Healing “our” Members

I’ve spent a couple hours with my my mother in law in her  hospital room the last couple of days.  She is 76 and broke her ankle– and has an infection there as well.  Her  doctors are doing everything they can to correct the situation– anti-biotics, elevation, planning for surgery.   Pray for her if you think of it.

Last week a couple of churches that we work with had some tough things happen.  They are older congregations, broken just like my wife’s mom.  These churches  are struggling after leadership changes and people are hurting and challenged.  Both the people and the churches are bruised.  I have noticed that fellow churches and offended members are often treated differently than my mother-in-law.   We don’t apply the same kind of effort to healing these congregations–they are often left to limp along on their own. 

 Who will administer the anti-bitter-otics?  Who will make sure their wounds are healed?   A competetive relationship leaves us with no ability to help with healing.  Only if we see these other congregations as an extension of the same body will we sense a need to help.  

Here is Jesus perspective on the wounded:  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory (Matthew 12:20). 

What kind of effort should we offer when people are hurt and wounded?  How about churches in our community–do other local churches and their leaders have some responsibility to help heal the wounds of fellow congregations?   I am not suggesting meddling, but simply support.  When one congregation in our community is wounded, if affects all the others.  Perhaps we need to offer to help, with funds or  with people or with personal support? 

If we see these other churches as separate companies, not connected to our local expression and disconnected from our chapter of the Body of Christ, we aren’t seeing them the way that Jesus sees them.  They are our members, because Jesus never sold different franchises to his kingdom.  When one (individual or corporate) member suffers, the rest suffer whether individually or in larger settings.

Our communites are littered with people who have suffered “church abuse” or frustration that has forced them outside of the family.  I think its due in part the lack of attention paid to healing, and the priority that we place on organizational function at a higher level than organism and relationship.  Since we live in this isolation, we cannot reach for help and healing when we need it.  Perhaps we all bear the responsibility to apply the healing salve.