If you have been a pastor for longer than one week, you have probably
counseled someone who was taking medication for depression. This
presents a consummate pastoral dilemma because pastors want to bring the
Bible to bear on all of life, and at the same time, we didn’t go to
medical school.
There is the reality that the help God gives us in the world comes in
the form of special revelation (his Word has given us all things
pertaining to life and godliness) and general revelation (medicine can
really help you when you’re sick).
Depression seems to have one foot in
both worlds, and so it can offend secular psychologists when pastors
take people to the gospel to bring joy, and it can rankle pastors when a
person says that they are taking medication to find a way to cope with
life.
And let me admit right away that the only
medical knowledge I have comes from Wikipedia, I cheated in high school
biology (I was caught and repented at conversion), and know nothing
about the inner workings of the brain.
So I defer to the professionals when it comes to medical issues, and
if a doctor says someone has a chemical imbalance that medicine can
correct, I am certainly in no position to quibble. Continue at Jesse Johnson
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