Our church’s name is Healing Place Church: A Healing Place for a Hurting World. That’s a big statement to put on all of our signs. So if we’re going to say it, then we’re going to have to deliver it. But we know that this is why we are here and it’s what we are called to do. Whatever name your sign says, whatever your family name is, wherever you’re from, if you’re a follower of Christ, your mandate is to “love one another,” to “love your neighbor as yourself,” and to “preach good news to the poor,” “bind up the brokenhearted,” and “proclaim freedom for the captives.”
God has called his Church (all believers throughout the world included) to be a healing place for a hurting world. It’s the reason we started Healing Place Church, and my wife DeLynn and I have done our best never to sway from this call. This is the heartbeat of everything we do, and almost every lesson I teach resonates with it. We do not approach a need with the idea that this really should be someone else’s job. If someone is hurting, then the Church should be the first to offer help.
When I was a kid, I got a pretty nasty burn on my leg. Over the large open wound, the doctor applied a bandage designed to adhere to the burned skin. The bandage was made of material that had a healing ointment in it, and as the burn healed and the skin began to grow, the bandage and the skin fused. It worked almost like a skin graft, and it was very effective in the process of healing.
This is a picture of what the local church should be. We are not to be a band-aid that provides a small amount of healing and protection for the hurting people around us only to be taken off and once again made separate. The church and the community should be fused, working as a unit to bring about healing. Part of our strategy is to become a vital part of life in our region, not just to be a place for people to visit on weekends but truly to be a healing place for a hurting world. We want to be involved, to be part of the cure, and to be a resource for rehabilitation and restoration.
Being a healing place for a hurting world is our mandate. And we’ve discovered nine other cultural definers of a “Servolution” as well:
1. We are not looking for a badge
We don’t need to be recognized, and we don’t need an award. We do what we do because we love people and it is the right thing to do. We’re all just people God loves, and we are walking together through this thing called life.
2. There are no excuses
“The problem is too big.”
“We’ll never be able to make a difference.”
“We don’t have the money.”
“We don’t have anything to offer.”
All of these statements are cop-outs. It is true that we cannot do everything. But we absolutely cannot let that thought keep us from doing what we can. All of us have gifts and talents to offer, and all of us are able to do something to meet the needs of the hurting around us if we are willing to let God use us.
3. Give with no strings attached
We never want those we serve to feel like they owe us something. If we’ve left them with that feeling, then we have not done our job. We are determined to be like Jesus, who went about blessing and healing people freely.
4. Be ridiculously generous
Ridiculous generosity is exactly what we received from God. He’s the perfect example of extreme giving. Look at the incredible exchange God offered us: we get Christ, forgiveness, and an amazing life, and in return, he gets us. Obviously we have made out with the better end of this deal, but amazingly, God doesn’t see it that way at all. In his unbelievable love, he wanted us badly enough that he gave his only Son to die on a cross for you and me. That’s some pretty ridiculous generosity. My desire is for the Church to see the world around it with those same eyes of unconditional love and grace and to reach out with the same level of generosity.
5. Do justice intentionally
Social justice is a hot topic right now in our culture; it’s becoming a cool thing to talk about in Hollywood and in the music world, and that’s fine with me. But I’d really like to see the Church lead the way in social justice efforts. We hold the key for true hope and eternal salvation, and we need to be that shining light in the dark world. We need to stay focused, stick to our game plan, and be intentional. We have to follow through and finish projects we start. It’s only in being good stewards of our resources and of the opportunities given to us that we can make a long-term impact for justice.
6. Help people become overcomers
We want to help people prosper in their souls – to move beyond a culture of blaming the world, having a victim mentality, and being addicted to handouts. We want to see them replace all of that with the abundant life Jesus gives. We want to build a sustaining ministry that builds people on the inside, one that convinces them that their environment doesn’t have to defeat them and that by God’s grace they can overcome.
7. Increase your capacity
We never want to stop growing and increasing our capacity to serve, to love, and to be able to get our arms around the needs of our community. If we settle into the thinking that who we are today is all we will ever be, then we will never be able to increase our influence and our impact. New skills mean new and exciting ways to serve. New dreams mean new opportunities to make an impact in someone else’s life.
8. Build the local church
Everything we do points back to the local church, because the local church is where Christians are strengthened in their spirits, souls, and bodies. It is where we come together to energize each other through corporate praise and worship, the giving of our resources, and the teaching of the Word of God. It is a place where healing and restoration can take place, where strong families are built, and where God-relationships are built.
9. Remember the poor
Psalm 41:1 says, “Blessed is he who considers the poor” (NKJV). This is our theme. It is a filter for all we do and how we do it. It permeates all that we say and how we say it. We regularly evaluate ourselves using this guideline: How are we doing at considering the poor? And what have I done lately to help the poor?
These principles define our culture and keep us on course. By checking ourselves against them continually, we help ensure that the culture of servolution is being communicated – and lived out – by our staff, leaders, and volunteers. If you’ll adapt these principles of servolution to your church, they can help you ignite a servolution in your community.