Saved but Still in Bondage
Consider how many of God’s people claim to be born-again, yet they are still captive and in bondage to things of their past. God never intended for His people to languish in depression and anxiety, have suicidal tendencies, and be dependent on medications and ongoing therapy to enable them to cope. That isn’t freedom!

Resurrected but Still Incapacitated
When Lazarus was raised from the dead, Jesus gave the command, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43). Jesus then gave a follow-up command, “Unwrap him and let him go!” (John 11:44).

We see from this example that even though Jesus gives a person new life, there are often entanglements (graveclothes) from a person’s former life that need to be taken off, and that person needs others to come alongside them to help them get free from those entanglements.

Salvation is rarely such a complete transformation that a person is immediately set free from all of their past sinful addictions and the lingering effects from years of wallowing in the sewage of sin.

Ministry of Jesus
From our experience we estimate that there are 50-80 percent of people in a given congregation that are still wearing grave clothes. They have never been set free. They are still carrying emotional baggage which is wearing them down and preventing them from being able to fully help others. This makes for a very feeble congregation when this condition is allowed to exist.

When Jesus returned from His 40-day fast, after having overcome Satan’s temptations, He entered His hometown of Nazareth, and it was there that He declared the nature of His ministry:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
   and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Freedom Ministries (Deliverance)
A major barrier to revival is the absence of ministries that can help people get the graveclothes off and enable them to stand and begin functioning at full capacity.

There are people who are burdened down with unforgiveness and they need help in knowing how to make the decision to forgive, knowing how to stand on that decision, and preventing Satan from undermining them and reconnecting their minds with the person who abused, hurt, or in any way did them wrong. Until they can exercise forgiveness, and stand on that decision, they will forever be bound in their graveclothes (see Consideration #5).

Ungodly Emotional Attachments (Soul Ties)
In addition to forgiveness, there is the issue new Christians have with ungodly emotional attachments, which some refer to as soul ties. These often have to do with past experiences, like
► Sexual abuse, molestation, rape, incest.
► Ungodly sexual involvement (sex prior to marriage, adultery, homosexuality, pornography, etc.).
► Fantasies about rock stars or movie stars.
► Attachments to ungodly music and movies.

These ungodly emotional attachments are not immediately broken once a person is born again. They are a type of graveclothes and people need help getting set free from them. These ungodly emotional attachments form fragmentations in a person’s mind (soul), and the only way wholeness and integration of the mind can occur is when these specific areas are dealt with and freedom is experienced.

Consider Mental Health
A congregation which is filled with people who are depressed, suffer from anxiety, or have been diagnosed with any type of mental illness–of any degree–is greatly hindered in effectiveness. It isn’t saying these individuals are incapable of helping and supporting their church’s mission in some way, but the mental illness will in some degree always hold them back from complete freedom and wholeness.

From our experience, we have found that over 90 percent of mental illnesses are caused by a spiritual condition, and not a neurological or biological one. These spiritual issues can be overcome and people can receive total healing. Attempting to bring healing to the mind without addressing the spiritual conditions results in futile exercises. There may be coping mechanisms or medications a psychologist or medical doctor can provide, but healing of the mind, outside of direct spiritual intervention, is unlikely to happen.

Mental and Medical Health Profession
We acknowledge that there are some who would greatly benefit from medications and psychological therapy, so we are not opposed to the mental health or medical profession, if those practitioners approach their work with a biblical worldview.

Some people experience such severe trauma that medications become extremely helpful in enabling the mind to stabilize and eventually receive healing, but as we said earlier, even with severe trauma, almost all mental health issues require spiritual intervention. Until the root of a person’s pain is ministered to, and that area of their soul is healed by the power of God, all other efforts of addressing the person’s condition will result in limited success.

Twin Approaches to Wholeness
We mentioned in Consideration #5 about harboring unforgiveness. Ungodly emotional attachments are very similar, in that they also adversely affect a person’s mental health. What we have found is that when these two issues are dealt with, most mental health issues vaporize.

The problem is that many people do not want freedom that badly. They are not desperate enough for total freedom. We have seen people get a measure of freedom, but when they understood that total freedom would cost them more than what they were willing to pay, they settled for partial freedom, and learned to cope with their depression and anxiety with medications, or they chose to use some other addictive coping mechanism to numb the lingering emotional pain.

The Choice to Retain Graveclothes
We have found that close to 50 percent of the people who start the process for freedom, stop. Once they see that they will have to personally invest effort in the process, they decide it isn’t worth it. Of the remaining 50 percent that continue, almost 100 percent of them experience freedom.

When God’s people are content with graveclothes, and are depending on medications to cope in life, they are prevented from walking in freedom, and this places a smile on Satan’s face, as he knows the lingering graveclothes will hinder the body of Christ from experiencing revival.

Video
We encourage you to watch our nine-minute video which shows how ungodly emotional attachments can affect a person. While watching, keep in mind that when a congregation is filled with people with tormented and fragmented minds, it forms a fragmented Church, blocking revival, and impeding that congregation from fulfilling the mission Christ gave it.

Return to the Index of Considerations