Diagnosis - Spiritual disease
A few months ago a friend in our church asked if I could talk to a colleague of his, a professional man, who was going through a particularly depressing time. I phoned him up and he came round for a meal. After that he came round to our home most days where we talked, walked and played pool. His life was falling apart. His wife no longer wanted him. He had been dismissed from his job. He was drowning his sorrows in strong drink. Emotionally he was a real mess. He was desperate and just wanted to run away. He kept saying he was going to kill himself. He had never had any connection with a church.
He had seen many doctors and psychologists but none had helped him. Anti-psychotics had made him feel worse. At one time his GP had suggested that his problem might be a spiritual one but offered no answer except more pills. However that suggestion was the key that led to discussions about how the Lord Jesus could change his life if only he was willing to start living as God wants. Jesus could forgive all the sin that separated him from God and would give him the gift of His Spirit to empower him to live a new type of life. After some weeks, in our kitchen, he asked the Lord Jesus to help him and forgive him. However there was no immediate change. He still wallowed in his problems and was angry at everyone. The one noticeable change was that he started to come to church and joined in a Bible Study group. He then began to develop an appetite to read and understand the Bible. Then he made the decision to turn his back on the way he had been living and start doing what God wanted of him. That week he came to the Church prayer meeting. He started to send his friends texts with Bible passages that excited him. He became a new man. He knows Colossians 1:21-23 by heart. He loves to tell people how it is the Lord Jesus who has forgiven him and is changing his life.
He now has a new job, he is paying off his debts and relationships with old friends are being restored. Everyone who knows him appreciates the extraordinary change in his character, lifestyle and ambitions. In spite of increasing busyness he recognises that he must continue to live with his Lord’s priorities. At our ‘one to one’ Bible study this week he recognised the importance of Jesus’ instructions,
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be yours as well.” Matthew 6:33
His doctor was right. He did have a profound spiritual problem with depressive symptoms. What a shame that his doctor couldn’t or wouldn’t prescribe the right remedy.
“I’m going through a rough time!”
Major depression is ten times more common in people born after 1945 than in those born earlier. Prescriptions for anti-depressants are rising by 7% a year since the 1990’s. In 2005 there were about 30 million prescriptions for these pills in England, but by 2015 there were 61 million prescriptions at a cost of £285 million a year. What could be the causes for this escalating problem that is affecting so many young people, in spite of the advances in education and economy? How can we help?
Those who are feeling low can often look back at the circumstances that have contributed to their problems. They too frequently then keep mulling over what has happened and often keep blaming other people or circumstances for their plight. The constant pressure from events and thoughts can result in an on-going state of depression that can give rise to many varied symptoms but particularly common are feelings of being unloved, of unworthiness and guilt.
To feel unloved is a terrible state to be in. One of the first black students at a white university in the Southern States of America was having a tough time. Other students were making derogatory and snide comments about him. So he put up a poster in his hall of residence that said,
“I’m not rubbish ‘cos God don’t make rubbish.”
Is it surprising that depression, that feeling of being unloved, has become much more common recently when people are told,
“There is no God who loves you.”
This is the very opposite to the teaching of Jesus, who claimed to have entered this world because he ‘so loves’ us all, whoever we are and whatever we have done. He claimed to be the embodiment of our heavenly Father and creator. One of the most famous verses in the Bible says,
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
To know we are loved by our creator and Saviour is fundamental to our making sense of life.
Causes
A first year student at university went to see the university medical officer, and immediately started weeping. He was feeling very low indeed. He had recently got over an attack of ‘flu, he wasn’t sleeping, he was well behind on his work and was stressed because of this, and he was very lonely. He was asked,
“Do you have a faith to help you in all this, or aren’t you sure about these things?”
“No, I have nothing. I have no direction and no purpose,” he replied.
The medical officer then drew a little picture of a spiral, at the bottom of which was a circle which he called the ‘slough of despond’.
He went on to explain how problems of either the body, the mind or the spirit can press a person down this spiral of depression. Loneliness is a common factor. Indeed the word ‘depression’ comes from the Latin de-pressere which means ‘pressed down’. They discussed how each of the three groups of problems could be resolved. He was given a two week supply of pills to help overcome the sleepless fatigue. The doctor contacted his supervisor and arranged for him just to do one essay instead of the five outstanding, and then he arranged to take him to a local Sunday tea party held every week by some nurses and students at the London Hospital. They befriended him, and soon he was joining them at the evening Bible teaching services at St. Helen’s Church in Bishopsgate. He later joined the nurses and students on their annual houseparty and after a few months this young man was not only coping with life, with his studies, but he also found the answers to life and became a Christian.
“I want to end it all,” is a common response in people who, being in the ‘Slough of Despond’ cannot see a way out of their problems. Frequently their depression prevents them seeing their good points and those people around who would love to help. They often hate the things they have done wrong and are riddled with guilt. They don’t know how this recurrent feeling of guilt, that compounds the depression, can be removed?
Eric Fromm wrote in his book, ‘The Sane Society’,
“It is indeed amazing that, in as fundamentally an irreligious culture as ours, the sense of guilt should be so widespread and deep rooted as it is.”i
Marghanita Lasky, a humanist, was involved in a television debate with a Christian. She said,
“What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness. I have no-one to forgive me.”
Solutions
All people have in them a myriad of right and wrong thoughts. Too often these wrong thoughts, when mulled over and succumbed to, can result in stupid and damaging actions. We feel angry about something so we lash out with our tongue or hands at those we feel responsible. Such actions just compound the problems. We are upset so the furniture is kicked or crockery thrown. This just compounds the problems. We cold-shoulder those who have hurt us but this further distances people from us and may result in further bitterness. And so the problems and the depression worsens. The spiral goes down and down. This tendency may be exacerbated by our family backgrounds or other illness and such people may find it more difficult than others to cope reasonably to pressures. It is understandable that some then feel that the only answer is to try and escape through alcohol, drugs, self-harm, running away or even suicide?
A depressed lady was talking in this way with her friend who happened to be a Christian. The lady was desperate, she wanted to end it all. The friend spent a long time listening to all the problems and it was clear that the selfish and often stupid ways the lady had reacted to her problems had further compounded the situation. It is striking that depressed people talk about themselves and their wants much of the time. They find it hard to see a bigger picture.
“My life is so wretched. I’m in a very dark place and I want to end it all.”
Her friend tried to help her to see that although her world was dark and bleak, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. She asked,
“Do you have a faith that helps you at a time like this or aren’t you sure about such things.”
“No, I’ve never been religious and I can’t see how religion would help me with the mess I am in.”
The friend smiled gently,
“I’m not talking about religion, but you have said that your world is dark. There is someone who said he had come to ‘lighten our darkness’. It is said about him,
“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” John 1:4-5
“Well at present, I cannot see any light anywhere. I feel bad over some things I have done and I cannot see any way out. I’ve hurt other people as well as myself. I just feel wretched.”
It was clear that her feelings of guilt were contributing to the depression. She came up with a radical solution.
“There is one way by which feelings of guilt can be overcome. Guilt is that horrid feeling of knowing you have done something wrong that has offended either God, other people and yourself, or all three. The Bible teaches that Jesus, who is ‘the light’ I just mentioned, entered this world to take on himself the responsibility for our sin. He is willing to do this for us if we become his followers. Our guilt can be left with him as we start again.”
She then explained that this is not just a quick fix, a cheap insurance policy. It involves a radical change in life. Jesus has to become our Lord and Master if he is to be our Saviour. She then found a Bible and asked they could look at something Jesus has said together and the lady agreed.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
That must be the starting point, our creator loves each of us more than we can ever understand. But he wants his love to be responded to.
“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy maybe in you and that your joy maybe complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his Masters business. Instead, I have called your friends, but everything that I learn from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” John 15:9-16
God’s love is even more than the love of human parents. But our responsibility is to remain in his love and respond to it. We have to make a determined decision to deny those wrong, harmful urges and start living as God wants. That is what the Bible calls repentance.
Die to self
This concept that God loved her was too big for the depressed lady. She just wanted to be out of her misery. Her friend came up with a novel compromise,
“You want to die and I’m willing to help you but not in the way you mean. Why don’t you start again by putting to death just the bad side of yourself? Then over the next few days, weeks and months you’ll find a new joy and peace. The condition Jesus makes for us to enjoy his peace and light is for us to be willing to kill off the old man in us.“
Can I show you some other similar passages from the Bible?
“Do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Romans 6:12
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, last, evil desires and greed which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you’ve taken off your old self with its practices and put on the news self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:5-10
The friend went on to emphasise that this new lifestyle is not to be a transient thing. It is a radical change. She showed her another passage.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind - then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect well. . . . Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mole with those who mourn. Leaving home any with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do you not be conceited.” Romans 12:1-2, 9-16
The lady looked glum.
“I wish I could live this way but I can’t see that I could ever do it. It’s not me. I’m not such a person.”
There is no help for those who don’t see that their problem in within themselves. What she had seen in herself is what God sees in all of us but few recognize they have this major problem called sin, a willful independence from God. The Bible teaches,
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. . . . ” Romans 3:23
But this verse doesn’t end by leaving us in the dark, in a hopeless state. The next verse continues,
“ . . . and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:24
Jesus met up with a disliked, cheating tax collector, named Zacchaeus, and went to stay with him. Zacchaeus was clearly impressed with Jesus and came to believe in him. He determined to change the direction of his life and live the new life. He demonstrated this by giving half of his great wealth to the poor and he restored four times the amount he had defrauded from people. That was one way of demonstrating repentance. Jesus said of him,
“Today salvation has come to this house, . . . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10
New Power
The friend smiled gently as she saw the lady’s distress..
“You’re quite right. None of us can live as God wants without help. But if you can recognise that this is the ideal and that this would bring great harmony to yourself and our society, then you have made a great start. What is exciting is that God has not only told us how he wants us to live but he has also provided an answer to our past failures. He gave us a scapegoat who would pay for our sin by sending his Son to die in our place. More than this he gives us a new power to help us live in the way that both pleases him and is very good for us. He gives us his own Holy Spirit. But note that this Power is holy, he is determined to help us live the new life, the one that God wants to see growing in us.”
The Bible has so much to say about the power of the Holy Spirit. He is not just a doctrinal idea – he really is a major power who changes people radically. God does change people like us who deep down would like to live this new life but cannot find it in ourselves to do so. Saul was an arrogant murderer who met with God and was changed by the power of God’s Spirit to live a completely different life with completely different priorities. Salvation is not just a theological term, it is a very practical experience. Paul could say later,
“Christ came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” 1 Timothy 1:15
Because of this radical change he took on a new name – Paul; he did this because he had become a new person. He later wrote,
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.” Ephesians 3:7
This is the Christian message. God really did enter this world as Jesus. He died in our place but demands of us all that we turn from our old selfish lives and accept him as our Lord and Master. That change of mind and direction is called ‘repentance’ in the Bible. What is exciting is that he gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live this new life. God’s Spirit in us will prompt our consciences, and will lead us to want to keep meeting up with other Christians. He will lead us to want to get to know and feed on God’s word, the Bible, for ourselves.
One of the lady’s issues was that her marriage was really unpleasant with constant arguments and recriminations.
“I don’t love my husband.” she exclaimed, as if this was the last straw.
Her friends reply startled her,
“Then you must start doing so!”
The depressed lady had thought love to be an emotional, gooey feeling about someone. But real love is not this, it is caring for and serving others, even when we don’t necessarily like the way they behave. Loving actions and kind words can often restore a relationship and then amicable feelings can return. Right actions, not feelings should direct the way we live.
Decision
The lady was honest.
“This sounds very nice and is attractive but how can I know it is true, that I can be forgiven and can live a new life?”
The friend acknowledged that this was a very valid question.
“The evidence is all there for us. There is the evidence from science that our world must have a creator. Then there is the historical evidence about Jesus’ existence, his life, his death and his resurrection. There is the evidence of the remarkable growth of the early church against much opposition. There is the evidence for the Bible being God’s word with so many references in the Old Testament about God’s coming Messiah. Furthermore there is the evidence from our instincts. Deep down we know that our lives do have a purpose, we were made for a better life, and that the sins we so easily fall into are wrong. Put all this together and the evidence is overwhelming.
The friends parting words were clear,
“I cannot make this decision for you, all I can do is explain the message. I could explain in more detail the reasons I have come to this hope in the God who has shown his love for each of us, but ultimately the decision is one that everyone has to make is our own. Will I accept who Jesus is and accept the eternal relationship with such a loving God that he offers us?
Ayaan Hersi Ali had been member of the radical Muslim brotherhood. She then became an atheist and joined Richard Dawkins Neo-athieists teaching in universities. However she became very depressed and anxious. She tried anti-depressants, counsellors and psychiatrists with no benefit. Then someone said to her,
“Ayaan, I wonder if your problem is that you have a spiritual vacuum within you.”
That was it. What she had been teaching was giving people nothing, no hope, no purpose and no way to live. She was suffering from her doctrine. She turned to God and became a Christian. Her debate with Richard Dawkins, just six months after she had turned to Christ is available on YouTube and is well worth watching. There are answers and there is hope.
BVP