Paul boasted in his infirmities so that the power of Christ would rest upon him. In other words, he had perspective on life’s greatest hardships. He was strong with Christ’s help and for Christ’s sake. Paul accepted, eventually even welcomed, his weaknesses because he knew that God used his weaknesses to make him strong for Jesus. 

In 2 Corinthians, Paul makes a defense of his ministry against those in the church who were criticizing him. These critics were hurting the church of Corinth. Paul writes to them his fourth letter to the church, both defending himself and encouraging them to remain faithful in their walk with Jesus Christ. In this paragraph, Paul explains how God works in life to help him change and provides grace in weakness.
Notice Paul’s Resolve
Paul boasts in his weakness and not as a fool (vv. 1-6). He only boasts because he is responding to his critics (v. 1). He explains this incredible experience from fourteen years earlier where he either went to heaven or received a vision of it from God; although spectacular, Paul determined his experience is not worth discussing (vv. 2-4). Paul uses the third person to refer to himself. The vision is so spectacular, he cannot even describe the incredible nature of it. In fact, he is not allowed to tell all the spectacular things that he experienced – and that God has in store for us too. An absolutely incredible experience – possibly one of the greatest since Pentecost – and Paul does not boast in it. Instead, Paul will only boast in his infirmities (vv. 5-6).
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Sin has affected all of us. Not one person has escaped it—even the Son of God, who took on the sin of those who would believe in Him. Jesus didn’t have sin, of course, but was made to be sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). Our minds, our bodies, our souls have been wholly effected by original sin. Let us not look past what it can do to any part of us, including our brains.

During my senior year of college, I was lying down on my bed one evening reading some tweets from a Christian theologian. As I continued scrolling, suddenly I began to feel extremely cold. As the coldness set in, my heart—from out of nowhere—started to pound like I had just run a mile. As it pounded harder and harder, I began experiencing heart palpitations (where your heart skips beats). Then my breathing got quicker and tighter. I finally set up and vividly remember thinking, “Am I having a heart attack? Am I dying?”
After about five minutes, I walked out of my room and told my roommate what had just happened. Unsure of what really happened, I described how I felt. His girlfriend was there and said, “That’s exactly how anxiety attacks feel.”
Up to that point in my life, I had never experienced something like that before. It was dark, fear-inducing, and left me feeling vulnerable. Let me put this in perspective from my vantage point. I absolutely hate vomiting—with every fiber of my being. When I get nauseous, I get so afraid that I’m getting sick. I do everything I can to not vomit. And yet, when the anxiety attacked ceased, I remember walking to my car thinking, “I would rather throw up a hundred times than do that again.”
Millions upon millions of people suffer from anxiety attacks, panic attacks, clinical anxiety, etc. just like my story above. Many much worse than what I went through—even Christians.
Anxiety and the Church
There is a stigma within the evangelical church around the topic of clinical anxiety. Many Christians—a lot of whom I respect and admire—simply do not believe it exists. They see no evidence for chemical imbalances. I know of many close to me who would have a totally different opinion on this. And that’s okay.
However, many Christians have done damage to other Christians who suffer in this way because they don’t believe chemical anxiety, depression, etc. are real. In turn, they say the problem is not the brain malfunctioning, but their own sin. They send Philippians 4:6 to suffering Christians and say, “Just believe this more.” But this isn’t a Philippians 4:6 issue, but an issue that has its roots in total depravity.
What Does Total Depravity Have to Do with This?
As one who believes in the doctrine of total depravity, I think it’s sensible to believe in clinical anxiety (or other mental health issues). I think it’s difficult not to because of total depravity.
At its foundation, total depravity explains that sin isn’t a mere hiccup in our spiritual makeup or that, deep down, we’re good people who do bad things. No, sin affects our whole being—mind, soul, body. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” We weren’t sick people, but dead people. We didn’t need to “turn over a new leaf,” but become a new person altogether.
And that was the effect of original sin. Just as original sin made us spiritually dead—incapable of obtaining salvation on our own—it also affected our whole being—including our brain.
Furthermore, total depravity doesn’t mean we are as bad as we could be, but that sin has permeated our entire self.
RC Sproul explains:
…it means that the fall [of man] is so serious that it affects the whole person. Our fallenness captures and grips our human nature and affects our bodies—that’s why we become ill and die. It affects our minds and our thinking (brackets and italics mine).
It affects our mind and the way we think. It impacts every part of us. And because of that is why I believe the Bible gives room for clinical anxiety. Our brains have malfunctioned because of sin. The human mind is not what it ought to be. Sin came into the world (Gen. 3) and caused catastrophic damage—to say the very least.
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If a pastor suspects that a fellow elder is abusing his office in any way, he must stand between that false shepherd and the precious sheep. Too often elderships have been accused of circling the wagons and protecting their own at the expense of Christ’s blood-bought sheep. It is not the job of shepherds to protect other shepherds. Shepherds are tasked with the work of protecting the sheep. 

To the ancient mind, the unattended sheep would be seen with the same horror as we would view an unattended child.  The world of the sheep was dangerous. Some would seek to destroy and consume the sheep. The sheep found protection in the midst of the flock, but especially under the watchful gaze of a loving and attentive shepherd. Christ’s sheep live in a world filled with predatory men and ministries.  False prophets propagating a false gospel abounded in the day of the apostles and the warning sounded that such would always be the case. Zechariah addresses the dangers of false doctrine and the lies that people are susceptible to believe when he says, “They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.” (Zech 10:2)  What is the job of the shepherd in this regard? It is, at the very least, threefold. The first duty of the pastor to protect his flock is to feed them with the truth. The best way to prevent an embrace of a false gospel is an affectionate and knowledgeable embrace of the true gospel.  The second aspect of protection is the faithful exposure of false teaching and, in some cases, of the false teachers themselves. You see this in a passage like 2 Timothy 2:16-18: “But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.” The false doctrine is exposed and those teaching it are identified.
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