EP. 60 Depression A Year Later: A Gospel Response to Depression W/Lee Lewis (EP. 10 A/Year Ago)

Show notes:

The cultural view of depression

• Treats it like a disease, attributing it or reducing it to a chemical imbalance or a genetic disposition. These aren’t invalid, but it causes a quick diagnosis so it can be treated quickly. It can almost promise a remedy, which scripturally speaking, is much deeper, its more of a heart problem that has physiological and emotional implications. Therefore, culture has a very superficial view and resolution to depression, very much consistent with the medical model. This isn’t bad, its just incomplete and a truncated resolution because it doesn’t deal with the heart of a person which is where the root of depression is planted.
• Medication implications - they don’t necessarily fix the problem, but ultimately mask the problem and often times creates new symptoms. As biblical counselors, we wouldn’t counsel clients to stop taking meds, but to seek their medical professional.
• Placebo testing with depression medications demonstrated that the prospect of hope helped tremendously with those struggling with depression. If a placebo provided hope imagine what real hope can do for those depressed; the gospel provides a living hope to the hopeless.

General & Biblical Notes on Depression:

• Depression is a progression; when unbelief goes isolated, and it's allowed to reign and nothing else is pressing in on that like community groups, discipleship, etc. it's very likely one can slip into a bout of depression.
• Paul’s teaching on suffering is helpful. Gal. 6.1-5.
• Imagine our community group leaders who respond in a Gal. 6.1-5 way?
• Learning from depression - learning to preach the gospel to ourselves and having others in our lives to speak into them.
• The gospel gap - gospel truth. Learning to orient our hearts in the place of sorrow.
• Learning to abide in Christ
• Gospel Community is so necessary for those struggling with depression.

Show Resource Notes:

• Soul Care Consulting
• Journal for biblical counseling
• Martin Lloyd Jones - Spiritual Depression
• Ed Welch - Stubborn Darkness