On Who Needs Help

Originally published in The Global Voice: East Africa Edition, Volume 12, Issue 5, June 2014. You can read the whole edition here.

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

I don’t think Jesus discriminated against those who were well. He wasn’t setting up teams and choosing a side: “those who are well on this side of the world, and those who are sick on this side. I’m on the sick people’s side.” It’s ridiculous to even think Jesus could ever be so childish.

Instead, Jesus was referencing his mission. He wanted to make it clear that his efforts were aimed at serving those who needed his help. Those who recognized they needed someone to help them, would get his most focused attention.

It’s too easy to say, “Well, now, everyone needs Jesus.”

The truth is, not everyone does. There are many people who get along just fine, never showing any need for Jesus. Of course, we can appeal to their spiritual and emotional needs, but these days self-help products, and pharmaceuticals can be quite the substitute. You can’t manipulate someone into thinking they need something, they don’t believe they do.

It’s not like Jesus was mad at those “who were well.” He just recognized they didn’t need his help.

One of my students is going to Africa this summer. She is going to be doing eye checks and distributing appropriate prescription glasses for those with impaired vision. She is not an optometrist. She doesn’t have an accredited education in ophthalmology. In fact, she will only have a “focometer,” some donated prescription glasses, and the public health knowledge she’s acquired through undergraduate courses and personal research.

I do not believe the majority of you reading this article would want her to examine your eyes. You don’t need her unauthorized skill set to remedy your issue, because we have access to help, and the insurance, or cash to pay for it. We don’t need her to check our eyes. We don’t need her help.

When Jesus walked around Galilee, we must remember, he was the unauthorized physician, going from town to town, not recommended by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other accrediting agencies. He was not licensed by anyone in Jerusalem, neither was he legitimized by his credentials to stand in the position of authority that he assumed when he spoke. His authority was not discernible through the conventions of the society within which he lived.

However, also consider, he wasn’t trying to compete. He was offering a service to people who had no other option, but who was also, not being served. He wasn’t trying to take the customer base of the Pharisees. They could continue to see their patients. He was opening his practice to those without insurance, without cash, and without esteem.

This is obviously not an excuse to be incompetent, irresponsible and without the necessary skills to effectively serve. This is, after all, why regulating agencies exist. Yet, I think we have to acknowledge that the present systems we live in, can make it very difficult to actually serve the demographics of the poor in the world. When getting the necessary credentials puts you in 20 years of debt, it becomes difficult to offer service for free, or at reduced fees.

Jesus gives us an alternative way of serving. His way is outside the scope of the systems of authority that rightly regulate the activity for those who have flooded the professional market with claims that need to be validated. Amongst the poor though, there is not a flood of professionals. There is only a lot of need and a lack of knowledge that leads to people’s death.

“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” The Kingdom of God should direct its service to appropriately meet the needs of those who may never be able to repay them.

I didn’t say there would be a diminished capacity of skill or knowledge that would be offered to the poor. It would be absurd to think Jesus was incompetent, or of a lower caliber, but it’s a reality to say that he was not recognized, licensed, or authorized by the authorities of his day.

My student while in Africa will bring sight to the blind. She’ll do so in their local language, with an experienced understanding of their culture, and with a long-term plan to ensure holistic health. She’ll serve these precious people, not recognized by western systems of authority, but competently, knowledgeably and compassionately. She’ll be doing the work of Jesus; extending the unauthorized physician’s competent, and compassionate service to the sick.