August 20, 2019 SHARE: Wounded Healers Reading time: two minutes. Henri Nouwen coined this week’s wellness phrase in his book of the same name, “The Wounded Healer.” Essentially he says that we who carry on the Lord’s ministry of healing, (spiritual, emotional, relational, physical), serve best out of our brokenness. It’s our scars that qualify us for ministry. Maybe that’s why we read so many stories about Peter in the gospel. No one understood the gospel better because no one needed the gospel more. That was Paul’s story, also. The chief of sinners knew best how to share the living water from which he had drunk so deeply. Are you called into the ministry of offering the healing grace of Christ to others? If you are, then you’re the one Paul was writing about when he said, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are” (1 Corinthians 27-28). The cycle of grace is wounded, and then healed. How do we work this cycle of wounded and healed? Read on!The Lutheran Wellness Wheel can serve as a sort of “wholeness scan” to help you in assessing your brokenness. Look at each of the eight aspects of your life, your baptismal life, your spiritual life and your relational, intellectual, emotional, vocational, physical and financial lives. How are you doing? Is there balance and joy flowing from each area? Where does it hurt the most? It hurts because we’ve fallen; we’ve fallen because we are fallen. This side of heaven, we’ll continue to experience damage to our spirits, our bodies, our emotions, our relationships and our professional lives. The Law helps us diagnose where we’ve been wounded. The Gospel provides hope and healing. Church workers are good at dispensing the healing good news of Christ’s forgiving love to others, but not always so good at welcoming God’s healing balm themselves. Having diagnosed our brokenness, it’s good to ask, “How would I counsel someone in my situation?” That might be the beginning of the healing work of Jesus in our lives. In a certain sense, all gospel ministry is personal testimony. Paul is shown telling the story of his healing encounter with Jesus three times in the Book of Acts. In many ways, we’re all like the man in Luke 8 to whom Jesus said, “Tell how much God has done for you.” Above my desk is my checklist, “Is it ready to be preached yet?” that includes the question, “Has it made a difference in my life this week?” Good question. We’re healers. But first, we’re wounded. Bask in the joy of the gospel, then preach it from your scars. Thanks for reading. Are you interested in helping bring a Grace Place Wellness Retreat to your region? We’d love to hear from you. Contact our President/CEO Randy Fauser today to begin exploring the possibilities. Let’s have a conversation about bringing our Church Worker Retreat to your area soon!