain you.

So rely on him! Find your joy in the fact that he fulfills his promises. Pray to him, saying, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalm 51:12). Your salvation is sure. No earthly sorrow can hinder it. So remember God’s love and receive unending joy from it! I heard a spiritual song which included the following encouragement. Let us use some words from that song as we pray:

Dear God, please comfort my soul. You are at my side; no longer must I dread the fires of unexpected sorrow. Let me not be moved by lesser lights and fleeting shadows, nor let me forsake the truth I learned in the beginning. Guide me as I wait upon you and assure me that hope will rise. God, I will trust in you and not be shaken. To your name alone be the glory. Amen.

The words from this prayer were adapted from the song “Still, My Soul be Still”
by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend, from the album Awaken the Dawn
(Getty Music, 2009).

Posted by David Sellnow