Offering reckless commentary on issues outside your expertise has real effects on real people. When confused church leaders speak on combat trauma and PTSD, warriors suffer.
The numbers are mind-blowing. The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that more than 20 veterans and active-duty service members, guardsmen and reservists commit suicide every day in this country. That’s nearly one suicide every hour. More than 80 percent of them are veterans.
We need to build up hope and resiliency in our combat veterans. We need to work toward effective treatment that equips our brothers and sisters in arms to grow through their trauma. Increasing ignorance or spreading stigmatizing and demoralizing rhetoric is a step backwards.
Church leaders should lead the way in restoring hope and pointing toward the path of healing. And I’d encourage every pastor to reach out to a veteran, build a relationship, listen to their stories and struggles and walk alongside them. The Bible tells us to “not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Let us work together to sow hope and resiliency, not stigma and discouragement.
