The worldwide evangelical community has been rocked of late with personalities either renouncing the faith or their lives. Quite expectantly, questions related to their salvation have risen. Were they Christians in the first place? Have they lost their salvation? Are they in hell? Painful questions but not difficult to answer. “We are called to be witnesses (Acts 22:15), not to judge. Only Jesus can judge,” a missionary friend reminded me.

In the court of law, we can easily tell who the judge is and who the witness is and are able to differentiate their roles and responsibilities. The judge is the one with authority to decide based on the testimony given by the witnesses who in turn whose only responsibility is to tell truthfully what they know or have seen. I have yet to hear of an incident where a witness was mistaken to be the judge.

In the same way, the line is clearly drawn in our Christian daily walk. We should know that we are “mere” witnesses while Jesus alone is the judge. But experience has shown how we can be cited for contempt or being out of order by usurping the judge’s role. It is easier to judge perhaps to hide the fact that we have little or none to speak of “what we know and have seen” (John 3:11).

But surely those questions are valid? Yes but let us ask not to judge them particularly those who have renounced the faith. Let us raise them to reflect on our own spiritual walk. Are we truly Christians? Are we walking in the light to shine for others to see or have we used our light to blind others with our sanctimonious behavior? Or have we dimmed it that when light was needed, it wasn’t there to stop others from giving up? Yes, ultimately it is their decision but have we been contributory to their walking away? And what did we do or have done since their renouncing? Have we opened our arms to make them rethink or have we pointed a finger to validate their decision?

As for those who have quit life altogether, I find it sad that the only time I hear of Jarrid Wilson is when he has killed himself. It is even sadder that his name might forever be associated with how he died. For those seeking answers to where he might be now, let us remember that God is just and find assurance in the words of his mentor: “When you stand before God, you won’t be judged by the last thing that you did before you died. You’ll be judged by the last thing Jesus did before He died.”

Let us also use this sad event to reflect on our own. What have we done to brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering from mental illness? Have we been dismissive by telling them to just snap out of it, stop enjoying their pity party, or worse, rebuke them: “Akala ko ba Christian ka? Nasaan yun joy mo?”  Things are even more difficult when the sufferers are in leadership positions because they are supposed to be perfect. They never need our help or our prayer support; they exist only to meet our needs.

Friends, let us give sense to what happened to Jarrid and the other pastors. Let us take this time to understand mental illness and how to minister to people (Christians and otherwise) suffering from it while they are still with us. Let us give them hope and shine a bright light at the end of the tunnel.