42: TTU | Why Is A Gentle Christ Critiqued?, Anger, Mental Health

Today's episode is dedicated to all who cling to Jesus' promise that in him, "you will find rest for your soul." May you find soul rest this week.

This week Trev, Vince and Philip's three topics all center around experiencing the gentleness of Christ, and how the church deals with the emotional life of believers. We flow from talking about a recent scathing review of ACBC's Biblical Counseling book of the year, Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund, to talking about what the Bible says about Anger, and how bottling it all up is not what the Bible teaches, and land on a discussion of Mental Health and the dynamics that keep people from taking it more seriously, all under the light of Christ's words, "Take my yoke, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Our aim in the first topic isn't to dissect the book review, but to understand the spiritual malady behind it; what Biblical analogies exist for groups that felt threatened by a Messiah who was compassionate toward sinners they rejected. What does this say about how we understand and pursue Christian maturity? Check Ephesians 4:11-16, esp v. 12. What is the importance of the phrase, "work of service"? See also Ex 33:18-19; 34:6-7.

Our discussion about anger tries to locate the balance between Eph 4:26 where we find the command, "Be angry" and James 1:20, "human anger doesn't produce divine righteousness". What is anger for? Is anger productive? How can we be angry well? How does this guide oppressed communities?

Finally on Mental Health we seek to understand the church's aversion to the topic by examining the doctrine of the Sufficiency of Scripture. Jeremy Pierre's message, "Considering How Scripture Relates to Other Sources of Knowledge for Soul Care" is a great resource here. Does the fact that the Scripture has all that is necessary for a faithful life before God imply that we should discourage people from counseling or therapy or thinking/feeling resources outside the church? How can churches encourage people to pursue care while fulfilling their pastoral role?Check out our earlier work about “Christian Worldview Analysis” for more on this topic.

Substance Shoutouts:

Trev: Southside Rabbi with Esau McCaulley

Vince: Peter Collins (not Phil Collins)

Philip: Propaganda

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