Timely Topic: How we pursue healing and wholeness
Here in All Nations we take seriously the call to disciple the nations into believing, baptism and obedience to following His commands. According to Ephesians 4:13, this goal of discipleship is for the purpose of maturity…”Until we all attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
The late Dallas Willard, former director of the University of South California's School of Philosophy, wrote volumes on character transformation. He believed obedience comes from inner character transformation. But how do we get there?
Authors Jim Wilder and Michel Hendricks believe that the modern church has emphasized "left-brained discipleship”—beliefs, doctrines, willpower, and strategies, but neglected right-brained relational discipleship— loving attachments, joy, emotional development and identity. Both sides are created to operate in harmony.
For example, Jesus says,— “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching," in John 14:22-24
The first step is LOVE; then comes obedience. In that order! Developing our relational and emotional life with Jesus within the context of community results in lasting obedience and maturity. Obstacles to maturity include: low joy, isolation, poor identity formation and unhealed trauma. For this reason, we do well to focus on healing. For, as the familiar saying goes, “We can only lead people as far as we have been willing to go ourselves.”
Wholeness means we must honor God’s design of the interconnectedness of the body, soul, and spirit in relationship to each other. Each part purposefully impacts the other. Once I respond in salvation to the Holy Spirit’s revelation and conviction, He takes up residence in my spirit. We are one. This is the point of access to Kingdom life. This is where I am called to live. But it is only the beginning!
I also have a soul— my mind, will, and emotions. Unfortunately, after the fall, most of us live out of our souls— leaning mostly on our minds, strong wills, and/or our “knee-jerk” emotions. Instead, the Lord calls us higher; this part is being sanctified as I submit daily to His spirit by agreeing with truth.
I live in a body. It’s a temporary body that mobilizes my spirit and soul using the five senses. God calls it a temple. While the body and the soul are important, beautiful, and valuable, it is the spirit that was designed to be the leader, not the soul or body.
And finally, as a member of His body, the church, I am called to live in relationship. I John 4:20 is a sobering passage: “the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
These four—spirit, soul, body, relationship—when interconnected lead to wholeness in the body. You might say, we are called to sing the song of our healer, singing this four-part harmony.
Here is a simple prayer I often start my day with—
“I call my spirit to attention, in the name of Jesus, to rise up and take charge over my soul and body. Mind, will, emotions, and body— you are beautiful and valuable, but you are not in charge. I bless you to rest under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I receive, forgive, and bless all those you have placed in my community today. Thank you, Lord, that I have all I need for life and godliness today. I receive Your truth.”
Jesus is our wonderful counselor and healer. When Jesus began His ministry, of all passages from the Old Testament He could have chosen to read, it was this text from Isaiah 61:1-3:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness. The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Freedom comes when truth replaces lies or misbeliefs. This healing exchange in Isa. 61 is the path towards freedom and fullness. Barriers to freedom can hinder seeing God and relating to people correctly. Barriers include, trauma, unhealed wounds, unmet needs, lies/accusations about self or others, making inner vows (“I will never…”), oppression and sin (think, “7 deadly sins” for starters).
Because we live in a fallen world, it is not unusual to experience trauma. Trauma could be a one-time event or ongoing events due to unmet needs as a child, bullying, child abuse, or domestic violence, for example. Brain scientists tell us that the brain and body store that trauma. Its impact literally changes the brain. It surfaces as a reaction, not a memory. Many times it is our spouse or those we are in close community with that bring it to our attention initially. We do well to listen to them and humble ourselves. As Laura Hackett’s poignant song declares, “Your river rushes to the lowest place.”
Changing behavior alone will not bring the needed healing. We have to look beyond to the unhealed wound or unmet need that is driving the pattern. We must allow the Holy Spirit to shine His light and truth on these patterns, and take us to the wonderful counselor and the healer for the “great exchange.” We must humble ourselves and ask for help when needed. Sometimes a God-fearing trained counselor can take us to those places in our hearts we’ve locked away as a child.
Our wonderful counselor calls us back into relationship. In fact, God uses relational terms to reveal our identity. Because He is a Father, I am no longer an orphan, but His child (Gal.4:7); because He is a Bridegroom, I am His beloved one, not a slave (Hosea 2:16); and because He is Lord, I am no longer a performer but a worshipping priest! (I Pet.2:9). Transforming the soul begins here, in relationship to Him. The great missional leader, J. Hudson Taylor, wrote of this “identity exchange in “The Exchanged Life.”
Transforming the soul is a lifelong journey of pursuing and abiding in living truth. In Psa. 51:6, David states, “Behold, You desire truth in the inner man.” And again in John 8:31-32, Jesus declares, “…if you continue in my Word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Truth alone doesn’t set us free, but it is the “knowing” of that truth, that brings freedom. The word “knowing” in the Greek is ginōskō , the same word for sexual intercourse. It implies intimacy— knowing, seeing, and experiencing the beauty of a glorious God.
Paul prayed this familiar prayer in Eph.1:17-19 —
“That the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and understanding in the knowledge of Him, I pray that the eyes of your heart (dianoia: mind, imagination) may be enlightened to know (eido: perceive by any of the senses; experience) what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe…”
When our spiritual eyes and ears are enlightened it is as if we are pulling a curtain away to see what has always been there, just hidden from our view.
One model I use to receive healing through the Word is called “Lectio Divina." First introduced in the sixth century, it is a way to meditate on Scripture. It is not a study or analysis, though that is important. Instead it is a way for our hearts and emotions to respond to the written word.
These are the simple steps:
Set aside 30 minutes. Find a quiet, uninterrupted place.
Prepare
Invite the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart (Eph.1:19).
Bind yourself to the Father, Son & Holy Spirit; and
Loose yourself to stronghold thinking, behaviors and patterns (fear, shame, etc.)
Read the passage of Scripture: Listen and receive the text as you read it slowly and aloud. Reread it and listen for a word or phrase that catches your attention. Ask: “What is this text saying?”
Reflect: Reread the passage and connect with the highlighted phrase. What do I notice, perceive, hear, or experience as I watch and listen? Enter the scene. Notice what you see (pictures? colors?) hear (words, verses, songs?) feel (peace, emotions?) Ask: “What is this saying to me?”
Pray: Reread the passage again and respond to God about the highlighted phrase. Here I activate the relational response through speaking, singing, journaling, art, movement to prayerfully respond to where the Scripture has led me. Ask: “What do I want to say to God?”
Rest: Reread the passage and wait in God’s presence. Rest in His love.
Closing: Add a prayer of commitment to intentionally integrate the Word into life.
Sharing: You may want to share your experience with another, which cements it into your memory and stimulates others in the body.
I am a gardener. Like every gardener, it gives me great joy to plant seeds each spring in healthy soil, watch the tender sprouts appear, listen to the rains water the earth, feel the warmth of the sun, and pull weeds that choke out life, knowing that harvest will surely come.
God, too, is a gardener. He has planted His seed into our hearts; and we are called to go and do likewise. But, as the world rocks back and forth in ever increasing waves of turmoil, the call to disciple becomes even more sobering. We do well to humble ourselves before the wonderful counselor and healer, abide in His Word, and submit to a vibrant community, so that we can lead others into their own transformation and maturity. At All Nations, let us commit to have no barriers stand in our way, so that we can join in declaring, “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations," according to Isaiah 61:11.
About the Author: Sue Kawase has served with the pastoral wing of All Nations Kansas City since 2013. A former nurse and later educator, she retired early to care for her now six young grandchildren. She and her husband, Yutaka, enjoy hosting gatherings at their country home in Kansas (USA) where they raised their five children and many students over the years. She considers it a great honor to visit and encourage amazing women on the "field."
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