Quote: Many people are drawn to the love of Jesus by His ministry of consolation more than anything else.
When we are weary, stressed out or hurting, our human tendency is to call on God for help in our time of need.
Illustration: For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
Harrison’s Postulate.
Jesus knew how to comfort the hurting because He had compassion for the way people struggled with every problem. The Lord Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said,
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matt. 9:35-38) Jesus’ compassion led Him to feel the pain of ordinary people. However, the Lord used His compassion to minister to human need while not forgetting His primary mission.
Let us look at several ways that Jesus showed compassion to human needs without neglecting His objectives of winning the lost.
1. Christ’s concern for human need never deterred Him from advancing His spiritual purpose. While Jesus was teaching, a ruler came and knelt before Him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her and she will live."
2. Jesus knew this would be a great opportunity to combine His ministries of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. The Lord went with the ruler to his home along with the disciples. Along the way, a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of His cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and said, "Take heart, daughter, your faith has healed you." (Matt. 9:18-22) And the woman was healed at the moment. Often, when we are on our way to accomplish God’s plan, other opportunities will present themselves.
Application: Do not overlook any divine opportunity to minister a spiritual, emotional or physical blessing to anyone.
3. Jesus allowed His ministry of physical healing to advance His greater purpose to bring spiritual healing. One day, people brought a deaf man who could hardly talk to Jesus and begged Him to place His hand on the man. After taking Him aside from the crowd, Jesus put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (Which means ‘Be opened’). At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well… He even makes the deaf hear the mute speak." (Mark 7:32-37)
Application: The Lord wants us to use every physical, social, and spiritual power at our disposal to advance His reputation and regenerative blessings.
4. Jesus took advantage of every social event to display compassion for people’s felt, perceived, physical, emotional, cultural, financial, and spiritual needs. When a large crowd gathered around, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance." But the disciples said, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" The disciples only looked at the problems, not the opportunities. Then, Jesus asked the disciples, "How many loaves do you have?" "Seven," they replied. He told the crowd to sit down and when He had given thanks, he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so… The 4,000 people ate and were completely satisfied. (Mark 8:1-10)
Application: Be alert for every opportunity to advance the name, the cause and the priorities of Jesus Christ.
5. Jesus did not allow other people’s immaturity, narrow mindedness, or spiritual problems to keep Him from doing all of the will of God. One day, Jesus found His disciples arguing with the crowd. One man said, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech… I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not." Jesus said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."
The boy’s father said to Jesus, It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus said, "If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately, the boy’s father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Jesus said, "I command you, deaf and mute spirit, come out of him and never enter him again." The disciples said, "Why couldn’t we drive it out?" Jesus said, "This kind can come out only by prayer." (Mark 9:16-29)
Application: Do not depend on other people to accomplish what God wants you to do. Move ahead with what God directs you to do and He will use you as an example for others to do the same.
Illustration:CRITICISM
Too bad the only people who know how to run this country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair.
George Burns.
How to Bury a Good Idea
It will never work,
We’ve never done it that way before.
We’re doing fine without it.
We can’t afford it.
We’re not ready for it.
It’s not our responsibility.
Bits & Pieces, June 23, 1994, p. 10.
Quote: Lord, deliver me from the lust of vindicating myself.
Augustine.
Before we are too harsh in judging those scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, let’s stop and look at ourselves. All too many Christians today go to church to find fault, to gossip, and to criticize.
Illustration: Warren Wiersbe, in his book Angry People, wrote, "An incident in the life of Joseph Parker, the great British preacher, illustrates this tragic truth. He was preaching at the City Temple in London. After the service one of the listeners came up to him and said, ’Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical error in your sermon.’ He then proceeded to point out the error to the pastor. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, ’And what else did you get out of the message?’ What a fitting rebuke!"
W. Wiersbe.
Illustration: Don’t write or say anything that you won’t sign your name to. If you receive a negative, anonymous note, ignore it! If they’re not willing to sign their name, it’s not worth reading don’t take heed to it. Like the pastor who received an anonymous note with nothing but the word "FOOL!" written on it. The next morning he got in church and said, "I’ve gotten many notes without signatures before but this is the first time I got one where someone forgot to write the note and just signed his name!"
Source Unknown.
Illustration:
It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the "saints."
Daily Bread.
Illustration: English evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) learned that it was more important to please God than to please men. Knowing that he was doing what was honoring to the Lord kept him from discouragement when he was falsely accused by his enemies. At one point in his ministry, Whitefield received a vicious letter accusing him of wrongdoing. His reply was brief and courteous: "I thank you heartily for your letter. As for what you and my other enemies are saying against me, I know worse things about myself than you will ever say about me. With love in Christ, George Whitefield." He didn’t try to defend himself. He was much more concerned about pleasing the Lord.
Daily Bread, August 18, 1992.
One of the rarest management skills -- and one of the most difficult to learn -- is how to criticize constructively. Constructive criticism shows consideration for other people’s feelings and invites their suggestions and cooperation. When you can’t figure out how to criticize something constructively, the wisest course is to keep your mouth shut until you do. Criticism that starts out by attacking people and putting them in the position of having to defend themselves often turns small problems into big ones. Usually the best way to start is with simple, friendly questions, queries that will give people a chance to explain their position without being offended and without getting excited. Then, after you’ve listened carefully, suggest the changes you’d like them to make -- whatever they are -- and see what they think of them.
Don’t push for an immediate decision if it isn’t necessary, or if there is still substantial disagreement. Ask them to think it over. Tell them you will too. Later, if you still believe in the changes you want to make, get together with them again. Explain that you’ve thought it over carefully and still believe the idea is worth a try. Tell them you feel an obligation to give it a fair chance, and you’re counting on them to do the same.
One other important point; when you have to criticize or question someone’s actions or ideas, always to it to his or her face. Discuss it with the person involved. Don’t let him or her hear your criticism secondhand.
Bits & Pieces, August 22, 1991.
Illustration: One day a man met Spurgeon on the street, took off his hat and bowed, and said, "The Rev. Mr. Spurgeon--a great humbug!" Spurgeon took off his hat and replied, "Thank you for the compliment. I am glad to hear that I am a great anything!"
W. Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, p. 221.
Criticism is always difficult to accept, but if we receive it with humility and a desire to improve our character it can be very helpful. Only a fool does not profit when he is rebuked for his mistakes.
Example: Several years ago I read a helpful article on this subject. It stated that when we are criticized we ought to ask ourselves whether the criticism contains any truth. If it does, we should learn form it, even when it is not given with the right motivation and in the right spirit. The article then offered these four suggestions:
(1) Commit the matter instantly to God, asking Him to remove all resentment or countercriticism on your part and teach you the needed lessons.
(2) Remember that we are all great sinners and that the one who has criticized us does not begin to know the worst about us.
(3) If you have made a mistake or committed a sin, humbly and frankly confess it to God and to anyone you may have injured.
(4) Be willing to learn afresh that you are not infallible and that you need God’s grace and wisdom every moment of the day to keep on the straight path.
When we are criticized, let’s accept what is true and act upon it, thereby becoming a stronger person. He who profits from rebuke is wise. H.G.B.
Illustration: In his men’s seminar, David Simmons, a former cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, tells about his childhood home. His father, a military man, was extremely demanding, rarely saying a kind word, always pushing him with harsh criticism to do better. The father had decided that he would never permit his son to feel any satisfaction from his accomplishments, reminding him there were always new goals ahead. When Dave was a little boy, his dad gave him a bicycle, unassembled, with the command that he put it together. After Dave struggled to the point of tears with the difficult instructions and many parts, his father said, "I knew you couldn’t do it." Then he assembled it for him. When Dave played football in high school, his father was unrelenting in his criticisms. In the backyard of his home, after every game, his dad would go over every play and point out Dave’s errors. "Most boys got butterflies in the stomach before the game; I got them afterwards. Facing my father was more stressful than facing any opposing team." By the time he entered college, Dave hated his father and his harsh discipline. He chose to play football at the University of Georgia because its campus was further from home than any school that offered him a scholarship. After college, he became the second round draft pick of the St. Louis cardinal’s professional football club. Joe Namath (who later signed with the New York Jets), was the club’s first round pick that year. "Excited, "I telephoned my father to tell him the good news. He said, ’How does it feel to be second?’" Despite the hateful feelings he had for his father, Dave began to build a bridge to his dad. Christ had come into his life during college years, and it was God’s love that made him turn to his father.
During visits home he stimulated conversation with him and listened with interest to what his father had to say. He learned for the first time what his grandfather had been like--a tough lumberjack known for his quick temper. Once he destroyed a pickup truck with a sledgehammer because it wouldn’t start, and he often beat his son. This new awareness affected Dave dramatically. "Knowing about my father’s upbringing not only made me more sympathetic for him, but it helped me see that, under the circumstances, he might have done much worse. By the time he died, I can honestly say we were friends."
Charles Sell, Unfinished Business, Multnomah, 1989, p. 171ff.
Quote; To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.
Elbert Hubbard.
