Woodville Grace Brethren Church

News Journal Article for July 24, 2010

HELPING THE HURTING

Hurting people are all around us!  We face an economy that has led to layoffs and unemployment.  Many are wondering where their next meal will come from.  Some try to cope by turning to drugs and alcohol.  Marriages are breaking up due to the pressure and stress.  Children are abused out of anger and frustration.  Where do they turn for help?  And how long will that help last?

These are real-life situations that I face in ministry every day.  What is the church to do?  Is the church even relevant to the needs of the day?  Where does Jesus fit into the scenario?  I have asked these questions over and over again.

As I have contemplated these issues, I have searched the Scriptures for answers and find that the church of believers has been called to meet needs both physically and spiritually.  I grew up in an era of churches that shied away from meeting the physical needs of people because you might be labeled liberal and holding to a “social gospel.”  It is time that the church be Jesus to a world of hurting people.  We must lay aside our fear of labels and be obedient to Jesus’ call to His church to reach a world that is lost and in desperate need of help.

So what do we do?  As I look at the Gospels and view the ministry and teaching of Jesus, I learn that Jesus first met the physical needs of people in order to lead them to their greatest need which is spiritual.  He healed the lame, the blind, he raised the dead, and he fed the hungry.  But, at the heart of all that He did, He was driven by compassion and love for the downcast and hurting.  In fact, He said in Luke 5:31-32, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

But how do we get sinners to see their need?  When they are hungry, how do they hear the truth?  When they are addicted, how do they see the significance of the Gospel?  When they are hurting, how do they understand what will take away their pain?

In Luke 10:25-29, we find Jesus in a dialogue with a lawyer who was attempting to discredit Him by asking, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  And Jesus asked him what he personally thought.  The lawyer responded, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  Jesus told him that he was right on.  In fact, Jesus said, “DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”  But the man wanted to justify himself, since this is impossible to do without coming to God on His terms.  So he asked, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus responded by telling a story about the Good Samaritan.  In that story, Jesus applauds a Samaritan and his acts of kindness.  That Samaritan, who was hated by the Jews for he was half-Jew and half-Gentile, helped a Jew who was lying on the side of the road half dead while the religious people (a priest and a Levite) passed by and refused to help.

The Samaritan “felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.  On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.”  Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three had been a true neighbor.  The lawyer answered, “The one who showed mercy toward him.”  Then Jesus answered, “Go and do the same.”

Nowhere in that parable did the Samaritan say a word.  Actions speak louder than words.  Jesus does not tell us the conclusion to that parable.  Did the Samaritan follow up with the spiritual needs of the Jew?  We are not told.  But, who would have the best opportunity to reach that wounded Jew with spiritual truth – the priest, the Levite, or the hated Samaritan?  I believe it would the latter.

Churches and individual Christ-followers can help the hurting by first meeting their physical needs and building relationships that will lead opportunities to lead them to their greatest need of spiritual hope.  When a man is hungry, the greatest need on his mind is physical food.  Once he has been fed, he is most ready to listen to the one who has fed him.  Once the hurting person has found help for their felt needs, the next step is to satisfy the need of the soul.  The church must once again become the church, following Jesus by meeting needs both physically and spiritually.