I Need A Doctor

So, here goes my first blog since my family and I have planted Remedy Church, a missional community focused on gathering together, growing together, and serving together in Collinsville, IL. in an effort to see peoples’ lives changed by the power of the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  

There's plenty I could write about because we have had a lot going on: new jobs, new house, new school, and activities. Instead, I want to share something with you though that EVERYONE can relate to … PAIN.

I am a bi-vocational pastor.  What this means is that I have a regular job in addition to my pastoral duties.  I am a laborer in construction, which means I do labor-intensive work at construction sites.  Well, I recently had an accident while on the job that landed me on light-duty and in physical therapy three times a week.  I won’t go into the details of the injury because that’s not what’s important.  What I am going to talk about though, is what I’ve learned through this rehabilitation process.

For the past four weeks I’ve been going to physical therapy to do stretches, exercises, and ice and heat treatments.  So far, my experience has taught me that physical therapy is not easy.  For me and the other patients in the office, healing requires us to do things that are uncomfortable, things that may cause us even more pain, and things that we don’t necessarily want to do.  All of the actions that are required of us seem to go against everything we think we should be doing; but I know I’ve heard the doctor say to more than one person that if we don’t do these treatments, we will stay in the same condition we are currently in, or end up even worse.

This leads me to something else I’ve noticed since doing physical therapy – the other patients.  I tend to keep the same schedule each week, so I’ve been there each time, with some of the same people.  We’ve gotten to know each other by asking questions about our injuries, how they happened, and how each of us has been doing.  You get to know one another in a way, and there is this encouragement and camaraderie that begins to take shape among the patients.  We celebrate each other’s victories, and encourage each other when we’re not doing very well.

Here’s the point.  There isn’t a single soul on this earth who isn’t broken.  The darkest parts of human beings’ hearts need to be healed from the wrong we’ve done and the wrong that has been done to us.  Often, those things we need to do so we can be healed are uncomfortable things - things that will probably cause more pain in the process.  I’m talking about things like admitting our wrong and asking for forgiveness, forgiving others for what they have done, and setting aside our wants for others’ needs. 

The truth is, we cannot fix ourselves.  Like all of the patients that have gone to see Doctor Ben for physical therapy, without him guiding us in the right direction we would end up staying in the same condition or even worse.  We all need a Dr. Ben. Instead of trying to heal ourselves by doing good deeds or finding our identity in people, possessions, talents, our jobs and such, that are nothing more than crutches,  we need to realize that we cannot heal ourselves.  We cannot save ourselves.  We all need a savior.  We all need Jesus.

In this physical therapy office, nobody is pretending to be okay.  What a picture of what the church should be!  We all know that we are there because we are injured and not one person is trying to hide it.  Instead we talk to each other about what we have done or what has happened to us.  We are all taking steps toward healing and encouraging one another along the way.  We are all trusting that what the Doctor is telling us to do is for our good.  This is how I envision the church.  A group of broken people, being put back together by the great physician, Jesus Christ, and encouraging each other through the uncomfortable, sometimes painful journey of becoming more and more like Jesus, and inviting other broken people to put their trust in Him too.

If you recognize your own brokenness, if you know you’re not being who you were created to be and doing what you were created to do, if you’re tired of trying to “make it” in your own power, there is hope.  Jesus said, “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”.  He’s inviting us to lay down the burdens we were never meant to carry and rely on Him.  Jesus still calls people out of darkness and into the light for our good and His glory.  Put your trust in Him.