We live in a brave new world. My seminary education never envisioned some of the issues which pastors now face on a regular basis. Thankfully there are godly Christian people out there who have been thinking through these issues.
I had never heard of cutting till five years ago. It is hard for me to even comprehend what depth of despair would drive a person to actually self-inflict such pain. This article addresses the issue from a godly perspective.
I had never heard of cutting till five years ago. It is hard for me to even comprehend what depth of despair would drive a person to actually self-inflict such pain. This article addresses the issue from a godly perspective.
The First Cut Is The Deepest: Self-Harmers In The Church
“People say it’s for attention but I dinnae think so. They just feel worthless.” (anonymous Scottish female)
What is the first thought that comes to mind when we say the words,“Self-Harm or Self-Injury?” For many it will be the image of a young person with prominent scars or burns on their arms. But to define the act of deliberately causing oneself harm takes in so much more than cutting and can include choking, biting, head banging, hitting, picking, scratching, self neglect, breaking bones, eating disorders, pulling out hair, scalding, removing limbs, genital mutilation, self-poisoning and so on. The list is almost endless.
A survey of Scottish young people stated that nearly 20% of females and 7% of males revealed that self-harming had been a lifetime occurrence. The UK has the highest rate of self-harm in Europe and the highest proportion of people who self-harm are statistically between 11 – 25 years of age. Sadly, self-harm is not confined solely to youth. It is something that we are very familiar with in women across all age ranges.
One of the best visual aids I’ve seen to help us understand self-harm is the simple party balloon. The balloon is a visual image of our lives when stress come calling. Trials appear and the pressure increases inside (and our balloon is blown up). Now, there are lots of ways of dealing with that pressure. Some just let it explode in anger (your balloon explodes, making a massive noise. However, the immediate pressure has gone. The downside is that the balloon is destroyed, made a mess and given those closest to you a bit of a fright). Others respond to stress by going AWOL (illustrated by letting go of the balloon and watching it float away, blown around in the wind until it comes back to earth fully deflated). Then there are those that self harm (illustrated by taking the neck of the pressurised balloon, pulling it tight and cutting a little bit of the rubber with scissors. The pressure is then slowly released, like a safety valve, from the balloon as it deflates bit by bit.
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