Today, we continue with the mental aspect of our series on divine health. The first in the series was Elijah’s depression and we followed that with a post on frank madness. Now we recognize that not all of us are ministry giants like the prophet Elijah. And many of us do not suffer from frank madness. We are somewhere in between. Therefore, today, we want to consider where you or I might be. You are a Christian and yet you suffer from depression from time to time. Hence, we simply call this Christian depression.
I have a friend who says categorically that a Christian cannot suffer from depression. While I was not ready to be that forceful, it was only because I have my leaning side. And who doesn’t? You believe God for salvation but not for health. Another believes God for health but not for prosperity and so on. That is why the man told Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief.” We are not yet strong in all areas.
That said, this is what I believe the word of God says about Christian depression. Impossible. You may now wonder how we can say that and still claim that Elijah suffered from depression. It is because ministry giant or not, Elijah did not have Jesus and the holy spirit in his life. You may know that in those Old Testament days, the holy spirit came and went. That was why David had to pray that God should please not take his holy spirit from him. Since Jesus came and gave us his holy spirit, such a prayer is not appropriate for Christians.
Christian Depression Is Impossible.
Please note that we are not judging those who suffer from Christian depression. Who are we when Jesus counsels us to first take the log out of our eyes? But the Bible is quite clear that our bodies are the temple of God. That being the case, demons cannot dwell in the body of a Christian. And since we said that depression and frank madness are signs of demon possession, it follows that a Christian cannot be depressed.
And yet, we find Christians needing to see psychiatrists for care. What could be the reason and resolution of that impasse? Paul alludes to it in a number of his epistles. To understand this concept of Christian depression, search your bible with “If indeed.” In my version, it turns up nine instances in the New Testament. We start with the last occurrence in 1 Peter 2:3. “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
Gracious is another word for kind or good. A lot of times when we sin against God, it is because we are not sure that God is truly good to us. We saw at the start of this series that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. They would have refrained if indeed they had tasted that the Lord is gracious. They doubted the kindness of God.
Do you know for sure that God is good or do you merely recite it like a mindless mantra? If the latter, you will suffer from Christian depression. But you can be free today. To see how you can be free from Christian depression, we look at another instance of “if indeed” in Ephesians 4:21. “If indeed, you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.”
How To Avoid Depression
What is this passage saying to you and me? Permit me to say many of us do not hear God speaking to us. We only hear our pastors. “As our father in the Lord has said….” We are so busy parroting our pastors that we fail to hear God. Don’t let it surprise you if you suffer from what we are calling Christian depression.
Next, that passage says “if you have been taught by Him (God). Permit me to ask you. Who is your teacher? Your Sunday school teacher or God? Your pastor or God? Unless you answer that God is your teacher, you are vulnerable to Christian depression. Next, in that same passage, we see the content of our lesson – the truth in Jesus. What are you being taught in church? Truth in Jesus or the practices and doctrine of the church? If it is the latter, you are a candidate for Christian depression.
Taken together, this means you may not be a Christian at all. You believe, yes. But not in Jesus since you don’t hear him and are not taught the truth in him. You may be extremely zealous in the church but you are not a Christian since there is no such thing as Christian depression. But today is your day to shift your focus from your father in the Lord to your Father in Heaven.
Today is your day to shift your focus from your Sunday school teacher to the Rabbi, Jesus the teacher of teachers. And today is to exchange church practices for the truth in Jesus. Once that happens, you will see it is impossible to have depression. We shall stay on mental health issues in our next post, God willing.
Stay tuned
Maranatha!
