The small things- more on AKA "Lost"

I was struck as I read Chapter 10 by how God uses our small things in big ways. Jim Henderson quotes from Mat 25:34, 40- "Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance...whatever you did for one of the least of these [prisoners, orphans, and those who are hungry], you did for me."

What struck me is what exactly the people in the verse were doing for the prisoners, orphans, and those who are hungry, etc. For the hungry, they simply gave something to eat. They did not have a food drive, lobby against world hunger, or create an agricultural program. For the thirsty, they gave something to drink. No mention of their drilling wells or teaching about water purification or sanitation. For those needing clothes, they clothed them. No buying of sewing machines and sewing classes. As far as the sick, they "looked after" them. This sounds as much like sitting by the bedside and meeting basic needs as much as it sounds like medical care. What about buiding leprosoriums, doing surgery, building clinics and hospitals? The stranger was simply invited in. The prisoner was visited.

The medical students and residents I take with me to Indonesia to serve through medical care in the remote villages always struggle with the significance, the "worthwhile-ness," of what we are doing. Some things we do, such as giving antibiotics for skin infections or pneumonia, do have obvious short and even long-term benefits to the patients. However, I am often asked questions like, "I am giving some tylenol now, but when we leave and the tylenol runs out, the patient will suffer from his headaches again." Or med students are frustrated by seeing people with diseases we can do little or nothing about- tuberculosis, for example, because there is no local healthcare infrastructure that can administer daily observed therapy for many months as needed for adequate treatment.

Yet Matthew 25 illustrates that the simple acts of kindness are important to Jesus. Sure, building clinics and medical infrastructure is important, and is surely needed in Papua, Indonesia. But the act of caring for a patient, of listening with love to the patient, of praying for the patient, of cleansing her wounds and being with her in her struggles- surely these acts are very pleasing to Jesus, in and of themselves.

We North Americans want to come in with programs, building projects, community development, and infrastructure development. These are all good things and have their place. God uses these things to help people. But Jesus said, "...if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” (Matt 10:42) Mother Teresa's ministry consisted in large part in caring for the dying. She and her nuns would go into the streets of Calcutta and find the dying elderly and terminally ill that their relatives had forgotten or even cast out. They would bring them to a place where they would give them a bath, sit with them and comfort them. They would hold their hands as they died. By North American standards, this could be considered a waste of time, because the nuns spent all that time, but the patients still died. But the dying are profoundly impacted by the love and care of the nuns, and many come to know Jesus through their compassion.

As Henderson points out, in the Gospels it was the five loaves and two fish that the boy brought that Jesus multiplied to miraculously feed the multitudes. Our "intentional kindness," as Henderson puts it, is what matters to Jesus. It is our "intentional kindness" that the patients and people will notice. Our small acts of love, of caring, of listening are what matter to Him. And as we build the clinics and hospitals, drill wells and create infrastructure, if we lose or forget the acts of intentional kindness, of listening, of caring for the unlovely or neglected, our love means nothing.

a.k.a. "Lost"

Several months ago a friend of mine gave me Jim Henderson's book a.k.a. "Lost", a book about friendship evangelism. I'm more than halfway through, and really enjoying it. The book gives good insights into how to share Christ with friends in a much more natural, non-threatening way. Appears to be much more in line with how Jesus interacted with others. His approach seems much more doable than other approaches. I particularly like his theme of giving people attention, showing interest in them and what is going on in their lives, which is much-craved in our high-tech, high-speed, low touch culture. This to me is the essence of the love Jesus commands us to show and give to others.

The approach is similar to the principles in CMDA's Saline Solution course, which teaches Christian physicians to share Christ in a respectful, non-threatening way with their patients. I have been able, with God's help, to implement this into my practice to the spiritual benefit of many of my patients. But I have been perplexed as I have tried to bring up spiritual issues with my colleagues- often our conversations have generated more heat than light as their closely and emotionally-held world views clashed with mine. So more recently I have either remained silent or tried to ask questions at appropriate times to help my non-Christian colleagues re-evaluate their worldviews. Yet I have continued to be frustrated that my colleagues, in our current politically-correct culture, can more or less freely express their views, based on their modernist or post-modernist presuppositions, yet it is awkward for me to express mine. I think I will step out and try some of the recommendations of a.k.a. "Lost" to see how they play out.