This is Part 2 of a 3 part series. You can find Part 1 here:

The Church & Victims Of Depression

Providing Training

In our last post in this series, we looked at promoting culture. This is almost like saying, “Imagine what could be,” and then making steps in the direction of what could be. However, such things will never be without those of us in church leadership providing training for the saints. This is Paul’s call to the Ephesian church, so every joint is outfitted with the training they need for redemptive up-building in love (Eph. 4:11-16). These verses teach us that ministry is a participation sport.

In my experience with Anita, I began to think that people who suffer with things like depression could only be helped by highly skilled professionals. Whilst professional involvement may be needed, this should not relegate the body of Christ to the sideline. The leadership of the church can empower the church to help and not harm people further. We harm them further when we toss out trite sayings like “Let go and let God,” or “If you were trusting Jesus, you wouldn’t be depressed.” Many of these types of responses see depression merely through the lens of sin rather than the lens of both sin and suffering.

If we as pastors are going to shepherd well, we need to think about how we can help our congregations incarnate into people’s sufferings.

We must help them to think biblically about the role of suffering in a Christian’s life. In some cases, such as my own, I had to begin studying these things at a deeper level in order to aid my congregation. Much of this training will boil down to helping the church walk in humility, preferring one another, and walking alongside one another. One way I have learned to help train my congregation is to apply the sermons with the understanding that 1 in 5 of my congregation will suffer from depression, and the other 4 in 5 will have the opportunity to walk with someone who suffers from depression.

If we bring this struggle out of darkness into light, the sufferer is better enabled to run to Christ, and the church can help point the way. This helps give the body of Christ something to grab hold of. And since we are more alike than different, the church will learn more about ourselves as well in addition to truths we already know, just applied more deeply.

Originally published on February 29, 2016

A number of years ago, an anthropologist from Poland, Alicja Iwanska, conducted a study among farmers in the Northwest section of the United States. One of the conclusions of the study found that within the realm of interaction with other people, these “average” Americans basically placed people into one of the following three categories: people, machinery or scenery.

A TRI-FOLD DESIGNATION OF OTHER PEOPLE

PEOPLE: were those that the study participants had “real” relationships with. This included immediate family members, close friends and a few others. They knew the “stories” of those they considered PEOPLE, shared their own story with them, and were genuinely concerned about what was going on in their lives.

MACHINERY: were those that they had the need to interact with as part of just living day-to-day life, and who usually were fulfilling some kind of function that the study participant needed in order to live life–like the teller at the bank, the gas station attendant, the waitress, the lady behind the counter at the DMV and so forth.

The service these people provided and that was needed by the study participant was all that mattered. There was no interest in showing any care for them, getting to know them at any level or revealing anything about themselves.

What mattered was whether this person accomplished the task that the study participant was deriving a benefit from. And if that task wasn’t accomplished to their satisfaction, then even less thought was given to that person, as a person, and a mental note was made to discover someone else who was more competent at completing the function.

SCENERY: were those who sporadically came within their field of vision at a distance, were from different cultures and/or from a lower socio-economic status.
The study participants knew they were out there and that they occupied space in the same little part of the world that they lived life in, but they didn’t have reason to interact with or engage them.

In many cases, they said that the distinction between these people and the actual scenery that surrounds day-to-day life such as trees, stoplights, billboards, fences, etc., had been blurred to them. Every now and then something would trigger a thought in them that forced them to recognize that these people really were people and not scenery, but that didn’t happen that often.

CATEGORIZATION IS COMMON TO ALL PEOPLE

In my own travels and ministry to Americans and those of other cultures, both here in America and in other countries, I’ve come to the conclusion that categorizing people like this is common among all people. In fact, I’m convinced that placing other people into one of these categories springs forth from two realities that are interwoven together.

First, it’s the result of our knowledge of our own limitations. We think we know our capacity for meaningful relationships, and once we have reached that number, we become comfortable with the idea of viewing those outside of that number as either machinery or scenery.

Second, that perceived limitation, under the control of the sinful, selfish nature that is our natural state, amplifies that perception of others. It provides a plausible explanation for our unwillingness to desire or to exert any effort to stop categorizing people and to start viewing others as we ourselves would like to be viewed by everyone else–as fellow human beings.

When these two realities are coupled together, it isn’t surprising to me that categorizing people in this way is the result.

IT’S NOT THE SYSTEM JESUS OR HIS KINGDOM USES

What is surprising to me is that this universal, sin-influenced way of viewing others continues to be the norm among those that are new creations in Christ–including those in local church leadership positions.

Jesus didn’t navigate life using the same categorization system of the people of His day, especially the one the religious leaders used. His interaction with everyone He came in contact with, and the truths He taught His followers about God’s love for all people, produced conflict with the religious leaders. And as the book of Acts and the epistles make clear, the world’s categorization system has no place in His Kingdom.

WHAT THE SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE IN A LOCAL CHURCH

And yet, whether they’re aware of it or not, many pastors and leaders of local churches view and interact with their attendees/members using the same categorization lenses as the study participants.

Which means:

1. They view the majority of the people sitting in the sanctuary at each service as nothing more than beautiful SCENERY that is to be enjoyed with their eyes alone. The gathered congregation is viewed in the same way a beautiful, hopefully ever expanding forest is–as something awesome to behold as a whole, with little regard for the health of the individual trees that actually produce the forest.

2. They view those that make the service run, (ushers, the audio & visual guys, parking lot attendants, even children’s ministry servants and so forth), as MACHINERY that is essential for the functioning of the various ministries of the church. They recognize that these servants do need attention on occasion, but the motivation for providing it is not from a genuine interest in them as people, but because they are crucial for the ongoing operation of the machine.

3. They only view their own families and fellow paid staff members as PEOPLE, and they are satisfied relating to the other members of the church as MACHINERY or SCENERY.

IS YOUR CHURCH USING IT?

If you’re a pastor or a church leader and you’ve just read the above and concluded that doesn’t describe your church, I’d like to challenge you to do something radical.

Why not ask four or five of those you interact with as PEOPLE, (not just paid staff, but others who serve in some capacity in the church on a regular basis) whether they feel like they’re treated as people, machinery or scenery by the pastor and leaders of the church?

And then humbly accept their perspective as valid–even if it is different from your own perspective–and then respond accordingly.

This is a message to pastors and those involved in church leadership, but I believe it is relevant to us all!

We experienced a new record of “interesting” in a one-week period at church recently. We had two “Satans” and one “Jesus” visit.

It’s pretty common for the unusual to happen at our inner city church, but this took things to a whole new level. Two devilish distractions didn’t quite make it into church, but “Jesus” did. From the beginning of worship, we were concerned for him. He was weeping, and we wanted to reach out to him.

One of our leaders was just waiting for worship to be over, so he could pray with him and see how he could help.

When our worship leader said, “Amen,” “Jesus” went straight to the stage, shouting that he was the third person of the Trinity. He was fast!

The ushers and I were right behind, trying to calmly escort him out. He didn’t want to leave, so we helped him a little more. I was proud of our men, as they were extremely respectful but also firm. As “Jesus” was leaving, he shouted out that he was the reason gas prices dropped by 5 cents. He added that he was hungry and didn’t have shoes.

Someone found him a pair of shoes, and our head usher took the young man to dinner. It seemed he was either high or off his medications. Either way, it’s sad, and now I’m known as the guy who kicked “Jesus” out of church!

Since my first church plant 18 years ago, we have had people come to church with every conceivable circumstance. I remember the first young man who came to church drunk and wanted to talk during the Bible study. The church consisted of only about 15 people at the time. There were no ushers, no boundaries, just a really tall, muscular, drunk guy weeping.

I asked him if we could speak after I was finished, and several minutes later, he agreed. We had a great chat, and from time to time, I would see him in town.

We continued a good relationship, and he knew that he was loved and not judged.

I wish I could say that I always “did the right thing,” but that’s definitely not true. I could mention (to my shame), several instances when I was more concerned about “church” than people. It’s easy to justify:

“You can’t help a drunk person, when they are drunk.”- Usually true.

“You can’t stop service for every single person that wants to interrupt.”- Also true.

Here’s the thing I’m learning. How I respond to interruptions and hurting people says A LOT to the church. 
Those of you who are pastors or church leaders, can I make a suggestion? Learn to relax a bit more! Things are going to happen in our services that turn the focus and throw us off a bit. Maybe that’s ok.

Jesus didn’t preach in sterile church environments.

The greatest truths the world has ever heard were probably spoken with the sounds of crying babies and the bleating of sheep in the background.

We work hard to create an environment where people can come into church distraction-free, but that is not always possible…and that’s OK. Let’s learn to relax. God is bigger than distractions. God is greater than disruptions. Who knows, if those moments will be an incredible opportunity to learn about mercy by showing mercy.