Compassionate Risk in Ministry

40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” 42 And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. (Mark 1:40-43)

Our men's group is currently doing a Bible study on the Gospel of Mark. This is part of our weekly passage, and it struck me as having a lot to say about ministry.

Moved with Pity
This tells us of what our motivation should be in ministering grace to others. It's not pride; it's not because we can. Compassion should drive us to want to help others. Nothing else will do. Approaching a hurting person with arrogance or an attitude of "I completely understand this and you need to listen to what I have to say" will push them away from the gospel. Judging them is out of line with the character of our God. Jesus was moved with pity to help this man.

"I will"
We have to be willing to help. Compassion motivates us to serve. But we must be willing to serve whole-heartedly. We must be willing to sacrifice the time, the energy, the effort to be able to help effectively. This means we have to be willing to listen and understand as best as we can.

This is more than reading a book or a few stories of other people and then offering "help" based on what worked for them. It also means more than just saying "Well I heard about this, and this must be true for you..." This is not being willing to help. This is being judgmental. Especially if all you say is negative stuff.

"Be Clean"
Real solutions. Not pat answers, and definitely not our own misinformed advice. We need to provide people with Biblical hope - hope grounded in the gospel. Regardless of what their circumstances are, and regardless of what they have done, we need to point them to the real solution to their needs and problems.

He Touched Him
Jesus did more than just talk to this man. He touched him. He touched a leper, a man cut off from the people because of his infectious skin disease. Jesus risked "catching the disease" in order to serve this man.

So it should be with us. We have to be willing to get dirty for the sake of the gospel. We can't hold people at arm's length and just tell them what to do or else. This again is a form of judging them. And, in case you were wondering, it is not helpful. Risk yourself. Risk your safety. Risk your attitude. Risk all that you have to help others, regardless of how dirty you think they are. Regardless of how little you understand about them. Regardless of what you think you understand about what they are going through.

I hope we will all be encouraged and challenged to live a life of compassionate risk-taking service for the true benefit of others.