Discipleship and holistic care

Verbatim

Y: Me

P (fictitious): An anxious parent

C (fictitious): The parent’s child

R: Reverend of the congregation

Introduction

During my first visit to the Chinese Australian Baptist Church in West Ryde (CABC-WR) in June 2016, I was surprised that many congregation members already knew who I am, because I am a GP working in a location less than ten minutes’ drive away! After coming to this church regularly for a few months, I saw that the Mandarin Congregation pastor is very passionate about discipleship and decided to be a student observer here for my field education.

I have spoken to congregation member P several times. The conversations were just very basic topics about our backgrounds. Towards the end of Sunday school, P suddenly approached me looking very anxious.

Record

P1: Yvonne, can you come with me? There’s an urgent matter.

Y2: Ok. (I followed him out as my doctor’s instinct tells me it is something medical.)

P3: My son suddenly had a very bad pain in the tummy while we were driving to church! (We got to the pastors’ offices/classrooms upstairs and saw his son lying still in a chair with a frown on his face.)

Y4: Where’s the pain?

C5: In the middle of my tummy!

Y6: Any nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, etc.?

P7: No. The pain just came on very suddenly a little while ago.

Y8: There are many possible causes for abdominal pain in children. We can try getting him Buscopan first and see if that settles the pain. It might just be gas or colic. However, it is important to keep watch because if the pain continues and shifts to the right lower tummy, then it could be appendicitis, and if that’s the case he will need to go to the emergency department.

R9: (Saw the situation and approaches us.) What’s the matter? Is your son sick?

P10: Yes, he’s got a very bad tummy pain. (Still looking very anxious.)

Y11: You can first go to the Chemist from the shopping centre across the road to get some Buscopan first.

R12: There is also a medical centre inside the shopping centre which you can take your son to.

Y13: Yes, that medical centre is open on Sundays as well. You can take your son there.

P14: Ok, thanks.

Y15: (Congregation was about to start so I nodded to P and headed off to the Congregation.)

Evaluation

Personal-Pastoral:

I was trying to give solutions and did not make empathetic comments. It is quite common that people ask me for a bit of medical advice in the church setting. However, I cannot assess people properly outside of my clinic office. I do not mind giving some very simple advice, eg. use corticosteroid nose spray for rhinitis, or some healthy lifestyle advice. However, this child might be suffering from something acute and needs proper assessment in a clinical setting. Futhermore, I have to think about better ways of wording this so that people feel cared for. I also have to be quite careful that my relationships with church members do not develop into a “medical advice” relationship where people just approach me for medical advice, because I also need to help people pastorally.

Theological:

Luke as a physician and missionary. Rev Dr George Leslie Mackay, James Laidlaw Maxwell were also missionaries who provided medical services. The Hebrew concept of personhood is holistic, so caring for people holistically also involves caring for people’s physical wellbeing too.

The body is important: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” 1Corinthians 6:19-20.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22. The body and soul should not be looked at dualistically: we cannot tell whether the “chicken” or the “egg” came first.

Future ministry

I need to build a better relationship with P and get to know his family better. I also need to communicate to them that it is hard to assess people in the non-clinical setting. I have a neutral position about playing a dual role because I have not encountered any problems so far. Nevertheless, it is still very important to think about what boundaries to set regarding my dual role. For example, if someone starts asking me lots of medical questions I should try and divert the conversation to ask them about how they are and the Scriptural or spiritual matters.

Asians have a tendency for workaholism. However, if the pastor run meetings until midnight with his/her co-workers, people can get worked so hard that they develop serious medical problems. Drane cautions that busyness can sometimes be confused with spirituality. Sometimes people create lots of church programs and activities to mask their own ineffectiveness and their psychological self-defence mechanism makes them think that they are advancing the Kingdom of God.[1] It is important to be aware that frequently, the congregation is hungry for more programs, more people, more money, more inspiring worship, and more of the pastor’s time. Often it will only distract everyone, including the pastor, from the reminder that it is for God alone that we hunger.[2] I take this caution seriously.

Whilst being mindful of the physical wellbeing of people, it is also important to build relationships. Drane believes Jesus was a relational leader, who journeyed alongside his disciples.[3] Wright describes leadership as “a relationship in which one person seeks to influence the thoughts, behaviours, beliefs, or values of another person.”[4] He believes leadership begins with our relationship with God and moves out from there into relationships of service with those around us.[5] Unless pastors and preachers are spiritually sensitive and alert, they cannot expect their congregations to grow spiritually strong.[6]

Bibliography:

Barnes, Craig. “Three Temptations of the Pastor.” In Best Advice: Wisdom on Ministry from 30 Leading Pastors and Preachers, edited by William J. Carl, 14-20. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.

Drane, John. The McDonaldization of the Church. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2000.

Drane, John. After McDonaldization. Grand Rapids: Baker’s Academic, 2008.

Goleman, Daniel and Richard Boyatzis, “Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership,” Harvard Business Review (2008).

Rim, Hyung Cheon. “Do You Love Me?” In Best Advice: Wisdom on Ministry from 30 Leading Pastors and Preachers, edited by William J. Carl, 134-139. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.

Wright, Walter C. Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Influence and Service. Colorado Springs: Biblica, 2009.

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[1] John Drane, The McDonaldization of the Church (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2000), 41.

[2] Craig Barnes, “Three Temptations of the Pastor,” in Best Advice: Wisdom on Ministry from 30 Leading Pastors and Preachers, ed. William J. Carl. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 16.

[3] John Drane, After McDonaldization (Grand Rapids: Baker’s Academic, 2008), 117.

[4] Walter C. Wright, Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Influence and Service (Colorado Springs: Biblical, 2009), 8.

[5] Wright, Relational Leadership, 7.

[6] Hyung Cheon Rim. “Do You Love Me?” in Best Advice: Wisdom on Ministry from 30 Leading Pastors and Preachers, ed. William J. Carl. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 134.