During our ministry encounters with people outside the walls of the church, we build rapport. We accept and love people as they are. We don’t require them to change in any way before we minister to their needs.
We may tend to think that we must first address sin in someone’s life before ministry may take place, but this was not Jesus’ way.
- He healed people without requiring them to repent first.
- He fed the five thousand without requiring them to repent first.
- Even when confronted with sin directly, as with the woman taken in adultery, He did not require repentance before He demonstrated His love to her. When He did address sin, it was from a view of what was in her best interest. “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”—John 8:11 (NKJV)
- In the same way, Jesus addressed sin in the life of the man who was at the Bethesda pool only after He met the man’s need and healed him. “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”—John 5:14 (NKJV)
A few years ago, during the annual Haunted Happenings festival in Salem, Massachusetts, I was part of a ministry team when a woman came to us for help and encouragement. As we waited on the Holy Spirit, I had a vision of a picture-perfect home with a nice, white picket fence around it. Then an enormous butcher knife came down and sliced the whole scene in half—an image of a broken home. I asked her if she had experienced the pain of a broken home. The lady shared with us that she had just gone through a divorce… with her female partner. As she related the story, tears welled up in her eyes. The pain was still very close to the surface.
It became clear to us that what was on God’s heart for that woman, that night, was to bring healing to her broken heart, meeting her in the place of her need and dealing with the devastating effects of a broken home. At no time that night did the Holy Spirit prompt us to persuade her to renounce her lifestyle.
Love, acceptance, healing — meeting needs without conditions or prerequisites. Those qualities characterized Jesus’ ministry when He walked on earth, and those same qualities must characterize our lives and ministries as well.
“He causes his sun to shine on evil people and good people. He sends rain on those who do right and those who don’t. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Even the tax collectors do that. If you greet only your own people, what more are you doing than others? Even people who are ungodly do that. So be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”—Matthew 5:45–48 (NIRV)
