Emotional clusters and spiritual clusters in chaplaincy

Emotional clusters and spiritual clusters in chaplaincy.

By Stuart Adamson (Healthcare Chaplain with Anglicare and Associate Dean, Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, at Morling College.)

In the last article, we looked at how empathy leads to the identification of the felt need of the person we are caring for, and informs a pastoral response.

Along the way, we considered briefly the notion of what I call “emotional clusters”.

In this article, I want to drill down a bit more on the idea of emotional clusters, and suggest another possible category that is emerging from reflection on my pastoral practice as a chaplain, that of what I call “spiritual clusters”.  

Firstly, to emotional clusters. As we respond empathically to what the people we care for tell us, a range of different emotions can come to the surface for them. But often, on reflection, we can discern a narrow range of more finely nuanced emotions that together combine to suggest the very same pastoral need. 

In the case of Joe, the patient I was caring for in ICU mentioned in the last article, these emotions included the feeling that everything was a huge struggle, a profound sense of physical, emotional and spiritual weakness, and a sense of feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and doubtful about his capacity to persevere.

My visit with Joe is an example of how a number of finely nuanced emotions that are expressed by a person in even a relatively short pastoral encounter can combine to form an emotional cluster. In this case, the cluster pointed me to Joe’s primary felt need of sustenance. The identification of this felt need informed my pastoral response in ways that Joe told me were life-giving for him.

Experience tells me that this idea of clusters has applicability across the full range of needs felt by people who are facing trials. This is not limited to just six functions of pastoral care, but includes all those described with clarity in the gospel accounts of Jesus’ interactions with people he encountered in the course of his ministry.

In many respects, Christian chaplaincy in its various forms and expressions more closely approximates the travelling ministry of Jesus as he makes his way to Jerusalem than any ministry of pastoral care that is centred on caring for a community of Christians associated with a particular church. Chaplains tend to meet people in an unplanned way in the course of their travels.

As Christians in the service of our Lord and Saviour, despite the fact that in our roles we can often feel lonely, it is good and right to remind ourselves that we are not alone. Also, we are amply equipped for the task that the Lord has called us to.

We have his very great promises by which we participate in the divine nature. We have the Spirit of God within us, to guide us into all truth and remind us of the teachings of Jesus. We have his Word which is a lamp to our feet. We have the gift of prayer which we can use at any time and in any circumstance we like. We also have the support of the prayers of the faithful via our support churches, and we have at times the sweetest of fellowship with Christians whom the Lord brings across our path in the public spaces in which we serve.

Our service is kingdom service. Obviously there is a deeply spiritual dimension to our service that involves and centres on bearing witness to the cross, resurrection and the current rule and reign of Jesus, in the power of the Spirit and to the glory of the Father.

Often the people amongst whom we serve have been suffering as a result of human fallenness, or the inevitable consequences of their own choices, or the choices of others, in ways that combine to reinforce the truths of Scripture.

From time to time as I witness in word and deed to the love of Christ in pastoral conversations with people who have been suffering in a variety of ways, I have noticed in the responses of people I am caring for words that have been used by dark forces to undermine the work of the Spirit in the encounter and block my own witness.

 

These words may not have been intended by the person to wound me or undermine my witness. In many cases they have been uttered unwittingly and without any malice towards me personally. But the fruit of these words is clear. They are opposed to God‘s very purposes for that person to find wholeness and assurance of God‘s love for them in Christ. And sometimes, I experience them as a personal attack on my own faith and assurance in Christ.

Let me provide you with an example from my chaplaincy in the context of people living with a mental illness.

Jack, not his real name, is an outgoing personality who has struggled with bipolar disorder coupled with auditory and visual hallucinations for many years. He has a generous spirit and professes a belief in Jesus which I know is genuine. He has many other health issues. He often talks about seeing things in the spirit world, and the things he sees intrude into our conversations in ways that he often finds frightening. 

 

From time to time he will call me at the office out of the blue and describe to me in detail the nature of the things that he has been seeing and hearing. I won’t describe them here. But suffice it to say, there seems to be a deeply spiritual dimension to what he is seeing and hearing. I say this simply because these things rock his faith to the core. 

 

In many circumstances he will only calm down when I am in focussed prayer, thanking and praising the Lord for his victory over sin and death at the cross and resurrection.

 

In addition, at times, Jack will mention things that have direct relevance to my private life that strike at the heart of a faith issue I may be wrestling with. He could have no way of knowing the power of his words to wound me in the moment because he knows nothing of the details. So I take it that this is either coincidence, which is possible, or spiritual attack, which given the immediate context, and what we know from Scripture (See Ephesians 6:11-20), is not only possible, but likely. Indeed the apostle Paul tells us to expect it and prepare for it by checking our spiritual armour.

The expressions and fruit of these conversations with Jack include spiritual anguish, fear, a sense of darkness and threat by evil spirits that are visible to him and speak to him in ways that cause him to doubt both his salvation and the Lordship of Christ. 

 

My instinct is to identify these expressions as a spiritual cluster that points to a need for specific spiritual assurance, and a signal to me to intentionally and more self-consciously check my spiritual armour and keep the Word and prayer close. 

When it first happened, I was rattled. I am not a "demons under the bed" kind of chaplain. But more experience and encounters with others who are going through spiritual suffering have been helpful to me to sharpen my thinking.

I find it helpful to reflect on my pastoral practice and identify learning issues that can be informed and resourced by the Word.

I’d be interested to hear what you think of the above.

Empathy, emotional clusters and the accurate identification of the functions of pastoral care

By Stuart Adamson

 

Empathy is a chaplain’s stock in trade. Combined with a pastoral presence that is focused on the client, and with the ability to do what I call triple listening (listening to the other, listening to self and listening to God in a dynamic internal/external process), the chaplain is equipped with some key skills to begin to care well for others pastorally.

 

There are a number of kinds of listening to the other, but for our current purposes, I want to focus on empathic listening, because of where it leads, namely: to the accurate identification of the felt need of the person being cared for, and consequently, the pastoral function.^[1]

 

Empathic listening involves listening to the heart of the other person as expressed by their words, but also by their body language, their demeanour and their facial expressions. This is because the person the chaplain is caring for pastorally does not just communicate verbally.

 

All of those messages, verbal and non-verbal, are being communicated to a chaplain, who in the best-case scenario, is fully focused on the person they are caring for, blocking out distractions, listening intently and watching closely. The chaplain employing empathic listening will seek to identify the main emotion, or range of emotions, and reflect them back to their client in a way that will communicate that the chaplain appreciates and is accurately assessing the emotional state of the client. In essence, that they are a good listener, and that they care about the person they are with. Such listening has the added effect of building trust very quickly.

 

Let me illustrate from a visit I had today with a patient in ICU.

 

Background: Joe identified as a Christian. When I arrived, he had a thick pipe supplying oxygen to his nostrils, which were plugged. He was sitting up with three pillows behind his back, his bed inclined to support this. His breathing was shallow, he could talk freely, but it was an effort, and from time to time, his eyes would roll back into his head.

 

S1 Hi Joe. (Pause) It’s a real struggle. 

J1 (Nods) It is … I’ve lost so much weight … But I just don’t feel like eating. 

S2 And it leaves you feeling so weak … 

J2 It’s so hard Stuart 

S3 One step at a time … 

 

Analysis: Joe had communicated so much to me without even saying a word, so using all that non-verbal information, I reflected back to him a summary emotion, “it’s a real struggle”.

 

Notice that he responds with a confirmation, both a nod and “it is”. This tells me that I am on the right track. That I am assessing the non-verbals accurately. At S2 I chose to reflect back what I was getting from him, his weakness. But notice he wanted me in J2 to understand that he was being pushed to his limits, “It is so hard”, he said. In other words, “I want you to know that I’m really struggling, and I don’t know how much I can take of this.” At S3 I was responding to this. I offered prayer (which for the sake of brevity is not recorded here) which he welcomed, and I prayed that the Lord would be his strength for the road ahead, and I gave thanks that Joe’s strength would be sustained as he looked to the Lord.

 

The cluster of presenting emotions is: feeling like it is a huge struggle (J1) weak (S2), exhausted, overwhelmed, doubtful about his capacity to persevere (J2).

 

When seen through this framework, it confirms the obvious primary function of sustaining.

 

Relating the above visit to the six functions in a more nuanced way, there are arguably other relevant functions. Joe feels trapped by his circumstance, so liberation is also indicated (Perhaps this is what the prayer addressed in some small way?). He was looking to me. “It’s so hard”. I’m at my limit. How long can I continue? There is a dimension of guidance here as well. “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” might have been appropriate. But hoping in the Lord might sound to him like a lot of effort in his current circumstance. Hence I said Look to Him, (remember the event that John 3:14 refers? The Israelites were to just look at the bronze snake. Num. 21:9). The prayer addressed the wider issue of healing as well, but also mentioned the love of his children, which also reminded Joe of the resources available to him in those who love him. Nurturing comes into its own when people feel weak and need gentle, loving care. Reconciling is only hinted at here, not that Joe was out of relationship with His God, but, like the Psalmist who asks, ‘Will you forget me forever?” (Ps 13:1) Joe needed assurance that God cares for and loves him, truths that were reinforced to him via my presence.

 

Emotional clusters emerge on sustained reflection, and with practice, in the encounter, suggesting a pastoral response in line with the relevant function.

_________________________________

^[1] In the interests of simplicity, I am treating the six “functions” of pastoral care as the following: guiding, healing, nurturing, reconciling, sustaining and liberating. I don’t think that this list of “functions” is by any means comprehensive, or really adequate, but it is a helpful framework to use for chaplains in training. You may like to see Part One of this short series at http://bloggingchaplains.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-six-functions-of-pastoral-care.html for my thoughts on the model, the six functions. My preference is to think of them more as “pastoral responses” to presenting needs rather than the somewhat mechanical, “functions”.

But I can't forgive myself

By David Pettett

 

James had had a number of positive conversations with Tom about the Christian life. Before he came to prison Tom had been an active member of his church. James, the prison chaplain, wondered why Tom had never been to a chapel service. Tom said he understood the forgiveness of God. He would speak about the thief on the cross and say he understood how Jesus can forgive anyone, “even a criminal like me.” But he would then add, “But I can’t forgive myself.” Such thinking is often the real barrier to truly understanding the forgiveness that Christ brings.

Sometimes the embarrassment of what we have done remains with us. Our sinful actions can have adversely affected others, and we cannot undo their pain caused by our behaviour. This type of situation is sometimes dealt with in the criminal justice system by a process of restorative justice. Restorative justice brings the perpetrator and the victim together. The victim is given opportunity to say how the crime has hurt them and affected their lives. This is very powerful because most criminals have no concept that their crime actually hurts anyone. When the criminal hears and understands their crime has damaged a fellow human being, their sense of guilt can be palpable. After the victim has spoken, the criminal is given the opportunity to speak. If they are touched by the personal impact of their crime on the other person (and they often are), they are able to give a heartfelt and emotional apology.

 

Restorative justice is a very emotional experience. It can only happen where both parties desire to meet and express their emotions. They come into the process with some understanding that it will be very difficult. But that’s what dealing with sin is. It’s difficult. To know God’s forgiveness, we have to willingly enter a difficult process of coming together to understand the terrible cost of sin. The sinner and the victim, who is Christ, come together to listen and to understand.

 

Forgiveness is sometimes difficult to understand because we tend to think forgiveness means everything is O.K. We think forgiveness means the crime, or the sin, doesn’t matter. But that is not what forgiveness means. In understanding that we are completely forgiven in Christ, we are not to think that what we did in our sinful behaviour is therefore somehow made O.K. Sin is never O.K. Sin is a distrust of God. Human distrust of God is highlighted in the Garden of Eden. Doubt about God’s trustworthiness was put into the minds of Adam and Eve. God said, “Don’t eat this fruit. If you eat it, you will die.” That’s a really easy commandment to follow. Especially when the garden is filled with every other tree, bearing all kinds of fruits. Why, on earth, would you want to eat that one fruit God has told you not to eat, when there is so much rich choice in the rest of the garden? Well, you make the decision to eat that one fruit when doubt is placed in your mind that God is trustworthy. Taking and eating that one fruit is a clear statement of unbelief in God’s trustworthiness.

 

Understanding forgiveness is understanding that God is trustworthy. It is understanding that, while my sinful behaviour has demonstrated a lack of trust in God, God has still come back at me with His love in His Son. I sit with God and hear Him tell me about His pain caused by my sinful behaviour and I am moved to ask for forgiveness. I am still left with the memory of my sin, but Jesus and I have come together in a process of restorative justice. We acknowledge the cost of my sin, and we move forward together. I am so astounded by His love and forgiveness I am resolved to live in a way that honours him and demonstrates my trust in him.

 

Not being able to forgive yourself can often mean a lack of understanding of the nature of guilt. Understanding the biblical concept of guilt can be difficult when we live in a shame culture. In the West we talk a lot about shame. We talk about “naming and shaming” people or corporations who, according to general consensus, have done something wrong and seem to be getting away with it. We also talk about the shame bad behaviour brings upon one’s family.

 

Gail had been discovered to have been involved in an extra-marital affair over many years. She said she felt so ashamed of what she had done. But shame and guilt are two very different things. Shame only does half the job that guilt does. Shame is more about the embarrassment we have caused ourselves and others. Shame is not concerned with the sin but only with the consequences of the sin. Guilt is knowing we have offended a holy God. It is recognising the distrust of God we have expressed by the offence. Guilt also then understands the impact our sin has had on us and others.

 

When I read Psalm 51, I am initially a little disturbed by David’s confession of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. David says to God, “Against you, you only have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). I find I am angry at David. Has he minimised the impact of his lust? Does he not understand the shame Bathsheba must have felt, not being able to refuse her king’s sexual advances while her own husband was away at war? Does he not have any compassion for Uriah whom he murdered to cover up his despicable behaviour?

 

If David had felt ashamed (rather than guilty) of his sin when confronted about it by the prophet Nathan (see the title of Psalm 51 and 2 Samuel 12:1 – 14), I think we would see in his confession some acknowledgement of the pain he has caused Bathsheba and his disgraceful manipulations to achieve Uriah’s murder. But forgiveness does not come through shame. Forgiveness comes from God. Dealing with sin, even sin that has caused others great loss, is acknowledging that guilt lies in my behaviour which has demonstrated a lack of trust in God.

 

David’s prayer of confession in Psalm 51 acknowledges his sin is first and foremost an exhibition of distrust of God. Where God has made it abundantly clear that we are not to commit adultery, David has said, “No, Lord. I trust my sexual desires more than I trust you. Giving in to my lust will give me more immediate pleasure than you will, Lord.” God has also made it very clear that we are not to commit murder, but David has said, “No, Lord. I can’t trust you to make my sin right. I have to cover up my adultery myself by getting rid of the husband.”

 

Put in these terms, you can see how, when finally confronted with his sin, David turns to the Lord for forgiveness. His behaviour has demonstrated an abject failure to trust God. And so, with his adultery and murder in mind, he turns to God, whom he has offended, for forgiveness. In fact, by acknowledging that it is against God only that he has sinned, David has done so much more than just feel shame for his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. By seeking God’s forgiveness, David has realised the reason God has told us not to commit adultery and murder is because these behaviours adversely affect all those involved. By acknowledging his distrust of God by breaking these two commandments, David also acknowledges the impact his sin has had on his victims.

 

To understand the nature of God’s forgiveness, and therefore to forgive ourselves, is to understand that all sin is distrust of God. Forgiveness is not about dealing with shame. Forgiveness is understanding God is trustworthy. Forgiveness is knowing our guilt has been laid on Christ and dealt with. Forgiveness does not ignore the impact our sin has had on us and on others. Acknowledging our guilt recognises what we have done to others expresses our distrust of God.

 

Understanding forgiveness is a deeply spiritual process. To understand God’s forgiveness Tom sat with God in a prayerful session of restorative justice. He listened. He understood his sin, his crime, had sent Jesus to the cross. He listened to Christ’s impact statement. He read what the Scriptures say about his sin and as he listened, he was confronted by how much his behaviour had caused Christ’s pain and the pain of other human victims. Being so confronted, Tom sought God’s forgiveness, for he realised, it is against him, him only that Tom had demonstrated a lack of trust. Tom had come to understand the difference between shame and guilt and had learned to forgive himself.

Moral Failure in Ministry

by David Pettett

We have recently heard of the resignation of Pastor Brian Houston from Hillsong, the ministry he was the founding pastor of and of which he was recently the Global Pastor. Houston’s resignation follows disclosure of drunkenness and very unclear statements of what went on in a female staff member’s hotel room.

 

The Board of Hillsong issued a statement about the resignation that seemed to minimise moral failure. Some reaction to the Board’s statement has taken the high ground and criticised it for praising Pastor Houston’s long term, fruitful ministry.

 

The pastoral issue here is that neither the Board’s statement nor the reaction to it demonstrate any balance of pastoral care. The Board’s statement was true. Brian Houston has had an extremely fruitful ministry over decades. And it is right to praise God for Houston’s faithful ministry. But by minimising the moral failure, the Board has failed to understand the high standard the Scriptures place on those in ministry. Minimising moral failure is also a moral failure in itself in that it minimises the hurt caused to the victim.

 

Yet those who have taken the high ground are wrong to imply that moral failure obliterates the fruits of years of faithful ministry. God has blessed Brian Houston’s ministry. Thousands of people have been converted to Christ through this ministry. The world is hearing the good news of Jesus because of the dynamic and godly work of Houston. Do not minimise what God has done.

 

Houston is not the first man to leave a fruitful ministry under a cloud and sadly, he will not be the last. What is needed is a much deeper understanding of the pressures our pastors are under. They need constant upholding and pastoral care. There has been a failure in this case to care for a pastor who faced tremendous pressure and a very heavy workload. Some one should have seen Houston’s issues with alcohol long before it became a problem and drawn alongside in pastoral care to care for their pastor.

 

When a pastor fails, our response should not be to minimise what has led to the failure nor to take the high ground and minimise years of faithful ministry. Both must be acknowledged. What also must be acknowledged when there is failure in ministry is failure to care for our pastors.

The apostle Paul encourages us to see that those elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching. Their ministry is hard. They need pastoral care. Surveys have consistently shown that half our clergy leave ministry. The reasons are varied, but the statistics show pastors are not being cared for. Some churches are seeking to address the issue by encouraging ministers to have regular pastoral supervision. While this will not be the magic bullet that will solve the issue, it goes some way towards caring for our pastors.

 

More needs to be done. We need to understand that pastors suffer the same human needs, distresses and difficulties all of us face. We need to make sure we are providing pastoral care to our pastors to help prevent burnout and moral failure. Where clergy leave ministry for moral failure, this is not only an inditement on the person for their sin but it is also an inditement on the whole church for a lack of support and fellowship in the body which builds itself up in love.

Chaplaincy Informs Christian Ministry

by David Pettett

I remember the occasion at the National Chaplaincy Conference in Australia when the keynote speaker began, “Chaplaincy informs Christian ministry.” To some cheers and not a little surprised and relieved agreement he continued, “Pastoral care lies at the core of Christian ministry.”

The term Pastoral Care has come to mean many different things. In its modern context it usually refers to bringing a listening ear to a person in crisis and seeks to find spiritual meaning. The idea that pastoral care is an all-of-life-encompassing ministry which focuses on the cure of souls has been allowed to slip from the core of Christian ministry. Pastoral care has been outsourced to the professionals in psychology and counselling.

There is a great deal we can learn from psychology and other human sciences about the nature of humanity and ways to help people who struggle in life. We can incorporate many of those insights into our pastoral practice. But pastoral care is first and foremost a spiritual discipline and remains firmly in the realm of Christian ministry. Pastoral care is the work which focuses on the salvation and sanctification of Christ’s flock. Secular counselling and psychology say very little about forgiveness and even less about sin and about humanity being created in the image of God. These disciplines therefore have very little to say to the most fundamental issues of human flourishing. Having said that, it is sometimes right to refer a member of our congregation to a counsellor but outsourcing pastoral care to a counsellor is a fundamental mistake and a misunderstanding of the nature of Christian ministry.

I have a narrow definition of Christian ministry. It is something the saints do, and its purpose is to build the body of Christ (see Ephesians 4:12ff). I also have a narrow definition of the body of Christ. It is the local congregation. We often hear that “our church” is part of the body of Christ, meaning, our local congregation is a part of the church universal, or it is part of the sum total of all Christians throughout the world. I think, however, the New Testament leads us to understand that the local congregation is the complete body of Christ in that, a local church has within it every aspect of the body of Christ. Each local church is not part of the body but, rather, is the body of Christ. Therefore, when the apostle Paul tells pastor teachers their role is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry … for the building of the body of Christ”, he is telling them that their ministry of pastoral care equips the local congregation to grow in Christ and to be effective in the world.

Because the purpose of what the pastor teacher does is to equip the saints to build the body of Christ, pastoral care goes beyond what some people call mercy ministries. These are usually thought to be things like providing food for the hungry, clothing, housing, counselling etc. Mercy ministries are a very small part of pastoral care which focuses on equipping the saints so that the body of Christ is built into unity and maturity. Pastoral care is much more of a whole person ministry than the limits of providing for a person’s material needs. I am not saying these are wrong things to do. I think they are essential things for Christians to be engaged in. They reflect God’s love and compassion. I would love to see more congregations involved in these types of ministries. But here, I am trying to define my terms in the light of what the New Testament says about Christian ministry and pastoral care. I am trying to do this because I think we have not been rigorous enough in our definitions and pastoral care has been hijacked by secular ideas and definitions. Inevitably these secular ideas lead us away from doing Christian ministry and Christian pastoral care in ways the New Testament tells us we should be doing them.

As the term pastoral care has shifted in meaning in the modern world the understanding of the word spiritual has also changed meaning. Spiritual has come to mean something that gives a person meaning in life. If you have an experience you believe touches your inner being, your soul, in the modern context this is spoken of as a spiritual experience. This definition of spiritual is a far cry from a Christian understanding of the word. Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman at the well that God seeks people who worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). In context, the Spirit Jesus talks about is the Holy Spirit himself. We cannot truly worship God without the movement of the Holy Spirit within us. We cannot say, “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:3) and if we do not have the Spirit we do not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). Christian pastoral care therefore cannot seriously leave a person in need believing that they have spiritual understanding or growth if they do not have the Holy Spirit. Leaving pastoral care in the hands of a psychologist or counsellor who doesn’t have a clear theological understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life is, for the Christian pastor, to abdicate their office and obligation to be the person who has responsibility for the cure of souls.

Our modern world sees pastoral care as something you do for people who are in crisis. Our theological colleges and seminaries do not help. They offer courses in pastoral care where students are asked to:

 Outline a scenario in which a person is seeking pastoral care support in response to:

- Unemployment and work-related stress

- Long term illness e.g., cancer 

- Alcoholism or drug dependence

- Domestic violence or abuse

Some of our theological colleges are teaching that pastoral care is for people who are in a crisis situation in which they need help. People who are sick need pastoral care. People who are having difficulties in a relationship need pastoral care. People with mental illness need pastoral care. People who are dying need pastoral care. However, this is a very truncated view of pastoral care. Christian pastoral care is so much more, so much richer, so much all-of-life-equipping. Christian pastoral care helps a person to know Jesus and to live a full life under His lordship. In the 4^th century Gregory of Nazianzus said pastoral care is, "to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it to God, and to watch over that which is in His image". Pastoral care is about rescuing a person from the world and giving them to God. It is not about helping a person cope with the world. It is about helping a person who is not of this world to live in it with a focus on God.

If it is true, as the keynote speaker at the chaplaincy conference said, that Chaplaincy informs Christian ministry, those involved with leading Christian churches as the pastor teacher are not listening. Our theological colleges and seminaries are not listening. Pastoral care is limited to times of crisis and often given to professionals who don’t have an understanding of the cure of souls. It is time for pastor teachers to bring pastoral care back into their role of equipping the saints for their work of ministry.

Scripture and Chaplaincy

by David Pettett

Chaplaincy seeks to bring the comfort and encouragement of the Lord to those in hard places. It seeks, “to give the soul wings and rescue it from the world and give it to God”, to use Gregory of Nazianzus beautiful expression. 

“Rescuing the soul from the world” is a recognition that chaplaincy’s focus is not on helping people to live better lives in this world, but to live in this world in the presence of God, whatever our circumstances. Our cancer may continue its ugly long and destructive journey in our body over many years. Chaplaincy does not teach that positive thinking will bring healing or that a right diet and meditation will cause the cancer to disappear. Chaplaincy helps us to know God’s presence in our distress and, while our body decays, we rest in His unchangelessness.

 

We have such confidence because God Himself has told us it is so. God has spoken to us. God has revealed Himself to us. We have confidence that He is with us because this is His promise. I know this to be true because I have a book which tells me it is true. This book is no ordinary book. It is God’s words to us, breathed out by God inspiring ordinary people to write down His words. We call this book the Bible. We use the word Scriptures to describe it. We believe that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV)

 

Christian chaplaincy has nothing to say to a hurting world if it does not bring these words of God to the people it encounters. Psychology and the human sciences inform us well of some of the nature of the human struggle and we profitably learn from it. Good counselling will be of great benefit to hurting people and chaplains are well advised to learn to be good counsellors. But if psychology and counselling are the extent of the comfort we offer people we fail as chaplains. Chaplaincy gives the soul wings.

 

We can only give the soul wings if we understand what God says about life in the Scriptures. Having a deep knowledge of the Scriptures and a pastorally sensitive love to speak the words of Scripture to a broken and hurting person, is the stuff of chaplaincy. A faithful Christian chaplain will have a confidence that every word of Scripture is God breathed and profitable for making a person complete.

 

I believe the Bible is the word of God. It is His inerrant word to us. I am not a fundamentalist in the sense that I believe in a six-day creation of literal 24 hours each. How could I believe that when the sun, by which we mark the hours of the day, was not created until the fourth day? But I do believe the Scriptures teach us who God is, what He has done for us and who He wants us to be. All Scripture is breathed out by God. However, there are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16. ESV). This is where the role of the chaplain comes in. We have the task of so speaking the Scriptures that they give the soul wings.

 

Our God acts in history, yet it is not history as such that we teach. What is important is what God says about those historical events where He acted. In the 1^st century A.D., the Roman government crucified thousands of people in the area of Palestine. At some points the roads were lined with men dying in agony, hanging on Roman crosses. It is not the mere historical fact of Jesus’ crucifixion that tells us that this one death among thousands brings salvation to the world. It is what God says about this one crucifixion which assures us that herein lies reconciliation between God and humanity. God’s words about the death of Jesus of Nazareth give so much more to life than just our observation of the event of his death.

 

Bringing God’s words to hurting people brings so much more meaning than the human sciences. Christian chaplaincy is about feeling confident that God speaks in the Scriptures and that what He says gives the soul wings.