A Biblical Foundation

To Pastoral Care.

E C U M E N I C A L I N S T I T U T E O F D I S TA N C E
THEOLOGICAL STUDIES.

Course: Licentiate in Theology.

LTh course: MM102 Introduction to Pastoral Theology.
Presented by: Jeff Haines.
© 2011.
http://resurge.angelfire.com/
 Introduction.

In developing an understanding of Pastoral Care in the Christian

community, we should seriously consider the words, images and symbols that

portray a biblical understanding of pastoral care in the Hebrew Scriptures and

the New Testament. Throughout the history of the Church many of these

concepts have been reflected in the titles given to the leadership, like minister

and shepherd, they who took care of the flock. Also, the Church has sort to be

the vehicle of God’s mercy and grace, in other words, to incarnate God’s nature

into the wider community that they are located in.

But for this essay I would like to come back to Emmanuel Lartey’s definition

of Pastoral Theology, which is the ‘reflection on the caring activities of God and

human communities.’ 1 This infers that there is intentionality in the very act of

God towards humanity and that should be the model for the way the Church

enacts its pastoral care to society. Therefore I will look at God’s act of care as

demonstrated in the Hebrew word ‘Hesed,’ then I will examine the ways the

Christian community exhibits care one to another, and finally I will consider the

image of the ‘wounded healer.’

1
Lartey, E. (2006), p. 14.

Jeff Haines. Page 2 of 10. © 2011.

 ‘Hesed.’

I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction;
you have taken heed of my adversities, and have not delivered me into the hand of the
enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
Psalms 31:7-8 (NRSV)

How does God exhibit acts of care? Quite often when we consider God’s

actions in the Hebrew Scriptures we perceive a wrathful God who destroys

nations and demands justice of those who do not follow God’s laws. Very often

we also see humanity pleading with God to show mercy for themselves or

others, so as to avert God’s wrath. But is this a true image of God?

From these same pages we have another description of God encapsulated in

the complex word ‘Hesed,’ which is primarily used with reference to God. This

word is difficult to translate and appears to have no equivalent in Greek.

Gordon Clark defines ‘Hesed’ as “not merely an attitude or an emotion; it is an

emotion that leads to an activity beneficial to the recipient.” 2 The word infers

such concepts as grace and mercy, compassion, faithfulness and reliability and is

primarily translated in the NRSV as ‘steadfast love.’

What then are the examples of God’s ‘Hesed’ do we have in the Scriptures?

God’s ‘Hesed’ is an invariable constant; it always was, never ceases and will

endure forever. 3 Much more than that though, ‘Hesed’ is the very nature of God

as is seen in Jonah, after declaring God’s judgement on Nineveh, he cries out: “I

2
Clark, (1993), p. 267.

Jeff Haines. Page 3 of 10. © 2011.

knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding

in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” (Jonah 4:2) 4 But does God

have an ultimate intent? Psalms 85:7 says “Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.” 5 I believe that the church in many quarters has

come to have a limited view of salvation. In the context of this verse the original

word infers; help, liberation and welfare. 6 In many ways we have restricted

salvation to the Spirit, whereas the concept incorporates the body and the soul

and the idea of bringing the individual or even a community into wholeness.

Therefore, the Lord our God is concerned for our whole person, which God

delivers, helps up and guides towards an ultimate purpose. 7

What does this have to do with Pastoral care? If Israel was to be God’s light

to the nations (Isa 42: 6, 49: 6), then God required/desired a people who would

display what it meant to be in covenant or like God, displaying God’s very

nature to others, God’s ‘Hesed,’ because ultimately God desires relationship

over blind devotion and The Lord God will do all that can be done to bring

humanity into that relationship. Isn’t that what being incarnational is all about?

Therefore, if God acts towards us for our benefit to produce wholeness and

develop that wholeness through relationship, then surely we should exhibit

God’s true nature to others; in fact Zechariah prophesied, “Render true

judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; 10 do not oppress the

widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts

3
Lam 3: 22 & Ps 106: 1.
4
C.f. Jer 9: 24 & Ps 145: 8-9.
5
C.f. Ps 13: 5.

Jeff Haines. Page 4 of 10. © 2011.

against one another” (Zech 7:9-10). Verse 10 again demonstrates God’s heart

through advocating for those who are unable to find voice for themselves. 8

One Another.

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting
to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more
as you see the Day approaching.
Heb 10:24-25 (NRSV)

If then God’s very nature is to act on the behalf of another and we are to

exhibit that, then as the church are we just to preach the gospel or is there more

to the care we are to incarnate? To answer that question I wish to look at the

word, a,llhlwn, which is translated ‘one another,’ and the concepts associated

with this word, which are predominately all used within the context of the

Christian community.

Primarily as a Christian community and as individuals we are exhorted to

love one another, 9 especially as the Lord God has loved us. That in of itself
should be enough. How are we to exhibit the ‘Hesed” steadfast love of God in
our gatherings and to the wider community? How are we to be God’s light, to
be Christ:

6
BibleWorks, LLC. (2008).
7
C.f. Ps 86: 13, 94: 18 & 138: 8.
8
This is a whole topic in itself!
9
John 15: 12, 17; Rom 12: 10, 13: 8; 1 Thess 3: 12, 4: 9; 2 Thess 1: 3;1 Pet 1: 22; 1 John 3: 11, 23, 4: 7,
11-12 & 2 John 5.

Jeff Haines. Page 5 of 10. © 2011.

 a) We are to care for the body (community) and its wellbeing. 10

b) We are to serve and to do good. 11

c) We are to bear each other’s burdens. 12

d) To encourage one another. 13

e) To live in harmony. 14

f) And we are to confess, forgive and to pray for one another. 15

The Church is more than a community of gathering by which we receive and

affirm our identity. The Church is a community of giftedness and intent. Intent

on the wellbeing of the other and active in using its gifts for the benefit of the

other, whether that be prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhorting, giving,

leadership or compassion (Rom 12: 6-8). This is what distinguishes the church

from the rest of the world, love for one another so that the world will see and

know (John 13: 34-35), but we have focused on being attractional rather than on

being distinctive.

So what does this mean for the Pastoral care? For so long the church has

considered itself a bastion of the truth and those who are lost and hurting would

eventually seek refuge within its walls. But the world has changed and there are

now many voices which disorientate those who are wounded and confused. The

church is not to shout louder, but is to be an example of what a caring and

harmonious community is to look like. Thereby, being a light in a dark place

10
Rom 12: 5, 15: 7; 1 Cor 12: 25; Eph 4: 25; 1 Pet 5: 5 & 1 John 1: 7.
11
Gal 5: 13; Eph 5: 21; Phil 2: 3 & 1 Thess 5: 15.
12
Gal 6: 2; Eph 4: 2 & Col 3: 13
13
Rom 1: 12; 1 Thess 4: 18 & 5: 11.
14
Rom 12: 16, 15: 5 & 1 Pet 4: 9.

Jeff Haines. Page 6 of 10. © 2011.

and then to extend its love and care to the wider community. It is not only

words that heal. It is also, food that feeds the body, combined with medicine

and nursing care that mends the broken body. It is words of encouragement that

restores the soul that has been downtrodden and slumped into depression. And

it is the words of forgiveness that restore the spirit so that it can again hear the

voice of Abba Father. This is care for the whole person, restored to being whole

by the community that cares, a community that allows the love of God to

compel it to act.

Wounded Healer.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the
God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to
console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are
consoled by God.
2 Cor 1:3-4 (NRSV)

From the above I have sort to argue that it is God’s very heart to care and

that it should be the Christian community’s intent to actively care. But by what

right does the Church think that it can speak into lives of different ones,

whether it is by exercising gifts or through the kindness of acts?

There is nothing worse than hearing the phrase, “I know what you’re going

through,” when you well and truly know by the way that this phrase is said,

15
Eph 4: 32: Col 3: 13 & James 5: 16.

Jeff Haines. Page 7 of 10. © 2011.

that the person has absolutely no comprehension of what it means to you to lose

a spouse, to lose your home to a fire or earthquake or to daily struggle with a

life crippling or terminal illness. This is why we have a God who didn’t stay

seated in paradise, but humbled himself, becoming incarnated into human

likeness (Phil 2: 5-8). So the Jesus Christ could advocate on our behalf, having

experienced all that humanity contends with daily. We too, the church, are to

have the same attitude as Christ, forsaking the bastions that we hide ourselves

in, we are to live in the world and not to forsake the many afflictions that assail

us, but to know that our consolation is abundant in Christ who has suffered

before us. Thereby we can comfort those who are being afflicted, just as we have

received comfort from Christ. This is what it means to be a ‘Wounded Healer’

and what allows us to share in the stress, distress and grief of others.

This model of care isn’t new, but Henri Nouwen in his book “The Wounded

Healer” has developed the concept. Firstly Nouwen warns against

exhibitionism, “I know your pain for I have experienced it too.” 16 Then he

directs us to consider hospitality as an image for pastoral care. For where do we

find Jesus, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave

me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked

and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison

and you visited me.” (Matt 25:35-36) Jesus is not detached from the suffering of

the world, but dwells in communion with those in distress. Let us seek Jesus

where he may be found and take comfort from the words of Henri Nouwen,

16
Nouwen, (1972), p. 92.

Jeff Haines. Page 8 of 10. © 2011.

“Thus ministry can indeed be a witness to the living truth that the wound,

which causes us to suffer now, will be revealed to us later as the place where

God intimated his new Creation.” 17 This is the ministry of reconciliation that the

church has been called to (2 Cor 5: 18). For today is the day of salvation. For

there in no affliction in which we have not known consolation and thereby

console others.

Conclusion.

Where do we ultimately find a biblical model for Pastoral care? In the very

nature of God’s own self. Although it is easy to blame God for the things that go

wrong in the world and in our lives, the reality is that it is not God’s fault. The

opposite is true, God’s heart aches over the predicament that humanity is

trapped in and God seeks to alleviate our hurt. So much so that God engaged in

the ultimate act of care by forsaking all and coming among humanity to

experience the hurt and pain that we struggle with daily. Therefore, we do not

serve a God who does not know what it is to live in a fallen world. This reality

has two results; firstly, this provokes a desire to worship with thanksgiving for

the thing that God has done for humanity and the other is the ‘Hesed’ of God

becomes the model of our care.

17
Nouwen, (1972), p. 98.

Jeff Haines. Page 9 of 10. © 2011.

 What does this mean for the life of the Church and our personal lives?

1. We partake in Christ’s suffering and the comfort we have received

because of our own struggles and trials. This allows us to be

empathetic in our care to others, to be instruments of healing out of

our own afflictions – ‘the wounded healer.’

2. As a Church we are motivated to live like Christ in our communities,

not just inward looking in our care, but by being the light of Christ

through living distinctively. That is by being an example of love and

care within the community of believers and extending that care

though our gifts and intent to our wider society.

Bibliography

BibleWorks, LLC. (2008). BibleWorks™ for Windows. Version 8.0.013z.1. Norfolk,

VA. bibleworks.com

Clark, Gordon R. (1993). The Word Hesed in the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield, UK.
Sheffield Academic Press.

Lartey, Emmanuel. (2006). “The Nature of Pastoral Theology.” In Pastoral

Theology in an Intercultural World. Peterborough, UK. Epworth Press. pp. 14-
41.

Nouwen, Henri J. M. (1972). The Wounded Healer. New York, Doubleday &
Company, Inc.

Jeff Haines. Page 10 of 10. © 2011.