If you haven’t read the introduction to this series please read it here first.
One of the most startling discoveries I made in the Scriptures was the actual sin of Sodom as stated in Ezekiel 16:49, “See here–this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help the poor and needy.” It made me understand sin and iniquity in a whole new light, and the effect was that I understood worship and ministering unto God differently too.
The temperament of the caregiver is particularly useful to the Body of Christ because it is incumbent on all of us to show care and compassion, and it is usually the caregivers among us who, by demonstrating compassion out of passionate love for God, speak prophetically to a selfish church.
“For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink…”
Jesus is the ultimate caregiver you’ll find in the Bible. He displayed all of the temperaments possible, and this was no exception. His compassion was astounding; just read through the gospels! He cared for the sick, the oppressed, the demon-possessed, and the lost. In His mission statement, He declares that He came for them. Time and again he would urge those who followed Him, “Give to the poor” and He would lead by example. In James 1:27 we are told, “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
When you understand this, you’ll see how for caregivers, giving care is a form of joyful worship, not a chore. Caregivers are not martyrs. Mother Teresa was said to have asked all prospective oblates, “Does your work give you joy?” If they answered “no” they didn’t make it in.
“I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me…’
Every Christian has a duty to show care, but some believers will have a particular gift and calling for this type of service.
Is caregiving your spiritual temperament? Do you feel closest to God when you’re ministering to the sick, poor or needy? Would you rather nurse someone to health or help someone repair their car than teach an adult Sunday school class? Would you rather counsel and comfort a friend who has lost a job or cook meals for a family in need than write or hand out tracts? Do you sense God’s power when you do these?
If yes, you can benefit from these few tips (and come up with others as you are led) to grow spiritually as a caregiver, knowing that as you remain available for God to use you, you’ll always be God-sent to someone:
- Babysitting for tired parents
- Lending money
- Helping somebody battling substance abuse
- Starting or working in a soup kitchen
- Helping a friend through a personal crisis
- Making recordings for the blind
- “Adopting” a prisoner
- Researching a cure for a disease
You should also watch out for these temptations as a caregiver:
1. Serving ourselves through serving others: It is possible to give all one’s property to the poor or give one’s body to be burned without love (I Corinthians 13). Caregivers must remember that expressing our love to God by reaching out to others is the essence of caregiving. Are you seeking praise and glory for yourself? Are you deceiving others by helping them when in fact you’re serving them only to feel needed, to validate your existence or boost your low self-esteem? It’s very easy to slip into this sin.
2. Judging others: As we’ve seen, this is a temptation of every temperament; if they don’t worship like us, they must be wrong. We must resist it. From childhood, many of us have learnt the story of Mary and Martha. These two sisters had different temperaments, different pathways in worship and devotion, and Martha wasn’t particularly gracious to Mary. It’s easy to judge people who “spend so much time praying when people are going hungry!” Yet, Jesus showed Martha that he also valued the adoration of Mary with her contemplative temperament. We are not called to judge the validity of someone else’s worship, or to feel superior.
3. Being rigid: If we work together, we’ll be amazed at how much good we can do in the Body of Christ, and how much glory we can bring to our Lord Jesus Christ. A caregiver may wonder what an activist is doing out there “fighting” when people need direct, physical assistance now, and an activist may wonder why a caregiver is treating symptoms instead of addressing the root cause, but the truth is they need each other. While the activist pushes for changes in policy that will bring lasting relief, someone has to be there controlling the bleeding and bringing comfort until change comes. We all have our place in kingdom work.
4. Neglecting those closest to us: This is a great temptation for caregivers, who will do well to keep a reminder somewhere they can see it often, that charity really does begin at home. We must not neglect those at home in our zeal to love God by loving others. If a full-time homemaker will see caring for her children as a major part of her worship, and a father will see providing for his family’s needs as an integral part of his faith, both can revolutionize their outlook. Even a woman on whom the burden of breadwinning temporarily falls, or a father who has to be at home with the children, can glorify God by offering that caregiving up to Him. Changing the world begins in our own homes.
Salvation in Christ is by grace through faith and not acts of service and charity. Charitable acts can be selfish, empty chores, or nourishing, life-altering encounters, depending on our approach to them. Jesus must be held in view in all acts of worship, even caregiving.
As Gary Thomas says, “This is a high and holy calling. It won’t be as visible as preaching to the crowds, but it is…particularly precious to our Father in heaven.”
‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Next Sunday we’ll be reviewing Contemplatives: Loving God through Adoration.