Getting Well

When you’re in ministry, you have some very interesting encounters. Some of those encounters are with people from within your congregation, and some are with those you meet in a chance encounter. 

I had one of the latter just outside of the church I worked at in San Antonio. His name was James. 

James was a middle-aged, African American man who was about 6’7” tall. He just randomly showed up outside our building one day and told our office administrators that he needed help and wanted to speak to a minister. I walked out and began speaking with him. He told me some of his story about how his wife had left him and how she took his kids with her because he couldn’t keep a job and that he had fallen on some hard times while also dealing with diabetes.

James then told me that he had landed a job but needed clothes to match the workplace’s uniform code — and that he also needed a place to stay. That church’s policy was to refer people to a number of mission centers where they handle cases like James’s, so I offered to take him there. He said they wouldn’t help him there (note: when someone claims this, it often means that the individual has been kicked out due to bad behavior). 

Regardless of whether James was being honest, I could tell that he was in a tight spot, and he really did seem like he was trying to land on his feet. I made a few calls and was able to get him about $500 to buy the necessary clothes and to meet other immediate needs. 

About three weeks later, James showed up again. This time he had a slightly different story that ended the same way as the first: he needed money again because of hard times. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to convince my elders to give him another $500. He had told us that the original money would be more than enough, but that story had obviously changed. This time, I pulled out my own wallet and gave him the cash I had on hand. It was only about $50, and I told him that this was from me and it’s the last time that I or the church could help him financially due to the needs of others and our limited resources.

James showed up a third time while I was out of town. He was given my phone number, and he told me that he needed help once again. I told him what I had told him before — that we could pray with and for him, but we could no longer give him any money. He replied that we were not saved and unless we chose to give him money, we would remain unsaved. I told him that I was sorry he felt that way, and I figured this would be our final conversation.

He came back about two months later.

He began to tell me how God had helped him and that life was going a whole lot better for him. Then he asked the same question one final time: “So, can you help me out now?”

Although James was asking for money, I discerned that he needed a different type of response. I told him about a story in John 5. It’s the story of how Jesus healed a lame man who was trying to get into a pool in a local town to be healed by its waters, but he was never able to make it in time.

In the story, Jesus asks this lame man a pretty fascinating question: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)

If you keep reading, you’ll see that this lame man doesn’t actually give Jesus an answer. He just gives Jesus excuses. Why might Jesus have asked this question? To the naked eye, it seems like a dumb question. Of course this man would want to get well. Of course he wants to walk. Why would anyone say anything else? 

Perhaps Jesus knew something about us all that we still struggle to learn about ourselves: sometimes it’s just easier to be sick.

When you are sick, you have an excuse. When you are not well, people tend to make exceptions for you. When you are hurt, you aren’t held to the same standards as you normally would be. 

This was the identity of the lame man in John 5. While John doesn’t give his name, he was likely referred to locally by it with the addition of “the lame man” afterwards. Being lame (or just sick in general) meant that he relied on the pity of others for food and other provisions. He never had to get a job and work for a living. Because he couldn’t walk, no one expected a whole lot from him. When people don’t expect much of anything from you, life can oftentimes be a lot easier.

Back to James…

I told him this story from John 5 and emphasized how sometimes not being well is easier than getting well. 

“That’s cool and all… but can you help me out?” James wasn’t understanding what I was trying to get across to him, so I was more direct.

“James… do you want to get well?”

James looked off into the distance with a blank stare. He didn’t say a word for the next minute or two. Then he got up from where we were sitting, got into his vehicle, and drove off. He never came back after that. A little while later I moved to another church and city, so I doubt that I will ever see him again.

James answered me with his feet. I still think about him and pray for him from time to time.

There are still plenty of people in my life who seem to struggle with the same kinds of things repeatedly, and I continue to arrive at the same conclusion for some of them: they don’t truly want to get well.

Getting well means struggling. Getting well often means suffering. Many cancer patients will tell you that the chemotherapy they receive is worse than the cancer. When I was in college, I tore a couple of ligaments in my knee. It only took a second or two to blow my knee out, but it took about six months of rehab in order to be able to run and jump again. I’ve heard more than one person struggling with substance abuse tell me that they love the idea of getting clean but don’t want to deal with what their body goes through during withdrawals, so they just stay addicted and continue using.

If you’re still reading this, then my prayer for you is that you can get well if you are not already, but the prayer is not just for individuals. It is for whole bodies of believers. I pray that those who are a part of struggling congregations are bold enough to ask themselves if they want to get well and if they’re willing to take the necessary medications and/or rehab. This will likely involve suffering and struggling in various ways. Being ill is usually messy. While quick fixes and easy outs might technically exist for churches or individuals looking to get well, they are usually a lot more rare than you might think.

Any twelve step recovery program (AA, NA, Celebrate Recovery, etc.) starts with the same first step: admitting that there is a problem and that help is needed. Perhaps this was Jesus’s invitation to the lame man from John 5. Perhaps it was Jesus’s invitation to James when he came to my church. Perhaps Jesus is still offering this invitation to each of us. I invite you to look at what is keeping you from fully looking into the eyes of Christ and allowing His transforming presence to permeate your life. When you are able to have this vision, may you hear His voice and His invitation:

“Do you want to get well?”

Even through the hurt and the struggle, may your answer be a resounding “yes!”