Q: "Does the Bible say that all depression is of the devil? If a believer suffers from depression is it wrong to seek relief from this via counseling and/or medication?"
A: Good question! The short answer to your first question is “Yes” (but your question deserves a long answer) …in that Satan corrupted God's original design for us, through human sin. The Bible provides good insights. In the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted our original parents to distrust the Lord, which led them to disconnect from themselves, from each other, and most importantly, from God...and in that process their thoughts and beliefs became dark and twisted. That's the nature of sin, and that has become the life story of all humans since then (except Jesus). So in light of this, depression isn't a condition God intended for any of us to experience. But life in a fallen world includes many things that God did not want us to have to experience. So how do we face them?
While the Bible doesn't use the word “depression”, Elijah, David, Solomon, and even Paul described emotions and behaviors that might have been what today we call depression. Where does this depression come from? It's not always easy to say exactly where an individual's depression comes from. Is it personal sin, misplaced hope, overwhelming circumstances, a physical disease/chemical deficiency, or a spiritual attack?
Some of David’s psalms appear to be coming from a point of depression, and they are instructive. Some of his depression came certainly from his own personal sin:
In Psalm 32 he seems depressed until he confesses his sin to God.
In Psalm 38, he seems depressed and prays a prayer of contrition to God, who lifts the burden.
In Psalm 130, he may have been depressed and asked for forgiveness and mercy, and decided to wait on the Lord for relief from his suffering.
In Matthew 7, Jesus tells believers that they are not to worry—another significant root of depression. The Bible instructs us to live lives filled with joy and praise (Philippians 4:4; Romans 15:11). God intends for us to live joyful lives. This is not easy for someone suffering from depression, but it can be healed through prayer, confession, loving support of faithful friends, Bible study, forgiveness, and even through godly counseling. That said, it is important not to become absorbed in ourselves. The Christian life is turned outward, focused on Christ and others. It is very natural for a self-focused life to become depressed. Why? Because self is always a depressing subject!
As pastors, we see depression as being like a "check engine" warning light on the dashboard of a car. Depression can be a valuable signal to us that something is not quite right in our lives and needs attention. If we ignore that signal, depression can get stronger and stronger. Learning to respond correctly to depression is very important.
You also asked "If a believer suffers from depression is it wrong to seek relief from this via counseling and/or medication?" The simple answer is no, it's not wrong. Although depression is sometimes caused by sin, it can also be caused by overwhelming life circumstances, or physical issues which cannot be cured by "bucking up." Sometimes depression can be greatly alleviated by learning new ways to respond to difficult circumstances—and that's where good friends, pastors, or counselors can be very helpful. Clinical depression is a physical condition that might need to be diagnosed by a physician, therapist, or psychologist and perhaps treated with medication. The right medication can be profoundly helpful. However, one of the risks is that a prescription could “medicate” the real issues and give us a false sense of wellbeing without dealing with the root of the problem.
The first step towards healing should always be to “check the oil” and honestly ask ourselves if there is any un-confessed sin (ranging from ineffective attitudes and unwise behavior patterns, to simple disobedience, or even willful rebellion) in our lives that we need to honestly bring to God. If there is, then be quick to repent and receive the forgiveness that Jesus so freely offers!
A second step towards healing should be to ask ourselves if we have unconsciously placed our hope in the wrong place (i.e., anything other than God). The Bible teaches us that we may need to regularly remind ourselves about this. What is the chorus of the “soundtrack of our lives”? The psalmist repeatedly addressed his own soul, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:5-6, 11; 43:5)
Then we can, like the Apostle Paul, repeatedly, “…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16) because if it is a spiritual attack it requires a spiritual response!
Finding the unique reason for a person's depression is important. If you are struggling with depression, we invite you to talk to a pastor about that. We absolutely believe that God is our healer, and that also in some cases, seeing a doctor for depression, is how He will heal us, and in such cases it is no different than seeing a doctor for a broken bone. We would be delighted to talk and pray with you, or even to give you a list of counselors who might be helpful.
Pastors Steve, Mark, & Greg
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3 comments:
I've been studying Luke in my life group and came across Luke 5:36 where Jesus shares a parable that from my research and studying says that Jesus with his authority gives us reason to follow him into the new ways which the old religion rejects. At the time he was talking about Judaism but that leads to my many questions, Can God be changing religion by changing our minds? Society seems to be changing their minds about the LGBT community. God loves all his children, gave us free will and created us in his image. So why would he create people who are gay, if the bible says its a sin to be gay? How does b4sq feel about people who are gay? What are your thoughts about the Marin Foundation and their mission?
Is Luke 5:36, regarding new wine skins, suggesting that new paradigms need to be considered in the expression of God's Kingdom? Jesus was turning the legalism of His day upside down, so if you are dealing with legalism, then it will always apply. But He was not refuting theology. He continued to affirm and fulfill the Old Testament. He was refuting what man added to it burdening men and women of faith with things that should never have been elevated to the level of doctrinal obedience.
Second, secular society is not a barometer for the church. The church has historically stood against the excesses of society. Jesus is the head of the church, so we should seek Him in all things. In the Good Samaritan parable, Jesus responds to a question, “Who is my neighbor?” In the past, it had to be asked by the church regarding slavery and child labor. This is still the compelling question of social justice. Here is a question that that society does not want us to ask, “Is the unborn my neighbor?” As believers, we stand for righteousness even when society will not.
Third, you ask, "why would God create people who are gay?" (It is interesting that this deterministic assumption follows a statement about man’s free will. If free will means we get to do what we want, well yes we do. Is the motive behind free will our “thinking” or our “desires?”). Regarding Creation, I assume you know that there is great debate regarding this question. Did God create them that way (some call that "nature") or did man corrupt the image (some call that "nurture")? There is no denying that in the world God created, some people have desires that are out of alignment with God's will. There are men who would consent to have sex with numerous women outside of marriage! My point is, that it is not the presence of deceitful desires that makes us accountable; it is how we respond to it. Are human beings defined by the brief sexual sins to which they fall? Or the myriad of other sins to which they fall? Or are we defined by our identity as image-bearers? The fallacy of the argument for homosexuality is that it fails to define identity correctly, substituting a corrupt form.
Fourth, God has much to say about sin - most of it in the form of warnings not to give in to the desires of the flesh. Look at the verse that precedes this discussion, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32 ESV). Unless there is recognition of sin and a right desire to deal with it, there is no repentance. We live in a society that wants to justify itself. We need to stand with brothers and sisters who are caught in the deceptiveness of sin and affirm their true identity, not a corrupted one. We want to be able to celebrate what Paul did when writing to the Corinthians when he said, “… and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV)
Fifth, we feel the same about people who are gay as we feel about everyone else; that we all need a Savior to restore a right image of God in us. "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy burdened," said Jesus. We welcome sinners of all stripes to come and meet the Lamb of God, who went to the cross to free us. And we believe that God will free all sinners from the depths of sin.
Finally, as for the Marin Foundation, I don’t know much about them. I perused their website and it was a bit vague. If their purpose is to create avenues of discussion with people who have other points of view (Like New Wine, New Wineskins does locally), then it sounds interesting. But if they ignore the convictions that come from knowing the Jesus of Scripture, then their “Living in the Tension” meetings would be problematic. You cannot have competing Jesuses, some of whom look unlike the Jesus of Scripture, and call it an honest conversation.
Thank you Nicklas for responding. I appreciate that. I was having a lot of confusion about the subject.
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