Crucial Conversations: We Are Saved, But Are We Well? 3 John 1:1-2, 9-11, II Timothy 1:7

Today, we begin a new series as we pause to reflect, from a theological perspective, on National Mental Health Awareness Month. I have named this series Crucial Conversations because I believe it is essential that we create a dialogue among the faithful about the many issues we confront in this new century, which is just a quarter old yet resonates with stupendous change, momentous challenge, and tremendous complexity.

More importantly, we need to have crucial conversations among believers because the Bible, which governs our beliefs, is not a static document but rather a narrative of conversations between God and the humans God has created. Indeed, it is a book of a dynamic, relational interaction between God and humanity — a humanity wrestling with divine truth!

Look at God in the Bible! God is having conversations with humanity: Moses about the liberation of his people. Job, about the meaning of life. The Psalms, about what it means to praise God in the middle of life’s vicissitudes. The prophets, about peace and justice.

Look at Jesus in the New Testament! He’s having conversations with his disciples about the kingdom of God and what that means. He’s having conversations with skeptics, with demon-possessed people, with his family, and with officials tethered to Roman imperialism!

The Bible is a book of conversations!

Our “conversations” over the next few weeks will focus on subject matters that are not too often discussed, subjects such as mental health, domestic violence, spirituality, peace and justice, among others, conversations within the context of living while Black in America or LWB!

What is a Crucial Conversation?

Now, you may ask, what is a crucial conversation? The authors of the very book of that subject — Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High — define it thusly: a discussion between two or more people in which they hold 1.) Opposing views about 2.) a high-stakes issue and where 3.) emotions run strong.

We are having national conversations now. About democracy. About war. About deportations. About voting rights.

Believers cannot be absent from these conversations.

Our conversations will be intellectually responsible and will reflect the message of the gospel and the content of faith.

Why Do We Need to Have Crucial Conversations?

Because the time in which we live demands it! The stakes are high. Our very well-being is in question. And because we need, I feel, a theology of wellness, a theology which connects spiritual salvation with a holistic, practical life-improving praxis. Most notably, we need crucial conversations for the recovery of belief, as the metrics point to a steady decline in the loss of such faith, less than a decade after a global pandemic.

Are We Well?

Our first conversation in this series centers on our mental health as a community (considering its national emphasis during May).

I am not going to recite a bunch of negative statistics regarding the mental health of Black America, but let me cite a single, jaw-breaking finding:

63% of African Americans currently believe mental health conditions indicate weakness.

(National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI)

Our “survival at all costs” mentality — where we remain staunch, confident, and strong in the face of severe adversity — has produced the very effects it seeks to avoid: depression, suicide ideation, and a sense of loneliness.

Black men lead in attempted suicides and report greater suicidal ideation than Black women.

Where does this come from? Dr. Ruth White of USC’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck’s School of Social Work opines:

“A widespread survivalist mentality was borne from slavery and racism, which oppressed Black citizens into silence; now, trying to raise mental health with African Americans may be taken as an affront to their survivability, as they have survived so much adversity and now someone is going to say there is something wrong with us.”

Read: Don’t call me “crazy”!

Does the Bible explicitly suggest its authority as a “mental health” document (as in: “read here for your best mental health”)? No! But I submit that the Bible is indeed good for one’s mental health! Does the Bible act as the sole mental health vehicle for a person or people suffering from mental illness and anxiety? Of course not! I suggest one seek professional treatment for whatever troubles one’s mental well-being.

Why converse about it, though? Because studies prove that just opening and talking about our mental health — whether individually or collectively — goes a long way in helping us to cope, and eventually overcome, our issues.

Add to that, collectively speaking, we are indeed at a crossroads in our country about the viability of public wellbeing — for all people — not just Black people! But as usual, Black people bear the brunt of racist policy and actions — which, inevitably and invariably, create havoc for our mental wellness. In the first year of the Trump administration alone, we have witnessed:

· The massive assault on the Black middle-class through the elimination of thousands of federal jobs

· Rollbacks on voting rights

· Cuts in funding such as free breakfast programs, SNAP, and other programs

· Cuts in education funding in programs that specifically targeted African Americans

· The DEI assault leading to companies scaling back initiatives aimed at promoting Blacks, women, and other minorities

I ask again: Are we well? We are the most religious Protestant ethnic group in America, according to Pew Research. We lead all ethnic groups in weekly church attendance. We read our Bibles and pray more than any other group in America. But are we well?

Our well-being as a people has always been tied and tethered to our sojourn in America. As someone much wiser than I put it: when white America sneezes, Black America catches pneumonia!

We are only as well as our brother or sister is well. The question is, are we well? That is, in our body, mind, and spirit, are we realizing the “abundant life” Christ speaks into us? In the face of repeated attempts — most recently the Supreme Court decision to limit the role of race in redistricting or gerrymandering politically motivated maps that determine representation in Congress (read: who holds power and who reaps from said power) — attempts which are only the latest signs of racial resentment that have defined our entire journey in this yet to be United States of America!

Are we well? Are we holding up? Or are we showing signs of fascist fatigue?

Introduction to 3 John

The writer of 3 John is also intrigued by this very question of how the parishioners of the Asia Minor churches he helped to found are doing in terms of their holistic well-being. John “the Elder” is concerned! He writes about the wellness of these saints in the face of evil.

The Elder wrote this letter to commend and encourage his fellow worker, Gaius, in his ministry of hospitality to the nomadic messengers of the gospel, who were traveling throughout Asia Minor preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In particular, John writes to Gaius regarding Diotrephes, with whom John had ministered. John writes of him, “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.” (3 John 9).

What’s happening in this region of believers?

One, Diotrephes, referenced by John, had taken over one of the churches in the region. Two, Diotrephes’ leadership style was apparently dictatorial. Three, the congregation was subjected to a form of evil, which was metastasizing among its members, for John also adds, “do not imitate what is evil but what is good” (3 John 11).

This appears to be, then, a group of believers under Satanic assault, resisting evil in the form of a dictatorial leader whose only goal was to make life as difficult as he could for them, while, at the same time, resisting any intervention from the Apostle or anyone else. And John writes to Gaius, urging him to keep his body healthy, his mind healthy, and his spirit UP! In other words, John wanted Gaius and the saints he oversaw to be well.

Now I ask you, my friends: do these circumstances sound familiar? A takeover. A dictatorial leader. An infestation of evil (people and policies).

“Don’t push me cuz I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head!” ~Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

As John writes to Gaius, checking in on him and his health, we must do likewise. We must engage in crucial conversations.

“Dear friend, I hope that all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” (NLT)

John the Elder is invested in the holistic wellness of Gaius and those whom he leads. His desire is for them to be as strong in body as they are in spirit, which encompasses their mental, emotional, and psychological well-being, too! To be mentally well is to be spiritually well and vice versa; the two are inextricably connected. We know, for instance, that higher levels of spiritual contentment are correlated with lower levels of stress and depression.

We Are Saved, But Are We Well?

In his seminal work, And We Are Not Saved, the late legal scholar and civil rights activist, Dr. Derrick Bell, in reflecting on the illusion of progress in the face of persistent racism, writes, “It appears that my worst fears have been realized: we have made progress in everything, yet nothing has changed.” (Read: Everything changes. Everything remains the same).

One reviewer suggests that Dr. Bell called for a deeper understanding of how African Americans have reacted to the vicious forces of racial resentment, inequity, and injustice in America, and how integral to American society such forces are.

The title of Dr. Bell’s book is telling alone.

Salvation is the hallmark of the Christian faith and the hope of our eternity. It is the basis of our everyday living and how we tap into God’s ineffable power.

When Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “I have complete confidence in the gospel”, he attaches his explanation: “for it is God’s power to save all who believe”. (Romans 1:16)

The key words ‘power’ and ‘believe’ are bookended by ‘save’ in the above translation.

‘Salvation’ is to be delivered from something. In this context, the Greek word points to a righteousness attained only by the work of Christ. In other New Testament contexts, though, salvation’ carries a meaning of ‘get well’, as if recovering from a disease, and this is the spirit of John’s sentiment to Gaius and to the members of that Asia Minor congregation under spiritual attack: Get well. Stay well.

The fundamental question facing us at the cusp of a new millennium and on the heels of tremendous change, momentous challenge, and stupendous complexity is this:

Do we believe in the power of our salvation?

Even more, do we believe in the efficacy of our salvation? That is, do we believe that God is working through the means of his salvific grace to produce desired results: the building of His kingdom on earth? Lastly, what do those results look like?

We believe and accept that God desires our salvation, but the real question is, do we believe that God wants us to be well? If so, what is wellness? And, what is wellness as it relates to the believer and the building of God’s kingdom on earth?

To begin with, we know that while salvation is an ‘action’, wellness, even on a spiritual line, is a process. God births us into a new life in Christ and launches the believer into a developmental cycle, with the endgame being spiritually mature people who are also well-adjusted mentally and physically — in other words, they all matter!

At the beginning of black theology in America, as our ancestors wrestled with the reality and effects of slavery, that theology was future-oriented; thus, it pointed to a home in heaven. Some would derisively refer to it as “pie in the sky”.

We were just trying to keep our sanity! And we still are! “Don’t push me cuz I’m close to the edge/I’m trying not to lose my head!”

That’s an everyday reality for Black people!

In the twenty-first century, the consequences of slavery are still with us. Our community is at the top of most negative health, wellness, and education outcomes and at the bottom for positive ones.

Which brings me back to my initial question: We are saved, but are we well?

(Read: Are we losing our sanity?!)

Our willingness to answer these questions produces three (among many) wellness inflection points:

One: The overall physical health of our community. A recent article highlighted by the publication, The Lancet, suggests black people are experiencing morbidity at higher levels than the general public. The culprit: centuries of racism. Racism kills.

Two: The spiritual, educational, and social wellness of our Black boys. The Black boy demographic is the hardest hit of all demographics in the black community.

Three: The common mental health of Black people, considering the progressive effects of financial, economic, racial, and relational stress and the hemorrhaging of hope it produces.

All three have one thing in common: the repercussions of living while Black in America.

What’s scarier is the impact of such realities on our faith. Polls show that the Black Protestant grouping — the most religious demographic in America — is losing belief in astounding numbers. Weekly church attendance has dropped alarmingly on the heels of the recent pandemic, but further evidence suggests the trend began even decades before the pandemic.

Our history demonstrates an incredible survival story against all odds. Over time, even when those pillars that held us up — our faith the most — were showing signs of wear and tear.

Conclusion

How do Black clergy people minister to this bewildering circumstance? How do we convince the sixty-three percent of our congregants who occupy our pews each Sunday that they are not “weak” for getting the help they may desperately need? How do we keep hope alive? How do we stay in the struggle for peace and justice in America — even when we are close to the edge?

We must ingrain this redemptive hermeneutical principle:

Seeking mental health treatment as a believer is a sign that your faith is strong, not weak!

This hermeneutic is guided by one thing: God’s Spirit. (II Timothy 1:7) It is not our strength, but God’s spirit and the Holy Spirit is an intelligent being!

God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, temperance, and of a sound mind.

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (NIV)

Our theology must meet the moment. As the Apostle John writes to Gaius, checking in on him and his health, we must do likewise.

Dear friend, I hope that all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. (NLT)

That’s the conversation! That’s the conversation we must begin and the one we must continue! We must engage in crucial conversations.

Raising awareness. Inspiring change. Influencing faith.

Pastor C. can reached at: info@pastorwericcroomes.com