Pastors Should Never Get Depressed: Part II
Continuing previous thoughts about pastors and depression. I’d like to introduce another important and related dimension; Sabbath. What do u guys think? Is Sabbath related to keeping depression @ bay? My talk last Sunday on the subject resonated w/folks but I find myself still wrestling: Is Sabbath really about a 24-hr period per se? What day should it be then? And is not Sabbath (in a sense) re-defined, maybe even re-voked in the NT??? At any rate,
I’ve been living in Jeremiah 17:19 all week; even brought it up with my exegesis prof and he agrees; “in the gates” is a better interpretation of the Hebrew text. But I’ve come to see Sabbath as not so much about a day as much as it is about a spiritual posture; in this sense, for the Christian, Sabbath is not just one day a week, but should actually be evidenced every single day of the week.
So as I round off my thoughts on work (yet another message) and Sabbath, I find that I too, am (still) pursuing that eternal rest from my works. (Hebrews 4:10) And here are some more closing meditations:
- The Practice of Sabbath is the regular practice of weakness, giving up the ability to mass produce by the forces and powers within us. It is to resist the urge to self-actualize – a sinful tendency to make it on our own w/o listening to anyone, beit God or man.
- The Practice of Sabbath is to resist the urge to “engineer God’s plan”. Meaning, it is to resist trying to fulfill God’s vision for our lives in our own timing and in our own way. A perfect example, Abraham trying to fulfill God’s promise for a son via Hagar. In one sense, arguably, we still suffer the consequences of that act today.
- The Practice of Sabbath is to affirm that it is ministry in HIS name – NOT ours. Ministry should never, ever be a vehicle for self-aggrandizement. It is ALWAYS to uplift a greater name than my own.
Like
How do you see Sabbath revoked in the NT? It seems to me that Jesus reinforces and clarifies it’s original purpose when he says things like “man was not made for the Sabbath, but Sabbath for man”. Sabbath as a periodic physical and mental rest certainly would help us guard against depression, but are we only treating the symptoms and not the cause here? Why do we get depressed? Is there some portion of our despair that comes from not trusting/believing in God’s promises? Or could it be that depression may be for something like Paul’s thorn, something that reminds us of our weaknesses and calls us to trust instead in the strength of God?