“What are the humane, just, and responsible ways to care for such people in need and what kind of biblical guidance is there for this topic?”

As a person who was diagnosed a handful of years ago with clinical depression….I’m embarrassed to say – I really don’t know.

What I can tell you is the last thing we need is people (and the rest of society) looking down on us in judgement, self-righteousness, and holier than thou ways treating some of us like second class citizens just because we have a lack of natural chemicals in the brain (which is no different than some diabetics whose bodies don’t make enough insulin).

However, I CAN understand the fear factor and apprehension involved from others. Heck – I still do that one myself towards some others with mental illness. Simply because there are different forms of mental illness so it’s understandable to be “on guard” we you come across someone who is obviously sick from these variations of diseases/disorders. Some CAN become violent as a result of their particular illness.

In any case, obviously what the mentally ill need is love, acceptance and understanding – just like everyone else. Not to mention local churches, and non profits (and LOCAL government possibly – notice the emphasis on *local*) helping to supply take care and supply their needs: ie, like proper medication (and a change of diet and exercise) which could VERY well, in fact have a HUGE impact on helping some of them to become more involved back in society AND to be able to hold down a job.

As far as Biblically – I believe Jesus would have us approach this in the same way he has us approach everything….with and through love. Unfortunately, quite a few Christians out there (if not many) still see mental illness as being “demonically influenced”. Maybe it’s partially because of the possessed man in Luke 8 (26) who had a group of demons in him making him violent. Not in his right mind.

It’s true, there are some in the world possessed by demons making them seem mentally ill but I do not believe this is the majority of the mentally ill. As mentioned above – mental illness comes from a lack of chemicals in the brain, however, it’s hard to believe the enemy wouldn’t kick you when you’re down.

Wow Julie, that’s a very raw and vulnerable response. Thank you very much for being willing to share with everyone. Hopefully it will connect with lots of folks.

Jason, those two public comments you posted made me so angry that I cried! Then I cussed…….a lot. Finally decided to take a few hours break before I posed my comments here.

Pete Early’s interview was amazing and gives the answers to your first question. I hope your readers take the time to read it.

The article about the downtown winter shelter only made me more angry, especially some of the readers comments that may have been even worse than what you posted here.

Jesus commands us to take care of the poor, the sick, the hungry, the hurting and if the people who made the comments you posted don’t believe in Jesus then they should do it becasue It’s what gives us our humanity. It is the morally and ethically right thing to do. It is what makes us “human”.

It really does not matter why they are homeless, or if we deem them worthy of our help, we who can take care of ourselves need to take care of those who can’t. The mentally ill, the addicted, the sick, the illiterate, the disabled, the lost, the hurting; these are human beings who need our compassion and mercy not our judgment.

As Pete Says in the article; We need to give the mentally ill the tools they need to be able to live lives as full as they can. The same goes for those who find them self homeless because of lack of job skills or addiction. And for those who will be chronically homeless we need to love them, feed them and take care of them as best we can for as long as we can.

If we become a people who are not willing to reach out and help those who are less fortunate than ourselves because of our own self righteousness than there really is no hope for our society and we might as well just all live like wild animals……….everyone for them self!!

There are no perfect answers to these questions. The best answers will not be found through government programs, etc. (though they are essential and our responsibility as civic communities). What it will take is costly, messy and risky. It will take Christians opening their lives and their homes (not just their church buildings) to share life with people who need help. Will some take advantage? Of course, but the risks are excuse to exclude Christ-in-the-least when they need us most.

The complexities of mental illness in this respect are, perhaps, among the most difficult. First, “mental illness” is almost as broad a category as “illness”. The spectrum of manageability ranges significantly. For many people, simply having a family or community or friend to help live with the challenges makes all the difference. Some, like our homeless friend who lives with us on occasion, are more severely ill, where their very illness contributes to his resistance to treatment and help. And yet, even then we cannot turn our backs on them.

The criminalization of mental illness is tricky. A large number of the convicted criminals that we know who deal with mental illness needed to arrested. With very few exceptions, their illness did not remove their responsibility (though it does reduce it, which should be noted, in some cases). However, it is in how we punish or seek to rehabilitate such people that our greatest failure is shown. For example, my friend with FASD is responsible for his actions, even though he is neurologically unable to fully recognize the connection between his actions and the consequences. He is responsible because he knows he has FASD and he refuses to receive the help he needs. Thus, when he smacked his girlfriend around, he deserved to be arrested. However, putting him in jail will do absolutely nothing to reduce the likelihood that he will repeat the problem.

The gov’t is never going to get it fully right (though we should still advocate for change). Therefore, it falls to Christian communities to respond to such challenges with grace, perseverance and sacrifice.

“A large number of the convicted criminals that we know who deal with mental illness needed to arrested. With very few exceptions, their illness did not remove their responsibility (though it does reduce it, which should be noted, in some cases).”

Agreed. Even though there are those out there of whom medication does not help (I’ve met at least one), they still know – as do others around them – that there is some kind of mental illness/issue going on therefore, they should not be excused from any wrong they may do within society. They need to receive treatment at the same time being kept off the streets (depending on the crime obviously).

Thanks for the responses everyone. There are some fantastic comments here. I agree with Jamie’s remarks that most mentally ill people still must bear responsibility for the choices within their realm of mastery, but the current system of (largely) retributive justice seems ill-fitting for many, to say the least.

There are some amazingly good models out there for helping people cope with mental illnesses and be redeemed from lives of dysfunction. I honestly think the problem is mostly one of there being too little political will to fund those solutions (and I use the term political in its broadest sense, referring to the people, not to their representatives in government or bureaucratic systems). Like I said in my post: we’re going to pay for people’s care one way or the other.

We’ve been struggling with a lot of the same stuff here in Nashville concerning homelessness, the mentally ill, and how it all moves between righteousness (right living) and politics (restructuring relations between individuals and (sub)communities), especially in light of the recent flood; the effects on and from Tent City have been bringing a lot of this to the surface.

As per your question about the humane ways to respond, etc.? Well, I think it’s vitally important for all people to remember that we are, indeed, interconnected – as far as our local communities are concerned: and then our communities are connected to one another…especially in this day and age of blogging, social news outlets, twitter, and so on – obviously, the plight of LA’s homelessness is closer to Nashville more than ever before, case in point.

But beyond that, or because of that, we certainly need to pay attention to the widening gap in many cities between the very, very poor and the very, very rich. In fact, a rising number of the poor were, not so long ago, middle or upper middle class citizens with jobs recently axed during this recession. Every person on the street has a story and could work some benefit to the society around them; and many are entirely capable of providing in economic, financial, and life-giving ways! What’s more is that they are available, typically, by the hundreds: And we overlook their stories, undervalue their potential, and shame them in the process.

Furthermore, I am coming to see the Biblical “guidelines” are actually wrapped up in the very person of yeshua: the gospel accounts can be wholly taken as an examination of the righteousness (again, right living) of the Messiah. He was/is always righteous and, therefore, always interested in the lives and souls of others.

So, in a word, I think the guideline is Yeshua/Jesus. But, to flesh that out a little, as if the Word Incarnate needs any more fleshing out, haha, I think we see it come to life in Compassion.

I have found no better definition of this word than from Ed Dobson (@EdwardDobson) who said, “Compassion is getting in to the skin of the other…” You know, it’s that we would do all we could to understand the other, to see our face in their face, and ultimately, to love them deeply and with great action.

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Thanks for sharing the article, Jason. Much appreciated, brother. I am planning on linking here from my site as well…

Q / So what are some creative ways that you (or anyone else reading this blog) see your community getting involved here – I mean, sometimes it just seems so overwhelming, you know?

Very good comments Justin! A few thoughts in response to you questions:

1) I work for Interfaith Community Services. One creative way they’ve responded to the mentally ill/homeless problem is by implementing the Fairweather Lodge model. It’s an amazing program that succeeds in ways that make more relational, medical, and financial sense than a typical board and care facility, but it only serves about 6-8 people at a time and Interfaith only has 3 such lodges in North County San Diego to date. Far more funding is needed to duplicate this approach.

2) In our faith community we worked last year on simply building relationships with the homeless population in Escondido. We’re not social workers, so we can’t solve these peop
le’s problems, but we can give them friendship and support. We think that’s important. The people who spearheaded that effort have refocused their efforts cloer to where they live, so as a community Ikon is looking for ways to do the same thing in and around Oceanside where we’re located.

Jason, have you read “Making Room” by Christine Pohl? You really must. It is very relevant to this topic.

On a side note, your link to the Fairweather program is missing the .html

Thanks, fixed.

I have read it, and you’re right: very relevant.