Sin does not merely corrupt our will and everyday choices; it degrades our very nature. This has been true since the Fall, and the devil continues to ambush God’s people daily through dark emotions of anxiety and distress. Article 1 of the Canons of Dort declares that the Fall brought “blindness, terrible darkness, futility, and distortion of judgment in his mind; perversity, defiance, and hardness in his heart and will; and finally impurity in all his emotions.” Events of war and famine have served to increase feelings of anxiety, and today the proliferation of social media and digital communication are having the same effect, as illustrated in “The Anxious Generation” by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Today, more than any generation before, my generation (Gen Z) is turning to mental health professionals for the solution.
Nearly 40% of Gen Z individuals have sought professional treatment for mental health, while 42% of the total Gen Z population have received a mental illness diagnosis. Mental health professionals spend time talking through emotions and problems with the patient, but they often resort to prescribing an antidepressant or anti-anxiety med. Prescribing a pharmaceutical solution assumes the patient is wrestling with a biological problem. It is true that sin corrupts the natural functions and abilities of the body, but it also affects our soul, which drives our will. As hard as they may try, someone attempting to lose weight will not be successful by just taking a pill; he must actively pursue health in his everyday life. In the same way, mental health does not have a one-and-done solution with a Xanax prescription. We do not merely suffer biological damage, but a spiritual sickness that stretches back to the sin of our first parents. This sickness corrupts both our body and our will. We are lost in sin and misery; we suffer external danger and damage from the world around us, but internally we are also helplessly lost in a cycle of falling for temptation. We choose the wrong methods of escape because our very way of thinking has been compromised. We need a heart change.
Belgic Confession Article 18 states that Christ “not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order that He might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, He had to assume them both to save them both together.” Christ suffered the brokenness of earth and was tempted as we are; yet, in His distress, He always relied on the Father. At the climax of His life as He is preparing for the crucifixion, He pours out His heart to God His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knows there is no one who cares for Him as His Father does, so He relies on Him for strength through every earthly sorrow and tribulation. As the author of Hebrews recognizes, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:15–16, ESV).
God’s people have been bought out of bondage to sin and are freed from its restraining power. We are new creatures who humbly receive grace from the hand of God because of Christ. Heidelberg Q&A #1 boldly claims that our only comfort in life and death is that we belong to Jesus Christ in body and soul. We have been fully redeemed by Christ’s blood, and we await new bodies and souls that fully glorifies God in the life to come. In the meantime, we will suffer with imperfect bodies and a distorted will on this earth, but also with the hope and assurance that we are being made more like Christ as we trust in Him.
Trusting in Christ as the One who takes away our sin and misery means living for Him alone and relying on no other means of safety. We have been bought with a price so that we will live for Him and have full joy in Him alone, much in contrast to the advice of modern mental health experts. The issue pinpointed by professionals in young people today is that we struggle with self-love. We’ve been hurt and have suffered greatly, but that is always someone else’s fault. Whether it was your parents, social constructs, stigmas, or something else, some force in the world has caused you to doubt your own value and ability to overcome. We love our selfies, our personal profiles, our personality tests, and our social media algorithm set for instant gratification that only reinforces our misunderstanding that we are the center of the universe. We must get rid of all who oppress us and focus on living a healthy lifestyle centered on our personal well-being.
At face value, the results this focus brings may not appear harmful. It may look like becoming a “crunchy girl” who regularly detoxes, uses essential oils, cuts out sugar or carbs, and does intense workouts. These are not sinful habits, but they fuel a culture that obsesses over the body that is wasting away. Balancing your hormones may relieve some physical discomfort and having an organized routine may help you feel more put together and purpose-driven, but they will not bring the peace your soul longs for. Similarly, New Age influence has caused many to spend time practicing yoga, mediation, crystals, and hypnosis with the assumption that the power to overcome distress is already inside you; you just need to unlock it. Again, this approach overlooks the invasion of sin which pervades every ounce of our being.
In “The Bondage of the Will” argument 4, Martin Luther calls sin the ultimate disease that our flesh faces day and night. And Christ is our only remedy. When we spend so much time and energy trying to please ourselves, we spend less time building relationships with others and building a relationship with God. This is evident in the low rates of marriage and the skyrocketing reports of loneliness today. No pharmaceutical prescription or self-focused routine or “power hidden within you” can heal the wounds of sin. As Saint Augustine writes, “our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”
Sin stretches to the heart of our being, but we have a Savior who not only regenerates our heart but watches over us in faithful love. We will face worry and the impending feeling that we are broken and insufficient, but the One who can bear all the trouble of the world stands in our place. We don’t seek perfection or satisfaction in this world; that would leave us in despair. Our hope lies in the One who overcame the world and is making all things new. In this “vale of tears,” we have a God who daily provides for our every need in His faithful providence.
Christ commands us, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matt. 6:34). A mindset of expressive individualism and an internal locus of control program us to believe we are empowered to fix whatever may be wrong with us. But Christ calls us to lean on Him in a childlike trust and obedience that He will surely provide for our every need out of His abundant love and grace that surpasses anything we can imagine.
Belgic Confession Art. 13 describes “The Doctrine of God’s Providence.” “This doctrine gives us unspeakable comfort since it teaches us that nothing can happen to us by chance but only by the arrangement of our gracious heavenly Father. He watches over us with fatherly care, keeping all creatures under His control, so that not one of the hairs on our heads (for they are all numbered) nor even a little bird can fall to the ground without the will of our Father. In this thought we rest, knowing that he holds in check the devils and all our enemies, who cannot hurt us without his permission and will.” In a world so fixated with individualism, a world that teaches us to take matters into our own hands, we must not forget God’s provision over all things. Nothing moves apart from His good decree; all of nature proceeds from His fatherly hand and care. This comfort allows us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
The effects of the disease of sin on this earth are pervasive and on the mind are real, but before resorting to the world’s solutions, let us take heart and look to the One who has overcome the world, and who daily sustains us by His good providence. It is human nature to take matters into our own hands and assume pharmaceutical solutions or changing our human behaviors will completely solve our problems because those things are in our control. However, the reality is, God Almighty is the One ruling and directing the universe. What a comfort it is that we are called to rest in His bounteous grace. He who bore all our suffering and anxieties calls us to rest daily in His grace as He promises to supply everything we need in His love and care.
Miss Sophie Memmelaar recently completed her freshman year at Dordt University in Sioux Center, IA. She is blessed to have grown up in a Christian home and in the Escondido United Reformed church in Escondido, CA.