The D Word

It’s a subject not discussed in polite Christian company.  We agree without even conversing that the matter is taboo.  Dare speak of it and be greeted with raised eyebrows. Am I referring to some twisted sexual perversion or radical ideology?  No, I am referring to (hushed tone) depression.  There, I said it!  Already some of you are looking for another article to read!

Christians just don’t talk about depression.  By our silence we suggest that Christians don’t suffer from depression.  But Christians do suffer from it ranging from low grade depression to acute depression of the clinical variety.  By our refusal to talk about it we sentence out brothers and sisters living in that dark place to shiver in the sinister shadows of the soul all alone.

Recently, a ministry leader suggested to a group that a speaker on the subject of depression be enlisted to minister at their next event.  The idea was quickly dismissed.  Their reasoning?  ‘’That would be too depressing.’’  We don’t want to go there.  However, many believers have been there and many remain there and we exacerbate their pain but declining discussion of the numbing reality called depression.

A quick read of the Psalms along with the deep inky darkness of Job and you will be convinced that God does not consider depression the taboo stigma we do.  Christian history has had its share of notables who suffered from this ghoulish punisher. Accomplished hymn writer William Cowper was menaced throughout life by such inner torment that he sought to end his life.  Preacher extraordinaire Charles H. Spurgeon was pained by chronic gout which often bled over into a depression requiring extended stays in warmer climes for recovery.  Magisterial reformer Martin Luther was given to melancholy moods nothing short of morose.  D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, royal physician turned pulpiteer, considered spiritual depression one of the greatest maladies impacting the church.

Elijah would have been voted by the best of us ‘’Most Likely to Succeed.’’  We would think him inviolable to such dark demons as those associated with depression.  He is, however, the quintessential biblical case study in depression.  1 Kings 19 tells his bitter struggle with the typical cluster of psycho-spiritual-physical symptoms of full blown depression.  Erratic eating and sleeping patterns, a persecution complex, isolation from others, a preference for dark places and spiritual inertia were all waded up in his experience.    

By our silence we have left members of the family of faith to seek all their help from the medical and mental health community.  No thoughtful Christian would deny the important role these groups play in diagnosing and addressing the pain of depression.  It is also true that thoughtful Christians recognize the ministry to the miserable which can only be offered in a believing, caring community of saints.

I am not asking that we become experts in the subject of depression; only that we quit lying to ourselves and our fellow church members and offer the soul solace they need.  They may need us during the holidays more than any other time.

This post previously appeared as a column in the Daily Press.