Rich Wilkerson Jr.: Mental Illness, Sickness Are Not Your Identity
While depression could be caused by external factors, it could also just be a physical issue that requires medical attention from a doctor, says Rich Wilkerson Jr. at VOUS Church in Miami. He says we need to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness in church, and we need a safe community in which we can speak up about our struggles.
“If you are in this room and you are struggling with depression, hear me loud and clear: It is not because you’re not spiritual enough,” Wilkerson says. “So sick and tired of this lie. … Friends, sickness is not weakness. Sickness is not because of sin, and sickness is not your identity. …
“The first thing that we’re struggling with in society is that we live in a comparison culture. We’ve never lived in a day like this before. I love social media, but social media is hurting some of you. … We live in a world today that we’ve never been more connected, but at the same time we’ve never been more isolated. We live in a world today that we don’t know how to engage with one another anymore and the only way we know how to talk is with our thumbs.”
Though social media can be used as a tool for good, we need to watch out for the negative effects it’s having on us, he says. Listen to the other key things Wilkerson points out that cause anxiety by watching the clip here.
