Excerpted From
Finding Jesus in the Storm
By John Swinton
To understand the concept of redefining healing in the context of mental health, we must distinguish healing from curing. Often, the quest for mental wellness is framed as the eradication of symptoms to return to a perceived psychological norm dictated by cultural expectations. However, viewing healing solely as a cure overlooks the profound nature of individual experiences. Theologically, redefining healing allows us to see it as something far more expansive than a clinical cure, focusing on wholeness rather than just the absence of illness.
Scripture lacks a direct equivalent to modern biomedical definitions of health that prioritize the absence of disease. Instead, the Hebrew term shalom offers a core meaning of righteousness and right relationship with God. From this perspective, being healthy is defined by one’s spiritual alignment regardless of physical or psychological states. Whether one is an elite athlete or a person facing significant mental health challenges, true health is a relational and theological concept. It is not the absence of struggle, but the presence of God. As seen in Judges 6:24, Yahweh is shalom, and in Ephesians 2:14, Paul affirms that Christ himself is our peace.
Health is not merely a humanly achievable goal; it is found in the person of Jesus. When Christ promises life in all its fullness, he refers to this shalom life—an abundant life that enables us to hold on to him during life’s storms. Biblically, mental health is not defined by the presence or absence of symptoms, and psychological distress is never a sign of God’s absence. While the experience of God’s abandonment is a mysterious reality for many, it is not indicative of personal sin. The pastoral task is to help individuals cling to Jesus without guilt, recognizing that depression stories shaping church understanding are vital for a compassionate church response to youth mental illness.
I remember giving a talk about this understanding of mental health at a conference in Edinburgh a few years ago. After it, a man came up to me and said: “You know, I have lived with schizophrenia for 25 years. I never realized that I was accepted just as I am without being cured. … I just thought I was a bad Christian.” How sad that the people of God had not been able to help him find the healing presence of Jesus without blaming him for his distress or demanding that he be cured of it. Shalom is liberation from false ideas about mental health and ill health, misguided expectations around curing, and unrealistic expectations concerning the nature of the good life we are called to live out with Jesus.
Within such a description of mental health, healing becomes something that may include cure but is not defined by it. Healing relates to those forms of practice in which the church engages, which can enable people to remain connected to Jesus at all times and in all places.
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Excerpted from Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of Christians with Mental Health Challenges by John Swinton ©2020 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.) Reprinted by permission of the publisher.