A Touch, A Word
“When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.”
Today’s Text: Matthew 8:14-22 (Living Life Daily Devotional)
I’ve heard it said that Rick Warren taught that ministering to people is about a touch and a word. I think he is right, and he may have gotten that ministry philosophy from this passage.
Of course, in our crazy world, one person touching another is not always appropriate. In Jesus’s day, a man touching another woman who was not his wife was extremely inappropriate. But what people need is connection with another human being—a sense of “I see you,” “I hear you,” and especially, “I’m here for you.”
And then, a word of encouragement is a powerful tool for healing. Of course, Jesus literally healed the sick and drove out spirits with His command. Not everyone is given the gift of healing, but the word of God is a powerful tool for healing because the word of God says,
“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
— Deuteronomy 31:8
I think it’s significant that Jesus mostly tried to avoid the crowds, but He never turned away anyone who needed help. He never gave a thought to whether they were “worthy” to receive help. He knew that no one was really “worthy,” strictly speaking.
But in Jesus’s eyes, our worthiness is our humanity. He came to save us. And if He came to save us from the ultimate fate of sin and death and hell, He certainly came to help us, to heal us, to restore us. Despite cultural inappropriateness.
Of course, none of us are Jesus, and we need to observe acceptable boundaries, except in matters of life and death.
But I am reminded that Christ is the model for church, insofar as we are the body of Christ.
And so I believe that, at least in this day and age, the days of the megachurch are over. Mini is the new mega. Maybe mini has always been the new mega, as Christ is our model.
Not that megachurches themselves are necessarily bad. There is most certainly a place for megachurches in the kingdom of God. GCC is a megachurch, and I believe that we are a healthy church, generally speaking.
But if we can be really honest with ourselves and reflect on the problems plaguing churches and reflect on the nature of human sin, it seems to me that megachurches usually have a tendency to foster mega egos. That tendency is not necessarily so, but to fight it requires constant vigilance.
The “touch” and the “word” of Christ is better delivered in the mini, not the mega.
Father, You are God, and we are Your people. We exist according to Your sovereign grace by the blood of our Lord Jesus. But we so often pursue the glory of human egos rather than Your glory. Why do we more easily see Your glory in the mega and the grand? Help us to see Your glory in the mini, and make us a church that brings healing to one another with a touch and a word. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
