Wounded Healers

I recently read God Loves Broken People by Sheila Walsh. She quotes from Thornton Wilder’s play The Angel That Troubled the Waters, “They very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In love’s service only the wounded soldiers can serve.” Walsh goes on to ask, “What if the brokenness we ask God to fix is in fact a gift? What if the wounds we beg God to heal, the burdens we plead with Him to remove, are the very things that make us fit for His service?”

Henri Nouwen wrote in Bread for the Journey, “Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not ‘How can we hide our wounds?’ so we don’t have to be embarrassed, but ‘How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?’ When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers… When we experience the healing presence of another person, we can discover our own gifts of healing. Then our wounds allow us to enter into a deep solidarity with our wounded brothers and sisters.”

I wonder if that has been your experience in the church? How many of us can really be honest in our relationships within our local church? No, we don’t have to bare it all before the whole body, but are there a few people or a small group with whom we don’t have to remain hidden? I suspect that for a vast number of church-goers the answer is no. It may be that we’ve been hurt by gossip, or we’ve seen someone else knocked down for daring to be open. We naturally fear the judgmental attitudes we’ve seen displayed in the past.

How can we move forward in intimacy and unity within the Body of Christ? The quote from Nouwen suggests a couple things to do: 1) seek healing in relationship with another person, and 2) become an instrument of healing for someone else. Both require some discernment in knowing who can be trusted. Perhaps a good place to start would be with someone who is in leadership within the local body. In most churches the pastor, deacons, and elders are people of spiritual maturity who should be trustworthy with difficult matters. It doesn’t necessarily have to start with someone in the local body. Trained counselors are an excellent resource for beginning the healing process, but it can’t end there. Binding up the wounds is only part of the process. True healing requires developing healthy relationships that promote continuing growth in grace and truth.

Imagine a cardiologist who says, “OK, I’ve completed your transplant surgery, now you’re on your own. Good luck!” You’d quickly be seeking another doctor for the necessary follow-up care. It’s not really any different with our emotional and spiritual wounds. One doctor may help us become functional again, but full, vibrant health involves other people to exhort, encourage, and teach us day after day and year after year.

Beginning the process of healing puts us in a unique position to help others who have not yet gotten that far. Someone who has wrestled with depression and anxiety can speak to those wounds far better than someone who has only read about the issues. I would bet that the vast majority of people who become professional counselors have dealt with significant issues in their own lives. As Sheila Walsh suggests, maybe the fact that we have been wounded is just what God wants to use to help someone else. When the risen Jesus met Peter on the seashore, He didn’t just ask “Do you love Me?” He also gave him a job to do, “Tend my sheep” (John 21:15-17). Restoration of the relationship wasn’t enough. Peter needed to move forward in loving others by sharing God’s truth and grace with them. The same was true of others that Jesus healed. The man freed from the demons was commissioned to tell his community about what Jesus had done for him (Mark 5:19). A couple times Jesus instructed someone “Tell no one,” and yet the word got out (Luke 5:14-15).

Perhaps if we are willing to be honest with a small group, that will be the spark that initiates transformation within our church. Wounded people becoming wounded healers can make God’s love tangible to a lot of scared, hurt, and lonely people. May God use our wounds for His glory!

“If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer” (2 Cor. 1:6 ESV).