Who Needs the Doctor?
By Tracy Smith
“When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a
doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are
righteous, but those who know they are sinners.””
Mark 2:17 (NLT)
A couple of years ago on Facebook, a
friend shared a link to a blog post called “I Went to a Strip Club.”[1] This
title definitely gets your attention, doesn’t it?
The author of the blog post talks
about how she and a group of pastors’ wives minister to dancers at a strip
club. They listen to them; they befriend them; they love them. It was a
beautiful thing to read. The author goes on to say:
“I’m not suggesting that we all have
this calling.
I am not the Holy Spirit.
What I AM saying to you is that if
Jesus were here,
walking among us, wouldn’t it be
just like him to walk
into the most un-Christlike place (strip club or
whatever) and completely freak the religious folk out?” [1]
That thought struck me right in the
heart. It struck me so much that, after giving my husband and sons a quick
summary of the blog post, I read the above passage out loud to them. My oldest
son barked out a laugh and said, “He would totally do that! He did it with the
Pharisees.” He paused and then said, “It’s the sick that need a doctor.”
Wow! When I chose to read that out
loud to them, my brain was thinking about the fact that Jesus did do that kind
of thing… And He did freak out the Pharisees. But I had not yet
made the leap that my son made so quickly - - that this is about the fact that
the sick are the ones who need a doctor.
Jesus hung out with people that the
religious crowd thought he should not. When the Pharisees questioned why he
hung out with sinners, Jesus answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor - -
sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but
those who know they are sinners” (Mark 2:17, NLT).
When Jesus walked this earth, He
waded right into the places that others thought He should not go and shared the
love of His Father with them. Should we do any less?
GOING
DEEPER:
1. Is there a place that you feel called to go and serve, but you do
not because you are afraid?
2. If yes, what can you do about it?
FURTHER
READING:
Along with being
a wife and mother to two teenage sons, Tracy is a ministry assistant at Oakwood
and works with a great group of Junior High girls.
