First Aid for Emotional Hurts: An Interview with Eddie Moody
“People need the Lord. At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door,” sings Steve Green. Indeed, people need the Lord because they are broken. They need to be mended and comforted. This is the tone and approach Eddie Moody takes in the opening chapter of First Aid for Emotional Hurts: A Biblical Approach to Helping People through Difficult Times, revised and expanded (Nashville: Randall House, 2018). Believers are tasked with the responsibility of giving this care to others. However, in order to provide care for others, we must first prepare to do so. The Helwys Society Forum is pleased to interview Eddie and talk about his most recent book.
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Zachery Maloney: Eddie, thanks for taking time to do this interview to discuss your new book, which is entitled First Aid for Emotional Hurts: A Biblical Approach to Helping People through Difficult Times, revised and expanded (Nashville: Randall House, 2018). Readers will be familiar with the first edition of this book, which was published in 2008. Please begin by telling us a little about the revised edition and why these topics mean so much to you.
Eddie Moody: Zach, thank you for taking the time to interview me. I appreciate the good work you and the Helwys Society Forum are doing. In the First Aid revision, we highlight how every Christian is called to help hurting people. We describe the tools and techniques found in the Bible that we have received to answer that call to help others. Too often we see someone who is struggling after a loss or with an addiction or mental illness and assume that is the territory of the psychiatrist, psychologist, professional counselor, social worker, or even the pastor. In the revision, we’ve placed more emphasis upon how every Christian is called to be an ambassador for Christ, which often involves helping people who do not know Him yet and bearing the burdens of other believers. Jesus called those who are hurting to come to Him—that means He is sending hurting people to Christians since we operate as His hands and feet in the world.
So how do we fulfill this calling? We focus on the tools every Christian has (e.g., prayer, the Word, our own words, the church, and our various relationships). In the opening chapters of First Aid, we describe how to utilize these tools to help people we encounter in our lives. Later in the book, we specify how to utilize these tools in specific situations (e.g., grief and loss, depression, anxiety, addictions, psychosis, family problems). We also break down the techniques needed to provide emotional first aid to those with emotional hurts and how to utilize those techniques (as one would do with physical first aid). Later in the book, we describe how to use these techniques to help people with the problems we are most likely to encounter.
Why does this mean so much to me? Helping hurting people is a mechanism God often uses to reach people. Because some people are more open to Christianity when they are in pain, it is critical that we provide hurting people with the aid God has commanded us to give them. Helping is also critical to strengthening other believers—this is one of the main functions of the church. Further, the needs of hurting people are not being addressed well today. If a state is going to cut government spending, it will frequently be in the area of mental health treatment, and it seems harder to get people professional preparation to meet these needs. Consider the current shortage of psychiatrists in the United States, which the data indicate will only get worse. The task of helping hurting people is left to the church and the call goes out in particular to individual Christians.
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ZM: How well do you think the church is doing in responding to the needs of hurting people?
EM: I am very concerned about what appears to be a spirit of consumerism that has swept over the church. As you know, I have been a bi-vocational pastor for nearly eighteen years. The number one question I receive when I invite someone to church is, “What programs does your church offer?” Programs and having one’s needs met are important, but it seems like many American Christians today navigate the world as a tourist and view their role in a church as one of being served. This attitude is in complete opposition to the service approach that we need. In First Aid, we focus on how God has called the Christian to operate in the world as an ambassador rather than as a tourist. We are trying to equip people to seek ways to serve others rather than focusing on being served.
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ZM: Scripture should be the main source of authority in our lives. I like how you use the Good Samaritan and Barnabas as examples who help people around them. What kind of role does Scripture play in the helping process?
EM: We can’t really give people the kind of help they need without being people of the book. In the early church, Christians were in the Word and so the Word went everywhere they went. As they encountered people with problems (e.g., marriage and job problems), they provided Scriptural answers to those problems (the teachings of Jesus and Paul). We must do the same. Whether you are encountering someone struggling with the death of a child or an entangling sin, Scripture comforts and guides us to help that person. Scripture also teaches us what to provide that person (e.g., being present, performing acts of kindness). A thorough knowledge of (and usage of) Scripture is also critical to dispel many of the debilitating myths people hold that inhibit their ability to get better (e.g., bad things don’t happen to good people). Even non-believing psychologists like the late Albert Ellis recognize the value of Scripture. He correctly claimed that the Bible had done more to help people change than all of the professional therapists combined. It is critical that we know what the Scripture teaches about helping a person with a particular problem and be prepared to walk them through the usage of Scripture to help them through a struggle (like Psalm 46 after a tragic death).
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ZM: Scripture makes clear how believers are obligated to help those who are weak (Rom. 15:1). Building off that point, you talk about how “time is the most valuable investment we can make in others” (First Aid, 17). You say later in the book how “[t]here is nothing that ties people together more than going through a crisis together” (First Aid, 113). There are people all around us who need our attention and investment. How important is the church during this process?
EM: The church is extremely critical. It is one of the tools we describe in the beginning of the book and then we discuss throughout how the church can be used with each of the major problems people face. We know from Scripture that the church is critical to an individual thriving, but the research consistently indicates this as well for children that attend at least one service a week. No matter what the problem may be that you are struggling with (except perhaps obesity), the church helps. However, the research on church attendance tends to be for those who are really involved in their church. We encourage people to ask themselves, “Should you be in an accident tomorrow, will you hear from people in your church?” In other words, for church to work (or help), as we describe in First Aid, you must know people well enough that they miss you when you are away, provide support to you when something goes awry, and hold you accountable when you get off track. Even non-believing helping professionals will encourage those who struggle with a mental illness to attend church—but the key is that the church contains the components we see in the New Testament.
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ZM: I’ve heard it said that the gospel cures the most important things immediately, and it cures everything eventually. Suffering is a reality in a fallen world. How do we handle suffering through the helping process and not fall prey to a type of prosperity teaching that seeks to eradicate suffering now?
EM: The tentacles of the prosperity gospel reach far—even into homes and churches of those who would reject them. I probably average hearing from someone somewhere several times a week who assumes they are suffering because they have done something wrong. These people are part of Bible teaching churches (usually in ministry themselves). They know they are sinners but can’t quite figure out what they’ve done to bring on their suffering. I think even those of us who would reject the prosperity gospel often struggle to prepare our congregations for the inevitable bad days that will eventually come their way.
It is imperative we teach and convey to others that bad things happen to good people and that suffering is a normal and expected part of life. If you think about it, you can’t read the Bible without seeing this thread. Because of sin, there is death and suffering. Suffering will continue until the Lord returns. I think we are all likely guilty of trying to sweep suffering under the rug, and who can blame us? No one wants to hear about suffering. Over ten years ago, I was doing a series on suffering (I admit it had probably gone too long), and I remember someone walking into service and saying, “Oh no, not Job again!” Message received. Now I will say about two weeks later I received a call about a house fire. I rushed over to the home and as I walked up the home was fully engulfed in flames. The homeowner looked at me and pointed to their house and said, “Job.” That series was helpful after all. Preaching and teaching on suffering can be a bit like eating your broccoli: No one wants to hear about it until you need it.
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ZM: Many of our readers are filling the role of preaching and counseling each week. Explain how counseling is different from preaching and teaching.
EM: Well, it will probably be a surprise to you that I do not think those in ministry should be doing a lot of counseling. Pastors are called to preach and teach, and their focus needs to be on those areas. If we preach and teach the Scripture well, there will be less need to counsel. We are also called to equip our congregation. I think a pastor’s time is better spent equipping his congregation to meet the needs of each other (and those they encounter in the community) than to spend several hours each week counseling others.
I see what pastors do as they minister to those in their congregation as an extension of their pulpit ministry. For example, if you are ministering to someone struggling with anxiety, you can walk them through Philippians 4 and discuss with them the importance of rejoicing in the Lord and talking to the Lord as soon as they get tense. Then you look at how to focus their thoughts on something proactive rather than ruminating on what might go wrong (Phil. 4:8), and then being content whether things are going well or poorly in life. This is what we mean in First Aid when we talk about our words being a tool. Our words need to consist of an application of the Scripture to the particular problem a person has. Our helping and counseling is simply part of the ministry of the Word.
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ZM: Current statistics show that 5.5% of the population suffers from depression and that 20% of people will go through a type of depression in their lifetime. Depression is a serious matter. How should we think about depression, and how should we help those who are struggling with this problem?
EM: Well, you know I am going to point you to chapter 5 in the book and to my depression booklet, which are more detailed than what I can do here, but I will provide you with a brief synopsis. First, you want to determine whether this is really depression. We walk the reader through the symptoms in chapter 5 of First Aid. Notice how each symptom has a corresponding Scripture. We do this because so many people believe the myth, “Christians don’t get depressed.” We are trying to help the reader see that the Psalmist and Elijah experienced these same symptoms.
It is important to help people to get into the practice of describing their symptoms accurately and succinctly. Many will struggle to get access to competent helping professionals so they need to make the most of that time when it takes place. A key issue with depression is whether it is major depression or bipolar depression so the person can help by letting their health care professional know if they have ever experienced a manic episode. There are major differences in treatment approaches, and a helper will need to know they are going to have to provide far more support to someone struggling with bipolar depression.
Regarding helping someone who is depressed, there is no better example than the way God dealt with Elijah. We can utilize that approach if we use the same tools and techniques God used. In a nutshell, God attended to Elijah (came to him in the cave), listened to him (as he ruminated), responded to him (especially in addressing his physical needs), and got him active (the key word being “Go”).
Now with depression (especially bipolar depression), there will often need to be treatment with medication. This is the “Find the Inn” technique we describe in First Aid. It is best if the helper (and pastor) knows a bit about medication. Over the years, I have heard some crazy things from Christians about taking medication (e.g., “If you have enough faith, you don’t need medication”), so we need to be prepared to knock some of these myths down. Consider the statement on people with faith not needing to take medication: you don’t hear the same kind of statements over people with diabetes not needing to take insulin or someone with cancer not needing chemotherapy or radiation. In a way, when God had Elijah eat and drink during his depression, He was giving Him medicine. God was clearly addressing His physical needs. Even when God sent the message that Hezekiah would be healed, He still told him to apply figs to his wounds. Some depressed people will not need medication to get better, but some will not get better without it. When we mishandle problems like this, we harm the cause of Christ and those who are hurting.
We also know that the Scripture (so many of the Psalms) can be a comfort to someone who is depressed. We can point our friends to those and we can be willing to journey with them as they go through this valley. Take the time to take your friend on a walk and monitor a bit that they are eating properly and getting into a routine (getting up at the same time and going to bed at the same time). Finally, we can help them attack their problems. Note, after God corrected Elijah with the truth (there are many who haven’t bowed to Baal), He gave him several problems to work on and a partner (Elisha). It worked. Compare the Elijah of 1 Kings 21 to the one in chapter 19. That is God’s approach and results.
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ZM: Thank you so much for your time, and I hope that Forum readers will benefit from the insights of your new book.
EM: Thank you for taking the time to interview me!
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About the Author: Edward E. Moody Jr. has been a counselor educator at North Carolina Central University since 1995. He is a professor of counselor education and associate dean of the school of education. He also serves as pastor at Tippett’s Chapel in Clayton, North Carolina. He has a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in counselor education, an M.A. from Middle Tennessee State University in clinical psychology, and a B.A. from Welch College in pastoral training. He is a licensed professional counselor supervisor as well as a licensed health services provider-psychological associate. The Licensed Professor Counselor Association of North Carolina honored him as their Counselor of the Year in 2016. He and his wife, Lynne, live in North Carolina, along with their two children.
April 5, 2018
Thanks so much for taking time to share that “Life Hurts” –even for the Christian, and that it is normal. I like the part where Eddie says “It is imperative we teach and convey to others that bad things happen to good people and that suffering is a normal and expected part of life. If you think about it, you can’t read the Bible without seeing this thread.”
From the years that I was fortunate enough to sit under Pastor Eddie’s teaching, he did just that in a positive way. But not many Pastors do really. I also read Corrie Ten Boom’s book The HIding Place, as a child–and that profoundly impacted me. It helped me understand that God does not always prevent suffering for those He loves. In fact, as Eddie says…in the New Testament it is more the norm. Somehow we–in America–seem to keep having a crisis of faith when bad things happen to us personally.
I think part of it is due to not teaching our children (at young ages) the themes of suffering in the Bible– I noticed when mine were little that children’s Bibles tend to have only the “happy ending” stories in them; maybe if we incorporated missionary stories, along with the New Testament stories of the apostles, it would help us Westerners, who are not experiencing persecution, to better withstand days of suffering as it has helped me to simply know the story of Corrie Ten Boom.