3. Healing Ability
| The healing of relationships is a powerful force for transformation and integration. One of the great strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one's self and one's relationship to others. Many people have broken spirits and have suffered from a variety of emotional hurts. Although this is a part of being human, servant-leaders recognize that they have an opportunity to help make whole those with whom they come in contact. |
| Larry Spears |
Healing and empathy are as closely related to each other as are listing and empathy. As stated in the the last chapter, listening without empathy may be little more than hearing. Similarly, empathy becomes more meaningful if it can ultimately lead to healing. Certainly, we won't be able to heal all wounds, no more than the medical profession can cure some incurable diseases. In those cases, empathy may be the equivalent of alleviating the symptoms or numbing the pain of an illness that has no cure. Whenever possible, however, empathy should lead to healing, lest the caregiver might wear out or the cared for might lose faith.
This is not to say that most healing will be quick. To the contrary, especially when we are dealing with issues such as healing broken trust, we had better be prepared for a long course of treatment. The last two speakers at the Leadership Cafe of the San Diego Leadership Initiative were Ronnie Froman, the current CEO of the San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Jerry Sanders, former Chief of Police of the San Diego Police Department. Both talked about what it took to either restore the trust of the community or to establish it in the first place. In the case of the San Diego Red Cross, a fiscal scandal had badly damaged the reputation of the chapter in the eyes of the public. Ronne's expectations were that any turnaround would take about two years! As it turns out, the overwhelming response of the Red Cross to an unprecedented fire storm, which ravaged most of Southern California and burnt thousands of homes, restored the Red Cross's image almost over night. As for the Police Department, Jerry talked about working with neighborhoods that had a long history of mistrust for the police, and building up a trusting relationship with those communities did indeed take years.
The first thing that probably comes to mind when we think about healing in the Bible is the physical healing that Jesus performed on countless occasions. Here is what we find in just the first chapter of the gospel of Mark: In Mar 1:23-26, Jesus heals a man possessed by an evil spirit. In Mar 1:30-31, he cures Simon's mother-in-law who had a high fever. The next few verses (Mar 1:32-34) refer to "many sick and demon-possessed people" and "great numbers of sick people who had many different kinds of diseases", and at the end of the chapter (Mar 1:40-42) he heals a man with leprosy.
Fortunately, examples of healing in the Bible don't stop with Jesus' miraculous physical healings. I say fortunately, because we obviously don't have Jesus' godly powers, and most of us aren't even in the medical profession. (As an aside, one can be saving lives in less obvious ways. For example, it is quite fair to say that a lot of people wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for the data in the Protein Data Bank. Many of the latest AIDS drugs, for example, were specifically designed based on the structure of proteins in the PDB.)
Physical healing and spiritual healing rather went hand in hand, see for example Mat 11:4-5:
4Jesus told them, "Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen-- 5the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.At times, Jesus even saw his ministy to the physically ill get in the way of his ministry to the spiritually ill. Jesus admonished some of those he cured not to tell anyone, but to little effect. The story of the leper being healed (see above) ends like this (Mar 1:43-45):
43Then Jesus sent him on his way and told him sternly, 44"Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don't talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing." 45But as the man went on his way, he spread the news, telling everyone what had happened to him. As a result, such crowds soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't enter a town anywhere publicly. He had to stay out in the secluded places, and people from everywhere came to him there.Much healing, in the Bible as well as in our lives, has to do with overcoming divisions and settling disputes. Many of Paul letters were to churches in need of healing, but especially the first letter to the Corinthians. After a few verses of introduction, Paul gets right to the point in 1Co 1:10:
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.Later in the same letter, Paul makes it clear that harmony requires treating all equally, regardless of rank or status. Drawing parallels between the parts of the human body and the members of the body of Christ, i.e., the church, he writes (excerpted from 1Co 12:22-25):
22In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary... 24...So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally.With a bit of sarcasm, he also points out that some divisions are stirred up for the selfish reason of proving one's being right (1Co 11:19):
But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that those of you who are right will be recognized!The concept of unity was also enough on Jesus' mind, that he prayed this on his last night before he was arrested (Joh 17:11):
Now I am departing the world; I am leaving them behind and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them and care for them--all those you have given me--so that they will be united just as we are.
Sometimes healing is required in situations that probably could have been avoided altogether if proper servant leadership principles had been applied in the first place. Some of my work experience over the last few years falls into this category.
A few years ago I assumed one of the lead technical positions within our organization. It turned out that I had inherited not just a set of technical responsibilities, but also the task of healing some broken work relationships. Lack of good communication, misunderstandings, personality conflicts and other contributing factors had had a significant negative impact. Restoring or establishing successful work relationships required a dedicated effort over many months. Maintaining them, of course, is an ongoing effort.
To be honest, my initial reaction to some specific assignments was "why me?". In some cases, the answer was probably simply that I had the technical expertise and dedication to get jobs done that had been left undone. In other cases, perhaps I was trusted to have the necessary healing ability to deal with some sensitive issues (and I don't say this to boast, but only as a reflective hindsight).
Incidentally, our project is maintained across several geographically separated partner sites, and this makes successful servant leadership both more important and more challenging. For the last several years, annual retreats have been held where the staff from all sites come together for several days. I think these retreats have been a resounding success. Firstly, they have been instrumental in getting to know staff from the other locations. Secondly, this has then helped to sow some good seeds for such servant leadership characteristics as listening, empathy, and healing. Again, tending to those seeds must be an ongoing effort.
Many circumstances that require healing are very personal, such as physical or emotional pain, or perhaps the grief over the loss of a loved one. The servant leader tries to be just as sensitive to those personal issues, not only because they clearly influence work performance, but more importantly because of the loving care for each individual in the organization.
To the Christian, the ultimate comfort in many of life's challenging circumstances is the spiritual healing that only Christ can bring. This should not be misunderstood, but the Christian servant leader might, in some sense, be more concerned with people's spiritual healing than with their physical or emotional healing. However, this brings up some issues as to what may or may not be appropriate in the work place.
Depending on one's place of employment, there may even be some hard rules about sharing one's faith, e.g. for teachers in public schools. In general, though, I would simply suggest that it be done with a great deal of sensitivity, and that it shouldn't create any tension or sense of discomfort for anyone at work. My co-workers are certainly aware of my Christian beliefs, but I don't go around preaching to them. I have offered to pray for particular needs, and I have always found those offers to be much appreciated.
For Thought and Discussion
- What circumstances in different parts of your life are most in need of healing? In your personal life? In the life of your family? Your church-life? Your co-workers? How about your work place in general? How could you perhaps start to be a healing influence in each of these cases?
- Have you found yourself involved in healing situations that perhaps could have been avoided with better servant leadership in the first place? Were there any lessons learnt and applied from these instances?
- In what ways did Jesus heal people other than to cure their physical diseases? Can you find specific examples from his ministries to illustrate those healings? How can we try to emulate Jesus' non-physical healings?
