According to a 2006 Today’s Christian Woman article,1.5 percent of Americans engage in self-harming behavior. This jumps dramatically to 12 percent among college students (most self-injury begins in the teen years). Most self-harmers are female (60-70 percent), and many, although not all, struggle with eating disorders, too. I’ve not seen research on the incidence of self-harm among Christians compared with the general population, but my experience shows that this problem is far from rare within the church….
I’m not surprised that self-punishing behaviors occur among Christians. And this is not to blame the church. For legalism ”” and I would argue that this is what these behaviors are at their core ”” comes in guises both religious and secular. The desire to control the destiny of a few moments, if not our lives, is a fact of the human condition. But it is a fact that directly opposes the gospel of grace. Indeed, our vain attempts to mete out our own justice and punishments and thus save ourselves merely reflect the universal human desire to be our own God. For those who self-harm, the gospel comes as an invitation to trust in the One who has enacted perfect and complete justice before God on our behalf, through his body, so we don’t have to punish our own.
I see her point, but I wonder if her theology recognizes that 100% of people engage in self-harming behavior — That there are people every where around us harming themselves, and that those with out the redeeming and healing grace of Christ are killing their own souls through sin? What she is observing is simply a manifestation of a march larger and more universal problem. Not to minimize it. The problem is just bigger, wider and deeper than she speaks of.