now and they’d never miss me. They don’t need me around here; in fact, I can come to this church on some Sundays and go away without anyone’s ever speaking to me.” There you have it! depres sion caused by self-pity! Only when I wrote down those words that came from her own lips was I able to convince that dear woman that she had been indulging in the sin of self-pity, which caused her depression. I would be the first to acknowledge that self-pity is natural. But the Bible clearly teaches that we do not have to be dominated by the natural man, for we are to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16). One day I dropped in to see a minister friend of mine and his wife. While we were having a cup o f coffee, the phone rang and the pastor went to answer it. As soon as he was out of ear shot, his wife said, “ I’d like to ask you something. Why is it that I have greater periods of depression today than when we were young in the ministry? Our work is going well, God is blessing, we have enough to live on, and yet I find that I go through more periods of depression now than when we had far greater problems.” Not wanting to ruin a good friendship, I reluctantly asked, “ Are you sure you really want to know?” “ Yes,” she replied. “ It isn’t very pretty; in fact, it’s rather ugly,” I said. She insisted, “ I don’t care what it is ; I’d like to know what causes it.” As gently as I could, I informed this lively Christian lady that she had been indulg ing in the sin o f self-pity. I shall never forget the look of startled amazement on her face. I don’t think I would have received a more spontaneous response had I reached across the table and slapped her face. Fortunately, I recalled enough of our previous conversation to give her an illustration. She had just told me how disgusted she was with the chairman of the Christian Education Commit tee. It seems she had formulated a project which she had been burdened about that would greatly help the young people’s ministry in the church. She took it to the Missionary Committee because it had to do with future missionary volunteers. They passed it on to the Trustees because it in volved finances. The Trustees passed it on to the Deacon Board because it involved the spiritual life of the church. Then it was discussed by the entire Advisory Board, composed o f every elected officer in the congregation, and finally it received the unanimous vote of the church. Everyone was in a joyous mood; they had a good time o f prayer anti cipating God’s use of this program in the future to salvage many of their youthful volunteers for the mission field. Then it happened! The Chairman o f the Board o f Christian Education came to her and critically asserted, “ I’d like to know why you and your husband always by-pass the Board of Christian Education! It’s obvious you don’t feel that our Board is a necessary part o f this church. I think I’ll resign.” For the first time the pastor’s TH E KING'S BUSINESS
Continued from page 41 away my life; for I am not better than my fa thers” (I Kings 19:4). This gifted prophet, un usually faithful to God, had strong melancholy ten dencies, but because o f the faithfulness of God, he went on to greater heights of service for the Lord because he kept his eye on the goal of serv ing his Master. S elf -P ity —The Basic Cause o f Depression As important as they are, the above-mentioned elements are not the primary cause for depression. Too often they are the excuse one uses to condone depression rather than going to Almighty God for His marvelous cure. The truth of the matter is, a person becomes depressed only after a period of indulging in the sin of self-pity. I have questioned hundreds of individuals who were depressed and have yet to find an exception to this rule. I have had a number of people deny at the outset that self-pity was the cause, but upon thorough ques tioning they finally admitted that their thought process prior to the period of depression was one of self-pity. Depression, it seems to me, is an emotional re sponse to the thinking pattern of self-pity. Dr. McMillen points out the many physical illnesses produced by the emotions o f jealousy, envy, self- centeredness, ambition, frustration, rage, resent ment and hatred. He then observes; “ . . . these disease-producing emotions are concerned with protecting and coddling the self, and they could be summarized under one title — SELF-CEN TEREDNESS.” He further states, “ Chronic brood ing over sorrows and insults indicates faulty adap tation, which can cause any condition from itching feet to insanity. The most common form of faulty reaction is self-pity.” The sin of self-pity is so subtle that we do not often recognize it for what it is. While I was hold ing meetings in a church some years ago, a very lovely Christian woman about 70 years o f age came to me about her problem of “ depression.” This woman was a seemingly mature Christian lady with a gifted mind and many years of experience teaching an adult Bible class. She had been told by pastors of former churches, “You are the best woman Bible teacher I have ever known on a local church level,” and it was apparent to me that she truly had a grasp of the Word of God. At first I was at a loss to know how to reveal her self-pity to her, and as she talked I asked God secretly for special insight. It was not long until I found my self asking how she enjoyed her church, and her response immediately proved that I had “ struck a nerve,” for she said, “ Nobody appreciates me around here! In fact, these people aren’t very friendly. Most of the people in this church are young married couples, and they don’t pay any attention to a widow like me. As far as they are concerned, I could quit coming to this church right
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