Religion As Mental Illness

And many of them said, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” John 10:20

Facebook has “groups” for almost everything— every hobby; every area of interest; every point of view. You’re likely in a few facebook groups yourself. One such group recently posted the picture above. You might think this facebook group must be devoted to rock-concert-monster-truck-show combos, but no.

The name of the group where this picture was posted is “Religion is Mental Illness,” and they claim that the picture is from a specific church in a specific town. (I looked at that church’s website but couldn’t verify whether this particular picture really came from them.) Whoever posted it on this facebook group’s page compared the scene to the movie, Idiocracy. Someone else commented that the money spent on this spectacle could have been used to feed the poor. On a similar post I found, someone pointed out that “this is all tax-exempt.”

You may recall that shortly before Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Mary, the sister of Martha, anointed Christ’s head with expensive oil. Judas, who would betray Jesus not many days later, complained, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” The next verse explains that he was not really concerned for the poor, but had an ulterior motive.

Of course the world spends huge money all the time on over-the-top entertainment spectacles. It seems disingenuous to zoom in on some light-show extravaganza, treat it as representative of religion, and equate it with mental illness. If that is evidence of mental illness, then so is every rock concert and the celebrity worship it provokes.

Nor do these facebook groups constitute the first time that God’s people have been accused of lunacy. Some said of Jesus, “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” (John 10:20). Festus said to Paul, “You are out of your mind, Paul!…Your great learning is driving you insane.” (Acts 26:24 NIV).

So if the modern day atheist wants to say that believing in the resurrection of the dead or in an all-powerful invisible Being in the sky is lunacy, let them. We’re in good company.

But if they call us insane because of things we do that really don’t line up with Christ’s teaching anyway, then that’s to our shame. I’m not sure what the point of the rock-concert-monster-truck-show was; I’m not sure it was really at a church; I’m not sure what it would have to do with Jesus or his teachings. But sometimes churches do make a big spectacle of things. Mary’s anointing of Christ was humble, personal, and sacrificial. That makes it beautiful. When churches spend a lot of tax-exempt money on spectacle, it is usually none of those things. This is the problem with having “zeal.. but not according to knowledge,” (Romans 10:2). When churches try to imitate the world to win the world, they have already lost.

To make the general statement that religion is mental illness is to place the vast majority of human beings throughout history into the category of the insane. The more common argument is for atheists to say that religious people only believe in God because it gives them comfort. I wonder if perhaps many atheists reject God only because the idea of being accountable to Him frightens them. Perhaps joining together in a facebook group to point out religious people’s failings gives them comfort.

But if we want to be more intellectually honest than they are, we must consider that when we claim to be followers of Jesus and then turn him into a spectacle, we give his enemies ammunition. We reinforce many of the biases against religion. And we offer nothing to the world that it doesn’t already have.

Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive us for anything we have done that is dishonoring to You, and help us to have compassion for the souls of those who are deceived by Satan. Please open the hearts and minds of those around us, and give us the courage to share the gospel in its beauty and simplicity. We plead for your mercy in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins