Worship In an Age of Anxiety

By Rev. Jake Thurston

James was crippled with anxiety. Everyday felt like a ton of bricks welled up in his chest, shortening his breath, completely aghast at how he could handle the troubles his life had thrown upon him. After feeling this way for months, he finally mustered up the courage to talk to his pastor about it. Surely Pastor John will understand, James thought. He’ll know what to do.

 “What? You’re feeling anxious? Don’t you know Paul says in Philippians 4:6, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God?’ If we believe God’s Word is true, then your anxiety is most likely a reflection of your prayer life. Have you tried praying more?”

To which James replies, “Wow, thanks, Pastor…” For nothing, he finishes in his mind.

Anxiety is at epidemic proportions in our society. The mental health crisis is impacting people of all ages and backgrounds, and has become a core struggle of our congregants in this current cultural moment. Unfortunately, as well meaning as Pastor John was, his response as a pastor is all too common to people who struggle with anxiety. 

But according to Rev. Dr. Michael Jordan, it shouldn’t have to be this way.

In his book, Worship in an Age of Anxiety, Jordan advises church leaders on how to effectively minister in today’s mental health epidemic. He first explores how 19th-century revivalists have shaped some of the modern church’s dispositions towards anxiety in what he calls the “Anxiety-Repentance-Relief Cycle.” Charles Finney, for example, viewed anxiety as a natural consequence of sin, and therefor emphasized repentance as a solution, almost pegging salvation as a spiritual antidepressant that alleviates her mental health struggles. Dwight Moody, on the other hand, would intentionally craft his sermons with emotionally-charged stories and tactics that heightened people’s anxiety, which he then leveraged to encourage conversions.

But Jordan contends that these approaches to ministering to anxiety are reductionistic—that anxiety is the byproduct of a sin-filled life, and prayer and repentance are the solutions to peace. This sentiment is what has led to churches offering altar calls, sometimes on a weekly basis, where “anxiety” about the condition’s of one’s soul leads them to repent of their sins and experience relief from the Prince of Peace. While this stance isn’t wrong, and even has grounds in Scripture (as every anxious person’s favorite verse—Philippians 4:6—says), Jordan says the issue is more complex than that, and the church’s approach to addressing it should be more nuanced.

First, anxiety isn’t evidence of lack of faith, but is an emotion that everyone feels from time to time. People today can even feel what Jordan calls “meta-anxiety,” or feeling anxious about being anxious, because it’s perceived that there must be something wrong with you if you feel anxiety. Helping our people realize that anxiety is a normal part of daily life can alleviate meta-anxiety in itself.

Second, anxiety can, in some instances, be a good thing. “You’re entitled to have feelings, and you feel feelings for very good reasons,” Jordan says. “Sometimes there are good reasons for what you're feeling because there's actually a degree of danger or peril that you're in, and anxiety can kind of wake you up to that.” In fact, the physiological reason why anxiety feels bad is to drive us to address the anxiety-inducing issue strictly so we no longer have to feel anxious. Anxiety can even reveal the extent someone cares about something. “You don’t tend to feel anxious about things you don’t care about,” says Jordan. “Anxiety can be something that really reveals to you something about what you love, what you care about, what your vocation is”

    Lastly, anxiety can become troublesome when those feelings don’t line up with reality. This can occur when someone has thought up a myriad of “What if?” questions about a situation, and is therefore more concerned about what could happen versus what is actually happening. Therefore, it’s important to help a congregant with these anxieties walk through those perceptions in a way that grounds them in reality. 

In sum, the central question Jordan’s book addresses is this: How do churches contribute to or hinder an individual’s journey of self-discovery and healing amidst their anxiety? While prayer and offering thanks to God are one piece of the puzzle, Jordan’s book suggests church leaders can take additional steps to help heal anxious minds, like offering weekly prayer and repentance opportunities, tapping into the power of sacramental rituals, filling in your knowledge gaps about anxiety, all while helping people understand and process their experiences in a healthy and honest way.

If you want to learn more about Dr. Michael Jordan’s work, pick up a copy of his book, Worship in an Age of Anxiety: How Churches Can Create Space for Healing.