Why the Church Should Be a Safe Place for Depression

The church should be the safest place in the world to talk about difficult things like depression. But in some faith communities, too often there’s a stigma attached, leading those with depression to feel guilty, like they must be doing something wrong, which leaves them ashamed to talk about it.

Some Christian leaders even deny that depression is real or try to reduce it to just feeling sad, like it’s no big deal. What’s ironic is that many of their heroes in the faith were crushed by ongoing depression.

A well-known fact is that Martin Luther, who launched the Protestant Reformation, staggered under the weight of depression.[i]

Charles Spurgeon, an incredibly respected, influential pastor and author, often called the Prince of Preachers, had such debilitating depression that he struggled to get out of bed each day. He wrote, “Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means.”[ii]

Though he was never officially diagnosed, it’s believed Martin Luther King Jr. suffered his entire life from depression, and, according to a Time magazine profile, twice attempted suicide in his youth.[iii]

Mother Teresa once wrote, “[Depression] surrounds me on all sides—I can’t lift my soul to God—no light or inspiration enters my soul. . . . Heaven, what emptiness—not a single thought of Heaven enters my mind—for there is no hope. . . . The place of God in my soul is blank.”[iv]

In 1 Kings 19:4, we find the prophet Elijah so depressed he asks God if he can just die. (More on him later.)

We also see David writing in Psalm 6:3, 6–7, “My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? . . . I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow,” and in Psalm 42:3, 10–11, “My tears have been my food day and night. . . . My bones suffer mortal agony. . . . Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

At the beginning of Psalm 42, it says, “For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah,”[v] which indicates this was a song the Israelites sang in worship to God. Most scholars believe the maskil psalms were used for instruction, to teach theology.

How crazy is that? Today, some churches avoid talking about depression, but back then God’s people were being taught and singing about it.

Being bluntly honest must have run in the family because the book of Ecclesiastes, written by David’s son Solomon, who followed him as king, is filled with verses like 2:17: “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

If someone is drowning in depression and musters up the courage to mention how they’re feeling in church, they might be met by a misguided but usually well-meaning Christian who says, “You need to just suck it up. It’s no big deal. We’re all sad sometimes. So just get over it. Put your faith in Jesus and everything will be okay!”

What happens next?

RELATED “WHEN CHRISTIANS GET DEPRESSED”

The depressed person is often confused and likely offended and decides, understandably so, that it’s not safe to open up, so they withdraw even more, and their depression likely compounds. (And potentially they leave the church.) They might even adopt Robin Williams’ philosophy. After years of depression, before committing suicide, Williams said, “All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.”[vi]

We need to stop shying away from this topic and giving clichéd or inadequate answers. The church needs to become the safest place to talk about the most difficult topics, where everyone knows they will be treated with kindness and tenderness (Eph. 4:32). If someone talks about their depression, we are called to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15 NLT) and share the comfort with them that we have received from God (2 Cor. 1:4–5). In the church, “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it” (1 Cor. 12:26), and we do whatever we can to help someone who is struggling to carry their burden (Gal. 6:2).

[i] “Martin Luther: Greatness in the Face of Depression,” Wounded Birds Ministry, www.woundedbirdsministry.com/martin-luther-greatness-face-depression/.

[ii] C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students: Addresses Delivered to the Students of the Pastors’ College, Metropolitan Tabernacle (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1889), 1:167.

[iii] “America’s Gandhi: Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Time, January 3, 1964, 3, https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,940759-3,00.html.

[iv] George Graham, “Unwholly Bound: Mother Teresa’s Battles with Depression,” OUPblog, April 13, 2016, https://blog.oup.com/2016/04/mother-teresa-depression/.

[v] Psalm 42 says it is “of the sons of Korah,” but most scholars believe David wrote it. The sons of Korah were the worship leaders.

[vi] Gary McBrine, “How to Recognize the Mask of Smiling Depression,” Medium, January 12, 2021, https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-recognize-the-mask-of-smiling-depression-1aea9680e990.

Craig Groeschel