Last Thursday was R U OK?DAY. It’s a day which reminds everyone to ask, “Are you OK?” and a reminder to support people who may be struggling with life’s ups and downs. It was World Suicide Prevention Day last Tuesday.

Christians can be embarrassed to talk about mental health. As a Christian, should I not be happy and joyful and confident about my future? How, with the Holy Spirit in my life, can I feel depressed and anxious most of the time? Is depression and anxiety an outward sign of lack of inner faith?

About two or three times a year I get the news that a pastor has taken his own life. The latest came this week when Jarrid Wilson, pastor and author of “Love is Oxygen: How God Can Give You life and Change Your World” died by suicide on Monday 9 September. The post says, “Jarrid, a passionate child of God and church pastor, worked so hard to help others find their way out of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal thoughts … and on this day, he died by suicide. He was a 30-year-old husband and father”.

In 2017, preliminary ABS data shows an average of 8.57 deaths by suicide in Australia each day (www.lifeinmindaustralia.com.au). The reasons people take their own life are complex and often there is no single reason why a person attempts or dies by suicide. Christians are clearly not immune from this outcome and suffer clinical depression and anxiety along with the rest of the population.

On the day Jarrid Wilson died, he tweeted these words: “Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that”.

I want to make this very clear to the St Stephen’s church family: it’s OK to come to church and not be OK. You will not be judged as ungodly and less than spiritual. You will not be turned away with words such as, “You’ll be right. Get over it”. You will never be accused of not loving Jesus.

An Australian author, Paul Grimmond, has written a short conversation starter for Christians to get us thinking biblically about this subject. It’s called, “Facing Depression Together”. In his article, Paul says that the question God’s people need to ask is, “What do the Scriptures have to say to those who are depressed and anxious?” He concludes,

“I know that before God, it is only through Jesus Christ that I will understand myself rightly and learn to serve him and others better. I expect that I will struggle on and off with my tendency towards depression and anxiety for the rest of my life, and there may well be times when I am not thinking as clearly as I am right now. But I pray that God will keep leading me back to Jesus so that I can find hope and the ability to change in the face of all that he brings to pass in my life”.

Your pastoral team is always here to help you. We are here to listen, console, read the Scriptures and pray with you. Often chronic mental issues need the help of a professional medical person and we will help you find the help you need.

The gospel is for people who are not OK. It is for broken, wretched people without the strength to climb out of darkness into the light.