Difficult Seasons

Tonight I had the opportunity to speak to the chapel class at First Colony Church of Christ.

My subject was “Three Ways to Help People Heal.”  Here’s the outline, with links to some blog posts where I’ve discussed the points.

Jesus, the Great Healer, is our model.  (John 8:1-11, Luke 7:36-50)

• He saw.
• He loved.
• He listened.
• He was non-judgmental.
• He offered hope.

1.  Be Present (Jesus saw people.  “Simon, don’t you see this woman?”)

• In person, on the phone, by email, on Facebook, with a text message, with a card or note.
• Be fully focused on them for the time you’re with them.

2.  Project that you like them no matter if they’re physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually not at their best.

• A real smile.
• Eye contact.
• Touch.
• You can do this in person, but you can also do it on the phone, by email, on Facebook, in a text, or in a note.

3.  Listen non-judgmentally (“let him who is without sin cast the first stone”, “neither do I condemn you”).

• Listen to their story.
• Let your body language and words indicate that you heard their story, that you love them, that you care.
• Don’t tell your story or someone else’s story in response.
  • Their story deserves the full spotlight!
  • Telling your story says that you only value their story because you have a story, that theirs is not really important.
• Don’t tell them what they did wrong (they already know).
• Don’t tell them what they should do.
  • That screams, “You’re wrong because you’re not doing what I think you should do.”
  • It’s not your job to fix them.  God is much better at that than you can ever be.

Let God do the heavy stuff.

• Pray.
• Don’t get in the way.
• Point to Him.

Tags: eye contact, facebook, healing, Jesus, listening, non-judgmental, smile

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 at 11:47 pm and is filed under Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.