The Local Church: A Safe Place to Struggle?

In this audio talk, Tim Lane challenges the church to consider its true role in the lives of those struggling with psychiatric and emotional challenges. Is your church more like a country club for the well-adjusted or a hospital for the hurting? Lane calls listeners to see the church as a normal means of God’s grace—a place where sufferers, sinners, and saints are welcomed, loved, and cared for. He outlines practical ways the local church can embody this mission through preaching, sacraments, pastoral care, and mercy ministries. Rather than outsourcing care, Lane urges the church to embrace its calling to walk alongside strugglers, equipping every member to be a humble, compassionate conduit of God’s grace.