The Church’s Relevance to Your Health
By Eddie Moody
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Mt 16:18 ESV
Today many are concerned with making the church relevant. Perhaps this concern has arisen because of waning church attendance. Recently Mark Chaves published a book on trends in American religion. His research indicates that today 20% of all Americans say they do not belong to any religious group. This is a dramatic shift from the 1950s when only 3% would have said that. He notes that this does not mean these people deny the existence of God. They have simply chosen not to get involved with a religious community. In fact, only about 25% of Americans attend church today compared to the 35 to 40% who claim to do so [1].
The Benefit of Church Involvement
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Heb 10:24-25 ESV
Church is important. Yet in many cases believers and non-believers question the church’s relevance. Why should we attend church? What is the benefit? In addition to the spiritual benefits of church, it may come as a surprise to some that the church is also relevant to one’s physical and mental health as indicated by a growing body of research. Here are a few examples [2]:
- Religious people have healthier lifestyles. They tend to avoid alcohol, drug abuse, risky sexual behavior and other unhealthy habits.
- Religious people who suffer from physical illness have significantly better health outcomes than less religious people.
- People who attend religious services regularly have stronger immune systems than their less religious counterparts.
- Religious people live longer. Religious faith seems to protect one from cancer and heart disease.
- People who regularly attend church, engage in personal prayer, and read the Bible have significantly lower diastolic blood pressure than people who are less religious. In one study, those who had the lowest diastolic blood pressure performed religious activities often.
- People who attend church regularly are hospitalized less often than those who never or rarely attend religious services. One study compared people who were affiliated to a religious denomination to those who were not. Those affiliated with a religious denomination spent fourteen less days in the hospital [3].
- People with strong religious faith are less likely to suffer from depression as a result of a stressful event and more likely to recover than the less religious.
- The deeper a person’s religious faith, the less likely he or she is to be crippled by depression during or after hospitalization for a physical illness.
Being religious does not mean that one will not experience serious illness or poor health. We do not teach a “health-and-wealth” Gospel. But, when the inevitable stress of life threatens to overwhelm an individual, religious people persevere. They look above for help as opposed to looking within, and are better equipped to handle illness and adversity.
The cited findings were derived from studies involving “religious” people. People from a variety of religious traditions were included, however it appears that these samples contained many who characterize themselves as Christian. In one study, most of the participants attended traditional church at least once a week and three-quarters prayed privately once or more daily. Half read scriptural texts several times a week, and 52% indicated that their closest friends came from their church congregation. The sample called prayer an important part of their lives with 70% feeling they had experienced God’s love and care. Sixty-six percent thought people should seek God’s guidance in their lives [4].
What Kind of Religion Is Relevant—An Extrinsic or Intrinsic Orientation?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jas 2:17 ESV
Must one attend religious activities to get the benefit of religion? In one study on cigarette smoking, people that attended religious services at least once a week and prayed or studied the Bible at least daily were almost 90 percent more likely not to smoke than those who were less involved in religious activities. On the other hand, watching religious broadcasts did not protect people from smoking, although those who watched frequently smoked fewer cigarettes than those who watched no religious programming at all [5].
Why does public religious involvement have an impact on physical and mental health? Some have speculated that the health-related effects of religious involvement are the result of a psychological boost received from services and involvement with religious people leading to positive emotional states and beneficial personal relationships [6].
This raises a question, however. If that is the case, why not just attend church to improve one’s health and to increase life expectancy? Gordon Allport studied religious devotion back in the 1950s. He described two types of religious people. There are those with an extrinsic orientation that use religion to obtain some non-spiritual goal like finding friends or achieving social status, prestige, power or even improving one’s health. Then there are those with an intrinsic orientation who are religious for the sake of religion. Their strong faith is the principal motivating force in their everyday lives. Their faith impacts their behavior, decisions, and is characterized by a close relationship with God.
In his work, Dr. Harold Koenig has found that individuals with intrinsic faith generally have lower incidents of cancer, chronic anxiety, and measurable depression. In fact, intrinsic religiosity is a stronger factor than social status or financial security in determining elderly people’s self-perceived wellbeing and life satisfaction [7]. Therefore, extrinsic motivation, or being religious to obtain some other goal other than a relationship with God, tends to be ineffective. However, theoretically, one might still be impacted by the religious experience if the activities led them to focus upon and turn to God, which could eventually help their health [8].
For religion to be relevant it must be real and tied to actual beliefs. For example, forgiveness is a central part of Christianity. There is strong circumstantial evidence that there are biological correlates of traits associated with unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is associated with emotions, thoughts, and behaviors that have a negative impact on health [9]. Real religion leads one to forgive others that in turn benefits a person’s health.
Relevant or Irrelevant?
Since the evidence indicates that those who are actively involved in their faith and hold beliefs that impact their lives do better physically and spiritually, it is tempting to prescribe such involvement to improve the health of others. However, you can’t really prescribe spirituality that would be an extrinsic use of religion [10]. In his book “The Healing Power of Faith,” Dr. Koenig suggests a number of steps a religious person (or believer) might take to improve their own physical and mental health [11]. He offers ten suggestions for better health:
- Attend religious services more frequently and get involved. Become an usher, Scripture reader, Sunday school teacher, volunteer janitor, or nursery worker. Organize potluck dinners or garage sales. Join a prayer chain group.
- Identify your talents (musical, teaching, vocational skills) and use them to help the less fortunate in your church and community. Volunteer a couple of hours a week. Visit people in the hospital or nursing home or those that are homebound. Babysit children to give parents a night out.
- Attend a prayer or Scripture group study once a week. It is regular prayer and Bible study that provides the most benefit.
- Get up 30 minutes earlier in the morning and spend time in prayer. Pray for something and listen for God to answer.
- Take a few minutes to read Scripture daily.
- Pray a few minutes a day with your spouse and children. This is also an opportunity to express forgiveness.
- Before making decisions, pray about them and listen for God’s answer. Read relevant Scripture.
- Discuss with a trusted member of your church or clergy your thoughts and feelings about God.
- Make the effort to discuss religious topics with friends. Don’t argue, listen, learn and share.
- Try stepping out in your faith and doing something you have not tried before.
Many church leaders have suggested these types of activities to members in an effort to spur spiritual health. It is really amazing to consider they also have so much benefit for our physical and mental health. This shouldn’t surprise us since the faith Christians adhere to is no fiction. Even the everyday spiritual activities we aren’t always so committed to are relevant to our health. Ultimately, any activity associated with the church of God may be more “relevant” than we ever imagined.
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[1] M. Chaves. American Religion: Contemporary Trends. Princeton: Princeton University Press (2011).
[2] H. G. Koenig. The Healing Power of Faith: Science Explores Medicine’s Last Great Frontier. New York: Simon & Schuster (1999).
[3] H. G. Koenig, & D. B. Larson. Use of Hospital Services, Religious Attendance, and Religious Affiliation, Southern Medical Journal, 91 (10) (1988): 925-932.
[4] H. G. Koenig. Ibid. (1999).
[5] H. G. Koenig. Ibid. (1999).
[6] M. McCullough. Religious Involvement and Mortality: Answers and More Questions. In Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives (Eds. T. G. Plante, & A. C. Sherman). New York: The Guilford Press. (2001).
[7] H. G. Koenig, Ibid. 1999.
[8] E. E. Moody. Interview with Harold G. Koenig on the Religious Impact of Health: http://youtu.be/xspdcEY9WpE (2011).
[9] E. L. Worthington, J. W. Berry, & L. Parrott. Unforgiveness, forgiveness, religion, and health. In Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives (Eds. T. G. Plante, & A. C. Sherman). New York: The Guilford Press. (2001).
[10] H. G. Koenig. Spirituality in Patient Care: Why, How, When and What. Philadelphia & London: Templeton Foundation Press. 2001.
[11] H. G. Koenig. Ibid. 1999.
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About the Author: Eddie Moody is a professor at North Carolina Central University where he has been a counselor educator since 1995, and served as chair of the Department since 2001. He serves as pastor at Tippett’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Clayton, NC. He is the author of First Aid for Emotional Hurts and the Randall House booklet series First Aid for Your Emotional Hurts. He has helped people with a variety of problems as a minister, and he has worked with troubled youth in correctional settings. 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 Free Will Baptist Bible College in pastoral training. He and his wife, Lynne, live in North Carolina, along with their two children Mackenzie and Mitchell. You can learn more about his work by visiting http://www.firstaidforemotionalhurts.com/
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