This is part of a series of reflections on the Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Maker of Heaven and Earth
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary;
suffered under Pontius Pilate
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell,
The third day, He rose from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
And sitting on the right hand of God the Father almighty
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic Church
The communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body
and the life everlasting.  Amen.

There are two lines in the Apostles’ Creed that deal with the Virgin Birth.  This is an aspect of the Christian faith that causes many to be embarrassed, after all, how can someone in modern times believe in a virgin birth?

However, it is important that we remember that in this creed we have already affirmed that God is the maker of all things.  (the Nicene creed will go even further, following the first chapter of John in the claim that all things were made through Jesus).  If God exists, and if he is the maker of all things, including humanity, then it is logical that such a God may create a human being apart from sexual reproduction.  This is exactly the claim that is made when Christians affirm that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

The virgin birth was part of the prophesy of a coming messiah, or Christ.  Isaiah made the prophesy to King Ahaz:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

The prophecy given to Ahaz is vast.  It includes his own undoing, but then reaches far out into the future and proclaims that a virgin will give birth to a son, and that son may be called “God With Us” (translation of Immanuel)

There are some that point to the vagueness of the Hebrew ‘almah as perhaps only meaning a young woman and thus reducing this claim to perhaps any child.  However, where the Hebrew may mean “virgin” or “young woman” it is clear from he Septuagint (parthenos) that the understanding here was of a miraculous, virgin birth.

However, all of the linguistic and theological wrangling over the notion of a virgin birth can cause us to miss the even greater miracle foreseen here:  God with us!

The promise of messiah is more than just a righteous ruler, but rather God joining his creation in order to reconcile and restore it.  The coming of the Christ would not just be miraculous for the sake of proof, but miraculous for the sake of His mission.

In the birth of Jesus something was set in motion: a plan to reconcile God’s people to himself.  It is a miracle wider than the very division stuck between God and Humanity.  Now the end of the division is in sight, for the promised one is born!

This is part of a series of reflections on the Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Maker of Heaven and Earth
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary;
suffered under Pontius Pilate
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell,
The third day, He rose from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
And sitting on the right hand of God the Father almighty
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic Church
The communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body
and the life everlasting.  Amen.

Having accepted Jesus as the only begotten of the Father and as such the Christ, we now come to another fact about the Jesus:  the virgin birth, and more precisely, that he was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

I will not get bogged down at this point by questioning miracles in general.  The assumption that a God exists that created the world is an assumption that God can work miracles.  It is however important to fully understand what exactly this miracle was and what it was not.

 There are many myths in which gods have sex with humans.  This is not that kind of story.  Attempts to paint it as such will completely misunderstand the significance of what happened.  In fact, none of the words used to describe the event are references to sexual reproduction.

Instead, the notion of being conceived by the Holy Spirit is more akin to the creation of Adam with God breathing life into this new creation.

This is what must be, for Jesus did not come just to show us a new way, but rather to be a way.  As such, He must be a new creation, uncorrupted by sin.  He is the second Adam.

Some are tempted to dismiss the virgin birth, embarrassed by such a story in modern times.  Yet, the ancient Christians devoted two lines of the Apostles’ Creed to it.  They did so because it points to the very nature of what Christ would do.

It is not enough that a person could come along and obey the Old Testament law.  This would not make a person righteous or sinless.  Sin existed before the law, and the law does not exist to show righteousness, but rather to expose sin.  The law exists for sinners.  Consider what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4 ESV)

Jesus came to do what we could not:  fulfill the law.  He came to do what the law could not: restore righteousness.  In sending Jesus, God gave humanity a do-over.  This time, however, sin is defeated in Christ, and new creation that we may also become new creations.

The subject of my most hated Christmas song comes up every year. To hate any traditional Christmas song will immediately lead to suspicions that I am the Grinch, I know, but I hate so many songs, that there is bound to be a Christmas song or two.

Knowing full well, that you may suspect that my heart is two sizes two small, I want to discuss The Little Drummer Boy. No, I do not dislike this song because of its historical inaccuracy. I’ll let that go since we are not actually discussing the theology of the Little Drummer Boy. I generally leave my historical criticisms at “who are all those white guys in the nativity scene?” No, it is not the twisting of history that bothers me; it is the message. Yes, I hate the message of that song.

If you have spent much time in church, you know what a horrible temptation a microphone can be. Every church has at least one person that, if not properly restrained, will desire to serve the Lord with the one gift He has not given them: song. Lack of talent will not stop this person, for it is not the Lord they are after but the wonderful attention that only a microphone brings. How many songs have been butchered? How many wonderful worship moments have been ruined because one person decided that was the time and place to belt an off-key rendition of whatever sappy quasi-spiritual country song happens to be popular that week? That person, my friends, is the Little Drummer Boy.

I cannot imagine a single woman appreciating a small child banging his drum around her newborn baby. Yet, the Little Drummer Boy seems to think it is perfectly acceptable for him to torture the eardrums of Mary, Joseph, some humble shepherds, and the infant Jesus.

Now, some will say that the song is not about that at all. They will plead with me that the Little Drummer Boy plays his drum because it is his talent, his gift. It is all he has to give to Jesus. They will argue that the Little Drummer Boy sets an example for us all by giving his talents to the Lord.

I agree. If that is what the Little Drummer Boy does, then he is setting a fine example. However, that only holds true IF the Little Drummer Boy can actually play the drums. However, if he cannot play the drums; if that is not his gift; then all he is showing is an example of selfish pride. And I submit to you that the Little Drummer Boy is no drummer at all.

Consider for a moment what a drummer does. At the core of his art, the drummer has one function: to keep time. That is what a drummer does. In fact, a drummer can do nothing else at all if he cannot first keep the time. However, in the song, “The Little Drummer Boy” it clearly states that the “ox and lamb kept time.” If you are depending on the livestock to keep the beat, my friend, you are not a drummer.
​
The Little Drummer boy has secured his place in Christmas tradition on the basis that he could play the drums; that it is all he could do. In reality, he cannot. He is not a drummer. Playing the drums is not his gift to bring, but his own ego demanding attention. I say its high time we send him off to figure out what it is that he can do and stop that infernal racket!

This is part 4 of Reflections on the Apostles' Creed.  You can find previous parts here: part 1, part 2, part 3.

Even though it takes an active faith to believe that God exists, let alone who He then is in relation to ourselves, it is not enough.  It is said that even demons believe in God and they tremble.  So the choice cannot simply be, “Am I a theist or an atheist?”  Now comes the moment that pulls the Christian out of the vast world of theism.  For the Christian is not just a believer in God but also a believer in Jesus, with some very particular beliefs about who Jesus is.
In the Apostles’ Creed, we state three things right off as to who Jesus is.

1. He is Christ
2. He is God’s only son.
3. He is our Lord

​It is important to understand the uniqueness of these claims.  First, to claim that Jesus is the Christ is to say that He is the Messiah, that long awaited promised one of the Old Testament.  The Old Testament prophesies are so numerous regarding the Messiah that it quickly dispatches what the Messiah is not.  He must be a priest, but not only a priest.  He must be a prophet, but not only a prophet.  He must be a King, but not only a King.

It is common to think of Jesus as just a teacher, much like Buddha is to Buddhists or Muhammad is to Islam.  It is true that he taught, but Jesus cannot just be a teacher and fill the role of Christ.  Jesus claimed to be God.  Such a claim fits within the role of Christ.  C.S. Lewis famously points out that such a claim makes him one of three things:  a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

If He is the Christ, then He is certainly different from any key figure of other religions, for He is God’s only son.  It is common to think of all people as God’s children but such a claim is not biblical.  There is a difference between being God’s creation and being God’s begotten.  Just like the claims of a Christ, the claims of being God’s begotten separates Jesus from other religious leaders.  In most world religions, the key figure is someone who knows much about God.  In Christianity, the key figure is someone who is God.

Which brings about the next claim, He is our Lord.  He is the one to whom we submit our will.  To call Jesus lord is to claim his authority over our lives, an authority that is only matched by God the Father.

There was a moment in Jesus’ earthly ministry when the multitudes quit following.  They enjoyed the miracles.  They enjoyed the teachings of mercy.  Perhaps they even enjoyed seeing the religious leaders of the day scolded for their heavy burden of laws and offerings.  However, when Jesus began to make peculiar claims about being God, specifically being the actual bread of heaven on which they may live, the crowds left.

We reach this moment in the Apostles’ Creed.  Is it enough to believe in God?  Is it enough to acknowledge God as an Almighty father, who has created all things, myself included.  Why take this next step from theism to Christianity?

Consider the words of Simon Peter as the multitudes walked away:

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69 ESV

Peter knew that no one else had answers like Jesus.  For many claimed to know the way, but Jesus claimed to be the way.  This profound difference led Peter to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the promised Messiah.

Once again, we are at a point where active faith must be employed.  We must choose to believe and we do this because no other choice offers all that Jesus offers.  There is no other choice offered that claims to be the way.  No other choice can justify us completely before God.

We actively choose that Jesus is the Holy One of God, and we submit ourselves to His Lordship.

This is part 3 of Reflections on the Apostle's Creed.  Be sure to also see Part 1 and Part 2

Having made the brave choice to believe in God, and then acknoweledged him as that Father of all Fathers, that One who may know me more intimately than anyone else possibly is able, I now must consider another atributre of God.  Now I must consider that He is the Creator.

A few years ago, I visited the Chicago Art Institute.  I have never been the kind of person that spend a lot of time in Art museums.  I appreciate art, yes, but it has never captured my attention.  At least is had not until that day.  The Van Gogh room changed everything for me.  To see his work in person made a profound impact.  Much has been said of Van Gogh.  Some say he was a madman.  Others say he forsook the powerful life of a clergyman in order to live among the poor.  All I know of him is what I see in his work.  There is passion there.  That is evident by the sheer amount of pain on the canvas.  I cannot fathom that he ever considered a work finished.  I imagine that he painted and painted, always creating, always striving for that perfect image he had in his mind.  Such it is to be a creator.

It is easy enough to believe that God is creative.  If I bear even a broken image of him, then the fact that I want to create things, to write songs, to tell stories, to share poetry suggests something about his nature.  All humanity has this innate love of creating.  There is a satisfaction like no other than to be able to say, "I imade this."  I cannot help but to think I inherited this creative nature.

However, it is not enough to suggest that God is creative.  In the Apostles' Creed, I now come to a place where I affirm that not only has He created, but that He is the creator of all things.  For there is nothing that exisits outside of Heaven and Earth except for God Himself.  The natural world, all I know of it, all I do not know, and all that is unknowable is within his handiwork.

"I made the earth    
and created man on it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host." Isaiah 45:12, ESV

Consider this claim.  As far as the heavens stretch (infinite), God has created and commanded.  This claim is made in the context of the the LORD using for all accounts, an unbeliever, to deliver His people.  God reminds his prophet Isaiah that no one is outside of his creation that He cannot command and use.

This claim that God created Heaven and Earth, is far more than just a creation myth.  All religions have creation myths and most are satisfied with the notion that "my god created me, and your god created you."  But this claim is larger.  This claim is that God created all things.  He created the known, the unknown, and even the unkowable.  He created those who do not claim Him.  Nothing is beyond his inherint authority as Creator.

And yet, in all this, He created man on it.  The Father Almighty has chosen to place me in his creation.  Not at its center.  There is enough narcisism in the world without me thinking that God has made everything for me.  No, He created for His own purpose, but it is enough to realize that in a work that encompasses all things, He found a place for me.

This is part 2 of reflections on the Apostles Creed.  See Part 1 here.

It is not enough to claim belief in the existence of God.  Such a claim will naturally hold a belief in the nature of God as well.  That brings the next three words, "The Father Almighty."

The idea suggests both a relationship and an ability.  The concept of God as father is a difficult one these days.  There are attempts to side-step this with notions of friend, lover, brother, and even mother.  While there may be elements of truth in each, the fact remains that biblically, and historically, God has first been known as Father.

This is difficult for many because in our modern times we have a desperate lack of fatherhood.  Abandonment, abuse, and all manner of dissapointment may be wrapped up in our definition of the word Father.  As a pastor, I would frequently see people bristle at the notion that God was their Father.

Now it could be that in ancient times, calling God, "father" was merely a means of saying that He was the creator, the first cause.  I think, however, that there is something in the relationship aspect.  And this something is magnified when we get the next word: Almighty.

Jeremiah considered this in this passage:

"Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord." Jeremiah 23:23-24 ESV

God is near, present.  He is present even in the most secret places.  He fills both heaven and earth, thus no place exists that He is not there.

Such power, knowledge, and presence allows us to bring any dissapointment with earthly fathers to the Fatherhood of God.  For God is able to know us more intimately than any person possibly can.  No one may know our thoughts, no matter how much they desire or even how much we desire it of them.  They cannot know what goes on in the most secret or places, our thought-life.  Yet God is there.  God is there, and he still desires to call us his own.

The great songwriter, Bill Mallonee spoke of this in his song, Every Father Knows.  When I hear this song, I'm reminded of all the places I wander and how far away from God I may think I am, and yet He is always there and still calling me His.

When The Gospel Coalition published an article regarding Pastors and Suicide, it caught my attention.  I served in full-time church ministry for 15 years, first as a youth pastor, then as a pastor, and finally as a church planter.  Throughout that time, my life-long issues with depression and anxiety intensified.  Unfortunately, I was always afraid to tell anyone.  After all, pastors are not supposed to have these kind of problems.

I do not know if it was age, a church planting failure, or a combination of the two, but after 15 years, I reached my breaking point.  After I spent 5 days in a psychiatric hospital, I came to a conclusion:  I have to start telling my story.

I decided that 15 years of pretending everything was find did not help anyone.  It was not healthy for me, my family, or the people I served.  So, if the Lord wills, I plan to spend the next half of my career telling my story.

I have been around enough ministry leaders to know I am not alone.  I can see the signs in others.  However, seeing The Gospel Coalition claim that pastor suicides are increasing really hit home.
It made me wonder, why do ministry leaders not get help?  The famous Lifeway study proves that the fear is real.  48% of evangelicals believe that prayer and Bible study alone are enough to treat mental illnesses like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.  If one in two church members see reaching beyond Bible study and prayer as unnecessary, the fear that many pastors have about getting help is well founded.

Do not get me wrong.  I am all for prayer and Bible study.  I know of people who have been healed of all sorts of calamities through prayer alone.  However, when a person comes down with cancer, do we not pray AND seek medical help?  Do we not see the great advances in medical knowledge and technology as something that God gives and uses?  The Bible never speaks against medicine and doctors, so why do we treat mental illness differently?

I can think of two primary reasons.  First, we think the Bible does address depression and anxiety and that these are not illnesses.  Second, we fear that the psychiatric community will be hostile to the Christian faith.  There are other reasons but I will address these two.  These two reasons are myths that are keeping many from getting the help they need.

​Myth #1  The Bible speaks of depression and anxiety and these are not illnesses.
The Bible does talk about sadness, grief, and worry.  However, a clinical definition of depression and anxiety is not simply being sad and worrying.  A person diagnosed with major depressive disorder is not just sad.  

In fact, in order to be diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, the patient must have at least 5 or more of these symptoms in the same 2 week period:

1. Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad, empty, hopeless) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.)
2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation.)
3. Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. (Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gain.)
4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.
5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
7. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).
8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others).
9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Also, those symptoms cannot be the result of a diagnosed physiological effect or other medical condition.  Further, the symptoms must be causing significant impairment either in the patients social life, employment, etc.

A person that is clinically depressed is not just sad.  A person that is has generalized anxiety disorder or “panic attacks” is not just worried. In fact I am not much of worrier at all.  My anxiety shows up as anger.  A pastor friend of mine had knee pain as a result of anxiety.

In my case, there is a real illness in my brain that prevents me from being happy even when I should.  That is not an excuse, any more than getting the flu is an excuse for anything.  It is up to me to learn to live with this problem and to honor God anyway.  However, if all it took was prayer and Bible study, I would have been healed long ago.  I have not given up on prayer and Bible study, but I thank God everyday for the doctors and the medicine that He has sent my way.

Myth #2:  The psychiatric and psychological community will be hostile to Christianity.

Psychiatry is a medical specialty.  Doctors are people and they have a wide range of thoughts and opinions about faith.  However, it is an error to assume that they will always be anti-Christian.  The American Psychological Association has a code of ethics that prohibits practitioners from degrading a patient’s faith. (it would contradict point 3.03 in the APA ethics code)

I can say that from my own personal experience, I have never met a mental health professional that was against my faith.  When I went to the hospital I dealt with a psychiatrist, a general practitioner, a psychologist, and a social worker.  They were not opposed to my faith.  In fact, they encouraged it.  The psychologist talked to me about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and then said, “You know, Pastor, that’s in the Bible.  Didn’t the apostle Paul say to take every thought captive?”  The social worker asked me before I was discharged if I had a church.  She was prepared to recommend one if I did not.  The hospital chaplain visited the unit and my pastor was welcomed to visit me even though any other visits were tightly regulated.  Were all the people running the unit Christians?  I think some were and some were not, but they were hardly hostile to my faith.  If anything, even the most secular practitioners I encountered saw a value in faith.

It is time to change the way we as Christians think about mental health.  Pastors need to know that they are not alone and that there is no shame in trying to be healthy.  Churches need to be ready to meet the needs of those that are suffering.  A healthy church will encourage healthy people.

Aaron Davis is an author and speaker.  He is the author of the novel “Street Preacher” and the memoir, "Baggage Claim: One Minister's Journey Through Depression to Peace" .  Click here for information about having Aaron speak to your church or group.