A Few Words of Encouragement to Pastors for Handling Anxiety and Depression in Your Congregation

Anxiety and depression do not first or foremost belong to the fields of sociology, psychology, or psychiatry. They belong to humanity. They represent the trouble of being an embodied soul, weak and sinful, living in a fallen world. They indicate our need for grace and mercy, for a very present Redeemer, for a loving Father to intervene with words, for an indwelling Spirit to help with power.

For the present discussion, I will refer to anxiety as an experience of earthly fears. Anxiety expresses fear. Though a simplified definition, I will refer to depression as an experience of earthly losses. It expresses a heart protesting loss and pain. Both anxiety and depression involve our whole being in relationship to God, people, the creation, and various circumstances of life. The two experiences are related. Anxiety acts as one major stream that feeds into the deep lagoon of depression.

These experiences find description and explanation throughout the Bible because they tend to be normative troubles of human life. As a pastor or leader in the church, I think you are wise to carefully prepare for the privilege of ministering to men and women struggling with anxiety and depression. As you prepare, let me offer a few points of encouragement:

Pay Attention to Your Own Soul

If alert to our souls in daily life, we will see our tendencies to fear, anxiety, and worry. If honest, we might cry out, “Afflicted and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am helpless” (Psalm 88:15). When we pay attention, we will see our vulnerability to anger, bitterness, despair, and despondency. If we speak to God with candor, we will occasionally say to the Lord, “You hold my eyelids open; / I am so troubled that I cannot speak” (Psalm 77:4). If you learn to pay attention to your own soul in this regard, you will be better able to understand and show compassion when members of your congregation express their own anxiety and despondency.

See the Trouble on the Pages of Scripture

What life is about the Bible is about. Even in the hard stuff. Fear, anxiety, and peace. Failure, shame, and covering. Doubt, despair, and hope. Loss, grief, and comfort. Insecurity, loneliness, and confidence. Worry, fretfulness, and trust. Guilt, condemnation, and justification. Anger, resentment, and meekness. God speaks wisely to every bit of it and then some. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). On the pages of Scripture, the Lord meets us where we live. He sees the trouble. And He always helps us.

Know the Practical Theology of the Gospel

The theology of the bible is far more than academic subject matter. God intends His word to be lived. Christ really lived, died, and rose. He reigns. He speaks through His word and comforts through His Spirit. The gospel connects to real life at a thousand points of daily relevance. For example, fear is worship, which means that anxiety provides a signal to who or what we truly worship. It often alerts us to areas of false worship in our hearts. The gospel delivers salvation from false worship and our redemption to true worship. Depression alerts us to misplaced desires, hopes, and security. The gospel gives us new desires. The gospel speaks to us as people who need peace, hope, and security in God. Depression reveals areas of our lives where anger, shame, and loss dominate us. The gospel speaks to us as people who need perspective for our anger, covering for our shame, strength in our weakness, and meaning in our losses.

Apply Words of God to Real Life

As you move toward the members of your congregation struggling with anxiety and depression, pray to skillfully and faithfully apply specific words of God to specific details in their real-life experience. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (3:15), and he said that from prison. What did Paul face that we face every day, and how does the gospel apply? Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites counseled, “do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10), which they said to returned exiles overwhelmed by the consequences of their sin and the burden of their daily lives. We ask: “what did they live under that we all live under, and how do words from Nehemiah speak into our present situation just as it spoke into theirs?” The Holy Spirit inspired real human beings to provide an ocean of truth and wisdom from God in the context of real life on earth. As pastors, we pray to graciously and wisely apply Scripture to the realities of anxiety and depression. Pray to help your church members relate to one another with similar care.

Appreciate the Nature of Growth in the Christian Life

Growth in the Christian life is gradual, and growth in the Christian life comes through trial. We sanctify slowly, and we sanctify through fire. Sometimes in the life of a genuine Christian, anxiety and depression indicate the presence of the Lord doing surgical work upon the soul. Preach, teach, and counsel in a way that conveys compassion for the pain of this work. Minister in a way that understands the gradual nature of progressive sanctification. Faith deepens and enriches in the crockpot of lifelong trial under the care of God’s gracious hands, not in the microwave of wishful thinking and shallow platitudes.

Even more, encourage your church members to relate to one another with this kind of patient understanding. The process of change can be messy. Following Christ moves us from one degree of peace to another, from one degree of faith to the next, slowly learning to believe and cry out with wholehearted faith: “Cast your burden on the Lord, / and he will sustain you; / he will never permit / the righteous to be moved” and then “Lord, I will trust in you” (Psalm 55:22-23). May the Lord grant you grace and peace in this great work!