Offered Hope, Healing, and Life

What DID Jesus Do

I do not handle salespeople well.

At all.

Walking into car dealerships gives me anxiety. Actually having to engage in conversation with car salesmen makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide, and the process of buying a vehicle is one of the most exhausting things on the planet for me. 

I hate being sold.

I hate bartering.

I hate the back-and-forth that feels like a never-ending volley.

This is how much I dread talking to salespeople–there used to be an AT&T Representative with a little booth set up in our local Sam’s Club. The marketing team who picked his spot was genius because they put him in the first major aisle you typically turn down when you walk into the store.

It only took me a couple of trips to Sam’s Club and interactions with these salesmen to completely change how I approached my Sam’s Club shopping. Instead of heading in and going straight down the first, most logical, aisle, I would head all the way to the opposite side of the store and start there to avoid the AT&T booth and their pushy salespeople. 

See, I try really hard to look very busy and focused when I pass by these booths, and I NEVER make eye contact, but, for some reason, they always stalk me until I answer their questions. I have no idea why, but I can’t lie to them. So, when they ask me if I have AT&T, I always tell them no, even though I know it’s going to result in a 3-minute conversation I don’t want to have.

And, it’s not just the AT&T people, either! For the longest time, there were representatives at the local Walmart trying to get you to sign up for independent electric service. The one time I stood my ground and just walked past them, the guy started demeaning me for not acknowledging him!

The next time I walked past when they asked me if I had AEP, and I said no, they pressed me further to tell them what electric carrier I had! Ummm…why is it anyone else’s business who I buy my electricity from? Evidently, these guys thought it was theirs because they would not leave me alone. 

Suffice it to say, I hate talking to salespeople.

Here’s the thing–if we dig into Jesus’s ministry here on earth, He was the furthest thing from a salesperson, and He wanted the Apostles to be the furthest thing from salespeople, too. But, man, I have met some people in churches, some pastors on platforms, and some well-meaning Christians who seem to care more about the sale than they do about the person. I would love to see this change. Taking a close look at what Jesus did here on earth might just be the catalyst we need for this change. 

The Difference Between Healing and Selling 

Luke tells us the story of Jesus preparing to send out the Apostles to their ministries  at the beginning of chapter 9:

Jesus summoned together his twelve apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. Then he commissioned them to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick to demonstrate that the kingdom had arrived. Luke 9:1-2 TPT

To prepare the Apostles for ministry, Jesus imparted them with the authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. Then, He commissioned them to take the kingdom of God to the masses and to heal the sick to show the kingdom had arrived. 

He equipped them to offer healing and life to those they came in contact with. Did you catch it? I’ve probably read over this detail hundreds of times and focused on what happens next. But, man, I can’t help but thinking how important this detail is of Jesus equipping them with the tools they needed to offer hope, healing, and life to the people they were ministering to.

The more I read about Jesus’s life and ministry here on earth, the more I’ve noticed this theme running throughout his entire ministry. 

• He never tried to sell people.

• He never tried to convince people to follow Him.

• He never beat people over the head with the gospel.

Instead:

• He offered hope.

• He offered life.

• He offered healing.

And, when He sent His apostles out into the world to minister, He prepared them to do the very same thing.

The more I study and learn about the Apostles, the more I find Jesus’s choice of them completely fascinating. If you don’t know much of the history of the apostles and why they were the most unlikely choices for disciples, you might want to check out my blog post on it. You can find it here:

https://kristenneighbarger.com/post/unlikely-choices

Knowing the Apostles’ backgrounds and their lack of formal education, I would expect Jesus to impart them with wisdom, intellect, charisma, the structure of a 3-point sermon, etc., but He doesn’t focus on any of those things. Instead, His focus is on how these misfits can take the same hope, healing, and life He has been freely and unconditionally offering to the masses as well.

Sometimes, I wonder if we don’t get it all wrong today. I wonder if maybe we need to spend a little more time offering hope and healing and a little less time selling our churches, ministries, content, theology, events, services, etc. 

The Apostles took the gospel to the people through their actions–through their healing, not through trying to sell people on the kingdom.

If I’m being honest, I have to admit how much easier it is to show up to church on Sundays, sit in my self-assigned spot, participate in worship, listen to the message, smile and talk to a few people, and then leave than it is to get out of my seat and take the gospel to those who need hope, healing, and life through my actions.

Sometimes, I think I’d rather default to selling people on the kingdom than taking the kingdom to them through my actions, and I don’t think I’m alone here.

 

Why Selling is Easier than Offering Hope and Healing

I’ve never thought much about this picture Luke paints for us of Jesus imparting authority over demons and the power to heal on the Apostles and then sending them on their way, but I’m starting to recognize the gravity and importance of this scene. 

Jesus didn’t send out the Apostles with the commission to sell the gospel; He sent them out with the commission to let their healing actions demonstrate the presence of the kingdom. Do you want to know what this requires?

• Closeness.

• Proximity.

• Relationship.

Selling doesn’t require any of these things.

Selling can be done from:

• A stage.

• A pulpit.

• The front of a classroom.

• The director’s chair.

• Behind a podium.

• In the seats.

Healing, though, can only happen when we’re close enough to touch.

What this means is we have to start:

• Stepping off the stage to listen to others and meet their needs.

• Moving from behind the pulpit and into the streets to offer healing.

• Bending down to listen to the kids and their needs instead of staying in front of the classroom.

• Stepping into the fray of the everyday lives of those we minister to on Sunday mornings.

• Trading in the podium for an apron at the Shelter.

• Leaving the seats to offer hope and healing to those we encounter at work, online, at the ballpark, etc.

These things are hard, though.

These things require us to get out of our comfort zones.

These things require us to act.

And, those things are challenging.

Friends, I don’t think it’s coincidental that Jesus imparted the Apostles with the authority over demons or the power to heal before he sent them out into the world. It aligns perfectly with all of the ways we’ve already seen Christ minister to others. And, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that He commissioned His Apostles to proclaim the kingdom and utilize their healing actions as proof. 

No, instead, I think this is precisely what Jesus wants us to do, too.

Offer hope, healing, and life through our actions.

What’s this going to look like in your world this week?

Reflections:

1. Where do you see people of faith offering hope, healing, and life in your world?

2. Where are the places where you see more performance and selling than offering healing and life?

3. What can you do to get out of your seat and offer healing, hope, and life this week?