Tag: Pastoral Care

Developing More Empathy: The Key to Loving One Another

In John 13:34-35 (New Living Translation), Jesus says: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” If you are a Christian, you have probably heard this verse at least once, but how do we put it into practice? Jesus does not just command his disciples to love one another (the command we most often hear). The second command (frequently ignored) states that his disciples must love one another in the …

What can we learn from Gregory the Great’s vision of pastoral care?

Gregory the Great was the leader of the Western Church in the sixth century. In the preface to the Third Book of his work titled Pastoral Care, Gregory suggests that church leaders along with their congregants must be in agreement if they want the church to be edified through the Scriptures. Such accordance would allow these leaders to preach the same doctrine of the gospel but using different ways to exhort. Gregory writes, “every teacher, in order to edify all in the one virtue of charity, must touch the hearts of his hearers by using one and the same doctrine, …

The importance of self-knowledge in our process of growth and transformation

It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are, even if we tell it only to ourselves. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier that way to see where we have been in our lives and where we are going. Frederick Buechner. Unlike long-held assumptions in the church today, everyday anxieties and fears are necessary elements for the healthy development of a person’s real self, although the process of growth and transformation is not always easy to recognize and manage. Without those anxieties …

Healthcare chaplaincy series – A broad notion of the image of God

Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck presents a broader notion of the image of God, something important in health care chaplaincy. For him, human beings do not have the image of God. The image of God is not something or a characteristic that we all bear, have, or acquire. As human beings, we all are the image of God. Our body, soul, and spirit, represent integrally the image of God. So there is no difference between the image and likeness of God, since all aspects of the human being reflect God perfectly . All that is God is found in us in …

Healthcare chaplaincy series – Identifying us with a biblical character

One important aspect I had to develop as a chaplain was increasing my self-awareness. In that regard, reflecting on what biblical character I identified with the most served this purpose. In my case, I identified strongly with is Gideon, the judge. While for some, Gideon is a courageous and strong figure; for others, he is just a flawed hero. The way we see Gideon depends a lot on the cultural lens we use. In the end, Gideon was a person of his time. He lived in a culture where the religious and the cultural were so ingrained in the social …

Healthcare chaplaincy series – Pastoral care in a multicultural context

Following Gerardo Marti’s line of reasoning, I can argue that ethnic identity is an asset in the church or in chaplaincy, where ethnic identity is a means to find points of encounter between people. In order to do that, it is important to focus on the sociocultural and racial dynamics in those settings. The question I ask is whether pastoral care is independent of the context where it happens. People have different worldviews in our society, but sometimes those views are frequently downplayed. I wonder how we will offer appropriate pastoral care if those issues are ignored or if we …

Review of Toughest People to Love by Chuck DeGroat

Toughest People to Love: How to Understand, Lead, and Love the Difficult People in Your Life Including Yourself by Chuck DeGroat. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Pp. 177. $14.00 softcover. Toughest People to Love is a combination of pastoral care, church leadership, and psychological insight. Pastor and counselor Chuck DeGroat invites Christian leaders to see God “in the broken lives of people” (3) and to lead out of love rather than out of power and ulterior motives. He writes, “we lead from a posture of self-sacrificial love, the deep secret of God’s kingdom, instead of from a posture of competition, control, …

Pastoral care series – Prayer as a calling upon to God

In his book How to Have a Healing Ministry without Making Your Church Sick, Pentecostal theologian Peter Wagner discusses the ministry of healing prayer and the reasons a congregation should have one. I think nobody would disagree that the care of sick people is a common area among Christian denominations that deserves attention despite tradition. Despite Wagner offers readers an interesting point of view on healing prayer, he may stir some controversy when he claims that “some times God heals directly, and sometimes he uses means for the healing but he seldom heals directly unless we ask him to” (p. …

Pastoral care series – Confronting our vices

One way to deal with the vice of envy in the church is by serving others. By helping others, God may allow those dealing with this vice to understand how he works in their lives and cares about all his people. If we would like to be healthy individuals, it is vital to understand first that God created humankind to live in a healthy community where there is no space for envy and competition. We ought to rejoice in the wellness and success of others, not fill ourselves with bitterness because God has given us different gifts and abilities for …

Pastoral care series – What Shawshank Redemption teaches about pastoral care?

The Shawshank Redemption is about the experiences Andy had in prison when he was falsely convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. One theme portrayed in the movie is the role of hope in the lives of human beings. This film explores a series of motifs that help us understand better the process of restoration in the practice of providing pastoral care to Christians, even though this is a secular film. One of the thought-provoking quotes of the movie is when Andy states, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.” It is this hope that leads …