Peter Witkowski Discipleship, Evangelism, Pain & Suffering

Bedside Evangelism: Yes or No?

bedside-evangelismSharing the gospel with those about to wade through the river of death can seem daunting and at times inappropriate and unkind. The Clinical Pastoral Education movement ardently discourages ministers from discussing the cross, Jesus, and eternal life with those in the middle of a medical crisis. The group believes pastors should offer comfort through listening and through sharing encouraging thoughts that restate the patients’ beliefs, concerns, and desires.

While this pastoral trend towards therapeutic listening has a certain appeal because it keeps ministers from unnecessarily stepping on the toes of suffering and seems to picture God’s love, it actually hides the love of God from those who need it most.

Illnesses, car accidents, and natural disasters exist because of the fall. They are manifestations of evil. Christians should always seek to rescue, help, and comfort people who acutely feel the effects of the broken world. But sorrow and suffering are not random evils. They are often used by God to accomplish his divine will.

God afflicts the wicked with suffering because he desires their salvation. In 1 Samuel 5-6, the Philistines come to grips with this reality. They had defeated the Israelites and captured the Ark of the Lord. As the begin to celebrate this great victory, God pummels them with divine wrath. Their god, Dagon,  is smashed to pieces. Their people develop tumors and begin to drop like flies. Mice overrun their fields. Because of their great anguish the Philistines realize that the God of Israel is the most powerful God.

C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, wrote,

The human spirit will not even begin to try to surrender self-will as long as all seems to be well with it. Now error and sin both have this property, that the deeper they are the less their victims suspects their existence; they are masked evil. Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt

When life goes well, people are prone to ignore God. As Jeremiah 22:21 reminds us, “I spoke to you in your prosperity but you said, ‘I will not listen.” Pain gets the attention of the modern man and woman just as it got the attention of the ancient Philistines. But pain does not save. As Thomas Watson noted,

If pain and trouble were sufficient to repentance, then the dammed in hell should be most, for they are most in anguish.

Pain only knocks people off of their demigod thorns, revealing that someone else rules the universe. But pain does not fully reveal who that ruler is and how one can enjoy a peaceful relationship with God. The Philistines returned the Ark and escaped their pain. But they did not follow their cows into Israel and become followers of the one true God. The Philistines never found salvation.

Pastors have the amazing opportunity to supply the prophetic voice that the Philistines lacked. When a minister learns that a sinner is dying or hears that a less than faithful church member is approaching death, he should come to their bedside equipped with the gospel. The pastor should share the truth that Jesus has died to save sinners. As the Puritan Pastor Richard Baxter noted,

Even the stoutest of sinners will hear us on their death-bed, though they scorned us before.

The pastor should seize the bedside moment and share Christ with the dying, risking social scorn and a few bruised toes.

Is not the salvation of the wicked worth a little angst in the pastor’s souls? Did not Christ offer paradise to the thief on the cross? Can the faithful minister do any less?

Admittedly, pastors can abuse the suffering. The pastor can wrongfully offer salvation in exchange for physical blessing and peace. The sick and weak can be prone to do anything to get relief. The Philistines made golden tumors and mice. Pastors must offer Christ crucified and not some twisted gospel of self-interest where people come to God in order to get favors from him. God does not want to be treated as a genie bound to do the will of human flesh. God wants the sinner to repent and follow Him with his or her whole heart. Anything less is not real salvation and will not last. Watson rightfully notes,

A passionate resolution…raised in a storm will die in the calm.

Salvation ultimately has to be a work of God. And God often uses suffering to draw men and women to faith. Pastors should not hide the gospel when at the bedside of the dying. Rather as Baxter said, “it is time for us, while there is hope, to help him if we can.”

Pastor…Minister are you ready to help?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

The Power of Biblical Thinking

Reeling from the suicides of Fashion Designer Kate Spade and Chef Anthony Bourdain, the American public is again discussing pain, sorrow, and depression. We all recognize that life is marred by hurt and sadness. Even fame and fortune cannot stave off discouragement, sorrow, and hopelessness.

And sorrow and suffering are not just subjects found in that afflict those outside the church. Both evils regularly afflict Christians. The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon was frequently attacked by depression as he struggled with gout, rheumatism, and neuritis,  as he was attacked by the media and other pastors, and as he endured a daunting daily schedule. Once after a prankster caused a stampede at his church that result in the deaths of seven people, Spurgeon fell into a deep depression. His wife said, “My beloved’s anguish was so deep and violent, that reason seemed to totter in her throne, and we sometimes feared that he would never preach again.”

As the late preacher R.C. Sproul said,

The presence of faith gives no guarantee of the absence of spiritual depression; however, the dark night of the soul always gives way to the brightness of the noonday light of the presence of God.

Christians suffer all kinds of hardships including, sickness, persecution, hunger, rejection, and even death. And as we bump against the hardships of life and ministry, we can be tempted to lose hope. We can become tempted to stay in bed, to stop going to class and to stop attending church. What do we do when those moments come? What do we do when reason itself seems to be replaced we depression, sadness, and hopelessness? How do we get back to the brightness of the noon day?

We remember! Specifically we:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David!

Paul tells his mentee in the faith, Timothy, to remember the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul tells Timothy that the key to the Christian life is found in Biblical thinking. As Timothy constantly and regularly dwells on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and on Jesus humanity, he will find the power to suffer well.

Paul mentions Jesus resurrection, because it is the crux of our faith, the centerpiece of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 says,

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Christ resurrection is a matter of first importance. Because Christ is alive, death is conquered and salvation is possible. We have every reason to hope as Paul writes later in verse 11b-12a, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. “

The hope of the Christian life begins and ends with the resurrection. Pastor C.J. Mahaney rightfully notes, “Reminding ourselves of the gospel is the most important daily habit we can establish.”  Because Christ lives, we too will live. We will live in eternity with him. We will once again walk and commune with God like Adam and Eve did, lacking shame and enjoying close, intimate, and unbroken fellowship with our God.

The-Power-of-Biblical-ThinkingAnd we also find our hope for tomorrow. Because Christ lives, we know we can gain victory over our sin. We will find the brightness of the noonday sun. We will be able to overcome lust, pride, depression, anger, and covetousness. Our sin and our failures and our sorrow over our failures are not the end of our story. Christ is alive. And we are alive in Christ. The same power the brought Christ to life is the same power that guarantees our victory over today’s trials and the guarantees the glorious of the next life. When we feel down and sorrowful, we should head Paul’s advice and remember the resurrected Jesus.

And we should remember that Jesus is the offspring of David. Jesus is fully man. He suffered like you and I have suffered. He was tempted just like you and I have been and will be. Jesus understands our frailty. And he is not a demanding father who requires  us to do the impossible in our own strength. He is not the over zealous Little-Coach who expects his kids to lead the team in home runs, failing to notice that his little guy is 3’5″ and weighs only 55 lbs. Our God is a compassionate savior who understands and empathizes with our weakness and struggles. Hebrews 4:15-16 states,

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Often the very shame of having to admit to God that we struggle drives us deeper into despair. After all why would God help someone as messed up as me? Yet He does! He delights in helping us when we are hopeless. God does not demand that we find hope apart from us and then show up to his throne looking all prime an proper. God invites us to come to him when we feel like staying in bed, when we try to avoid every other human being, and when we lock ourselves away in our room. He invites us to come to him when we look more like a homeless person than a doctor, college student, or well-organized mom. He does not expect us to approach Him in strength. Rather he gives grace and help to us in our time of need. He invites the weak to come to him for strength.  Spurgeon rightfully found great hope in the humanity of Christ once saying,

As the mother feels with the weakness of her babe, so does Jesus feel with the poorest, saddest, and weakest of his chosen.

Christ cares deeply about his hurting and suffering children and freely offers to help all.

Remember that Christ is the seed of David. Remember he does not hand us punishment but mercy and grace in our time of need. Stop pretending to be alright and ask God for help. He will give it to us. And we know he can liberate us from our sorrow for he has conquered death. He reigns and will we reign with Him!

If you feel down today, if you feel depressed, and if you feel overcome by sorrow, reflect upon the risen Lord, the seed of David. Daily fight to remember all that Christ did on the cross and remember Christ’s compassion. Think biblically and the light of the noonday will come. Christ, the seed of David, is risen. Do you remember?

Peter Witkowski Pain & Suffering

Should Our Crisis Become Our Reason For Living?

crisis-blog-2When we experience tragedy, we long to make sense of our hardship. We long to find a positive reason for why we lost our loved one, for why our friends betrayed us, and for why the very core of our being was rocked by evil. We want a reason.  Like Job, we want to know why God allowed our hearts to be broken.

Quite often as the pain of the storm begins to recede, we start throwing ourselves into causes. Those who lost babies begin looking for ways to start a grieving mother ministry. Those who were unjustly fired begin employee advocacy groups, and those who lost a loved one to drugs begin championing every drug rehab facility in town. Often we do these things because we want to ascribe a cause to our suffering. We want to be able to say, “I suffered X Y and Z so that A, B, and D would happen.”

And at one level it is good for us to draw upon our experiences to help others. Paul says that he suffered many things in part, “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 2:4).  Paul was almost killed for his faith so that he could care for others who are going through tragedy.

When we suffer and find comfort in Christ, we do have a powerful thing to share with others. Those who have lost babies have unique opportunities to care for others who have lost babies. Those who have had home destroyed by alcohol have an amazing platform from which to care for others who have been abused by a drunk husband. And those who have suffered through their wife’s infidelity can speak powerfully into the lives of other couples that have been rocked by sexual sin.

But notice what Paul says. He says that he suffered so that he could encourage others in ‘any affliction.’ Paul was implying that our dependence upon Christ through suffering is transferable to any and all suffering because the solution and the hope for all who suffer unbearable hardships is Jesus Christ.

Please do not miss this. The reason you suffer, the reason evil touches the very core of who we are is that God is calling us to himself. God is allowing evil into our lives so that we can draw closer and closer to him. This is the point of James 1, Romans 8, and the book of Job. As Kent Huges wrote,

The assurance that he can do all things and that no purpose of his can be thwarted is the comfort that I need in suffering and the encouragement I crave when terrified by evil.

The hope for those who suffer, the reason we get up in the morning, the ability to keep going after we have been touched by evil is this:

 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him

– Lamentations 3:22-24

God is our refuge, our reason for living, our meaning in the midst of despair. If we seek to finding meaning amidst our tragedy outside of Christ, we cheapen the very hope of the gospel.

 I know this first hand. There is no ministry, there is no success, and there is amount of recognition on this earth that makes the death of my first-born son worthwhile. I would happily sacrifice all of them and you to get him back.  I miss him dearly. But I have hope because I have God and because I know that God’s love for my son is even greater than mine because Christ died for him. The Lord is my portion, therefore I will hope in Him.

I hope and pray that you can say, “that the Lord is my portion.” Resist the temptation to make some part of you trial your portion. Resist the temptation to make sense out of your sorrow by your own actions. Trust the Lord.

Practically going forward, I encourage you to remember both your suffering and the fact that God is the solution to your suffering. And then, use the opportunities that God has given you to comfort others. If you are a NICU nurse who lost a baby, then by all means draw upon God’s faithfulness in your life to teach others how to care for grieving mothers and fathers. If you are a police officer who has seen God’s faithfulness on display through your son’s drug addiction, depend upon God’s faithfulness to shape your drug rehab program. But if you are cupcake store owner who just survived a patch of infidelity in your marriage do not give up your business to start a marriage counseling service. Minister to those whom God has put in your place. As Paul said, our suffering prepares us to help all others as they suffer hardships in a variety of complex ways.

God never intended for our crisis to become our passion. Christ is to be our passion. Is he yours?