Spurgeon on “Depression of Spirit”: A Word to Pastors
“He admitted that he knew ‘by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means,’ but he wanted his students and others to think it not strange when they were ‘for a season possessed by melancholy.’” - Chuck Lawless
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Every single one of these could be relayed into men of today. Spurgeon's points are well taken, and I do agree that pastors struggle, I just think it can be expanded to men in general today.
- We’re human. We face the reality of a fallen world—filled with afflictions and difficulties. These struggles come so we “may learn sympathy with the Lord’s suffering people, and so may be fitting shepherds of an ailing flock.”[2]
- Our bodies and minds are often unhealthy. Physical ailments and emotional battles are real. If we’re predisposed to “lowness of spirit,”[3]we shouldn’t be surprised by our giving in to this pain.
- Our work is weighty. We bear the burden of supporting our family, dealing with work, our home life, our children. Men often get little time for themselves, but are weighted down with so many things dependent upon them.
- The walk of many men is a lonely one. Many men today lack of close friendships with other men. It is a struggle that is growing in today's world.
- Office work too often promotes a sedentary lifestyle. Here, I’ll let Spurgeon make his point: “To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair.”[6]
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