"Band-Aid" Ministry

This is more of a rant then it is an organized ministry message, so to my readers, please bear with me.

I have been working a lot more lately so I don’t have as much time to write as I would like, but a lot more time to think.

Lately I have listened to a lot of or heard of a lot of ministry concerning how a Christian should deal with stress. Or how can we present a study on self esteem, or how to live for Christ, how to do more for Christ, or what we should be doing for Christ.

At face value you may think, “what’s wrong with this?” Personally I think there is a growing problem with this, and these topics when I hear them spoke on, I like to call them simply “Band-Aid” Ministry.

If I get a serious cut on me, the proper procedure is to put some type of liquid or ointment on it, to heal the wound properly, I then may apply a bandage if needed, to help. But if I simply slapped on a Bandage without taking the time to properly care for my situation, then nothing really gets any better and it may continually get worse.

This is similar to the topics I listed above. Would we need these topics if we spoke more about well …….theology, to sum it up. If we studied God more, perhaps this band-aid ministry would be laid to the side. Perhaps if men that spoke on “self-esteem” “dealing with problems” studied Christ, and preached Christ, then it would come naturally on how to deal with problems in our lives.

 

SELF - ESTEEM

So we want to teach self-esteem from the Bible? Self -esteem is essentially making one feel good about themselves. What does the Bible tell us about ourselves? Well if you are confused or wish to try and present self-esteem topics in your class or study, try starting by reading Romans chapter 3. This chapter is full of things that tell us about who we really are.

v. 12 — no one does good

v. 13 — tongues are full of deceit

v.17 — don’t really care about peace.

Other passages are places such as places like Ps. 51:5 that tells us that we are born in sin. If we are going to be faithful to God then our goal is not at all to preach “self-esteem” Can you imagine if that was one of the roles of the Holy Spirit? Going around to make people feel good? Last I checked, that sounds like an interest of Satan. Our responsibility is to present to a person their need of a Saviour, not their need to feel good about themselves and never fear God.

Joh 16:8  And when he (Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

DEALING WITH STRESS

Do we need all different types of things to help deal with stress? Do we need to hum things? Do we need to find odd things to focus on to help us cope? Do we need to just concentrate on taking a break?

How about realizing that all things are well in Christ? We miss the big picture so often, and forget Hell is real, and that by the grace of God, we Christians are saved from it. Who needs to be stressed when the God of eternity is at peace with us?

Rom 8:28  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Are we allowing the stress of this world to get at us? Perhaps it’s because we are forgetting Philippians chapter 4. I am guilty of this too, yet I could never get through a day without knowing I’m saved for all eternity.

Php 4:6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

 

WRAP UP

There’s so much more that could be said, but I don’t know what else to say. It seems so obvious to me. We should all try studying topics a little more such as:

Deity of Christ

Unity of the God-head

The Holiness of God

The Security we have in Christ.

Then perhaps we wouldn’t need this band-aid ministry that is not leading us towards the direction that the Bereans held in the book of Acts, but instead show characteristics of the Cretans in Titus 1:12.

 

“I would rather a thousand times be five minutes at the feet of Christ than listen a lifetime to all the wise men in the world.” –D.L.Moody