If you ever feel guilty about taking medications for your mental health, this blog is for you. There is often a stigma associated with taking such medications, whether real or imagined. After all, shouldn't I be able to treat my mental illness with prayer and counseling? Is my faith lacking? Am I sinning when I take such medications? And here, the broader Christian community can be unhelpful, even judgmental. A 2013 Lifeway study found that nearly half of evangelicals believed that prayer alone could heal mental illness.
Let me be clear. I absolutely concur that in many cases mental illness can be effectively treated with prayer and counseling. But in other cases, once all such avenues have been exhausted, severe symptoms can persist. I know. I've been there. Were it not for some very effective medications, I would probably not be here typing this.
And there is clearly a double standard here. Most Christians would have no problem with a diabetic taking his or her insulin, and they would similarly have no problem with those subject to severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) using their EpiPens when needed.
But what does the Bible have to say about medicine/medication for illnesses of any kind? First of all, I need to say a word about the gift of healing as mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. This gift belongs to the category of what I call "double plural gifts." In the Greek, this gift is literally "gifts of healings." I take this as telling us that two "wills" or "volitions" are involved in using this gift. First, the one with the gift, the healer, needs to be open to exercising his or her gift. But then God has to be willing for an individual act of healing to take place.
Why is this important? Even the great apostle Paul could not exercise his gift of the "gifts of healings" at will. When he left Miletus, he said that he left Trophimus, who was ill, behind. (See 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 20) Why couldn't he just heal him? And poor Epaphroditus! Paul tells the Philippians (chapter 2, verses 25-27) that Epaphroditus had "been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death." Paul goes on to say just how stressful this was for him personally, "But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow." Why couldn't Paul just heal him?
That brings us to "Luke the beloved physician" in Colossians chapter 4, verse 14. What need would there have been for a physician if there had been a 100% transition from the modern medicine of the day to supernatural healing? And yet there was a physician in their midst, and he was beloved.
For Christians dubious (or guilty, perhaps) for having to rely on medications, I would point to the story of the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16. The apostle Paul and his companion Silas were severely beaten and jailed for having cast a demon out of a slave girl, who made money for her owners by fortune-telling. In the middle of the night, while Paul and Silas were singing praises to God, there was an earthquake, their bonds were unfastened, and the prison doors were opened. But there is one thing missing from all the miracles (including the conversion of the jailer and his family) in the account. Did you catch it? There is no mention of the wounds on the backs of Paul and Silas having been supernaturally healed. Instead we read of the jailer "washing their wounds." As in the story of the good Samaritan, this most likely involved "pouring on oil and wine," which had medicinal properties. You could say that the great apostle Paul received "medication." And he was undoubtedly glad for it!
So there you have it. If you have exhausted all other options, it is not sinful to look to modern medications for aid in your battle with mental illness. In fact, I believe that this, in combination with faith, can work wonders. I know, I can attest to this.
Blessings!
The Christian Bipole
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