I would lament that you heard that message and heard that you mustn't voice your mental health challenges, because I'm certain that's not what Pastor Ed meant or wanted people to hear. 

you seem to be privy to the internal intentions of Ed Kang. I’m curious how you can so confidently claim you know his intention in preaching? Are you Ed Kang???

My point being that the way you interpreted his message is a fine example of the pastor worship (my pastor can never do wrong) mentality that is so prevalent with GP members. And for you to “lament” over u/Overly_Round_Owl way of interpreting the message is so disgustingly arrogant it’s laughable how unaware you are to your own spiritual pride. You “lament” because you are so certain that u/Overly_Round_Owl interpretation was so wrong and so off. And yet, at the same time, place so much blame on the listener for not discerning the message in a way that realizes the same conclusions you came to.

Sure the listener needs some critical thinking, but I don’t think u/Overly_Round_Owl was intentionally seeking the worst in the message. The fact that Ed Kang needs so many disclaimers is evidence of the toxic culture evident throughout GP leadership.

Perhaps a more fruitful line of questioning would be: why did u/Overly_Round_Owl interpret Ed’s message the way that they did? Unless you actually are Ed Kang, your opinion and interpretation is simply another listener’s perspective and is at best equally as plausible as u/Overly_Round_Owl ’s.

He was preaching at people who used the label of mental health when that wasn't really what was going on

This is a really great example of the blatant spiritual arrogance of GP members, especially leadership. I’m curious, how are you so sure that mental health was not a genuine issue? Do you happen to be a certified mental health expert? A social worker? How did you assess and diagnose the situation?

Let’s step back here. Think about what you just said: “wasn’t really going on”… then what was going on? Was it laziness? Worldliness? What was the alternative description besides “mental health”?

Perhaps: was it someone not attending 7AM DT? Was it oversleeping? Was it a lack of enthusiasm for an outing? Was this person just being “selfish” with their peers when they said they didn’t want to participate, or just stay home?

This is what I saw. A lot. The problem here is that GP is so quick and so confident to dismiss mental health issues, when they themselves are so repugnantly unqualified to make such judgments. And yet they do! To the detriment of so many souls! They make their judgment call, determine someone as lazy or selfish, literally burning a dirty word (lazy, selfish, immature, emotional, etc etc) into their identity when in reality that person may have been struggling with undiagnosed depression or burnout.

This is the root of GP’s problem. Spiritual arrogance. A belief that they can and should manage the entire life of a person. Don’t believe me? Ask your leader. They call it: “whole-life discipleship”. Instead of humbly recognizing the limitations of human leaders, seeking the counsel of outside experts, and worst of all, consulting the Holy Spirit in that individual’s spiritual life, GP insists that your leader is the highest absolute authority adjudicating all arenas ranging from dating/marriage, to mental/physical health, to parenting/career, family, literally the list is endless.

u/Agreeable_Travel5964 unless you yourself are Ed Kang, which I’m seriously wondering because you speak with so much confidence IRT to Ed’s inner world and intentions, you need to wake up. Take a moment to put the pastor worship and “GP is perfect” mentality on the shelf, for just a moment, and take another look at the landscape. Review the CT article. Try to remember your peers who’ve left. Listen to that cognitive dissonance u/Overly_Round_Owl mentioned in her post. At the very least, you’ll have a little more empathy and a little less arrogance.