One Thing Needful
Opening Prayer: (L. S. B. # 536 v. 1, 4, 5)
One
thing’s needful; Lord, this treasure
Teach
me highly to regard.
All
else, though it first give pleasure,
Is
a yoke that presses hard!
Beneath
it the heart is still fretting and striving,
No
true, lasting happiness ever deriving.
This
one thing is needful; all others are vain
I
count all but loss that I Christ may obtain.
Nothing
have I, Christ to offer,
You
alone, my highest good.
Nothing
have I, Lord, to proffer
But
Your crimson colored blood.
Your
death on the cross has death wholly defeated
And
thereby my righteousness fully completed;
Salvation’s
white raiments I there did obtain,
And
in them in glory with You I shall reign.
Therefore
You alone, my Savior,
Shall
be all in all to me;
Search
my heart and my behavior,
Root
out all hypocrisy.
Through
all my life’s pilgrimage, guard and uphold me,
In
loving forgiveness, O Jesus, enfold me.
This
one thing is needful; all others are vain
I
count all but loss that I Christ may obtain!
Part 1 - A Thriving Stigma
A.
What does it mean to be stigmatized?
Definition
Webster’s
Living Dictionary defines the word stigma: “Any mark of infamy; a blemish or
stain, as on one’s character; a brand of disgrace attached to a person.”
Introduction
You
and I live in a culture where people pride themselves in being accepting and
tolerant of others. Much of this is a
positive development when compared to former years where prejudice against
God’s creatures ran more rampant.
However, we note there is still room for much improvement. Despite this
day when people are celebrating the election of our nation’s first black
president, much intolerance and judging are quite prevalent both in our country
and our churches. A great stigma continues to attach itself to people who live
under various sets of circumstances. The
stigma exists because the greater population is permitted to label those
belonging to a smaller segment of the population.
In
the Bible Study before us, we observe this is the case concerning many of the
disabled and handicapped of our society.
You and I have been authorized in this regard. Knowing virtually nothing about the person
with a given disability, we have been sanctioned to say and believe what we
wish: that he’s dysfunctional, lazy, not as bright, determined to feel sorry
for himself or to get something for nothing.
This is more than an unfair generalization. More importantly, unless we regard the
handicapped in our lives as we do ourselves, sinners redeemed by the blood of
Christ, we will inhibit them from seeing Christ and his Word as the “One Thing
Needful”. The goal of this study is to
give consideration to how we might identify the stigma that is associated with
today’s handicapped, how we overcome it, and how we might better relate and
minister to those who like the rest of us require the comfort and strength
present only in Christ’s Gospel.
A
Few of Scripture’s Stigmatized
1. Who are the stigmatized of Scripture and
why are they stigmatized?
Are
they the same as those stigmatized in today’s population? Why or why not?
John 9:1-2
Job 2:4-7
Job
19:13-19
Matthew 15:21-23
John 8:1-5
A
Wrong Explanation . . . A Wrong Solution
2. What false teaching concerning sin
fueled the stigma in both the New and Old Testaments? To what extent does this false teaching
persist today?
John
9:1-2, 32-34
Job
4:1,5-9
3. What false teachings of today contribute
to today’s stigma?
Psalm
100:3
Isaiah
46:3-4
Job
10:8-12
Isaiah
44:2
Marked
as a Christian
4. Are there situations when being marked
or branded is to be expected and a good thing?
Galatians 6:17
Matthew
5:11-12
John
15:20
Luke
9:23-24
Job 2:9-10
B. What are people so afraid of? (What’s it
really about?)
Fear-based Judging.
1. What
is it that drives much of the stigma we see in the world and our society?
Job 4:7-9
Job 9:27-35
2. What
is the basis of wrongful judging?
Matthew 7:1-5
John 9:24-34
We
have something to learn as we consider past and current attitudes regarding the
handicapped in the Church. It is a lot
easier to pity someone than to take a closer look at ourselves. It is easier to feel sorry for that certain
somebody who has been dealt a “lousy hand”, than it is to admit that our
problems are just as serious as they are all traced back to the fact that we’re
sinners from birth.
Who’s really handicapped?
Isaiah 64:6-8
Psalm 51:5
We
enjoy talking about a certain individual’s issues. This helps us cope when we’re obligated to
work with this person or spend time with him or her at family gatherings. What we are really saying is, “you don’t have
to take this person seriously.” However,
we all have our issues. Whether we are
overly sensitive, hyper, selfish, impatient, unduly aggressive or passive,
stubborn, or weak-willed, the prognosis is always the same. Every one of us have our sinful quirks which
often make us difficult to work with or relate to.
Do
we see what we all have in common? Maybe
not. Unlike the severely handicapped, we
believe we can change how we are packaged.
We can go to counseling, take that medication, even have that
surgery. However, we cannot change what
makes us tick. We cannot change who we
are, a bona fide sinner.
C. What was God thinking?
John
9:1-7
Romans 9:20-23
Psalm 139:13-16
Exodus 4:11
Isaiah 45:9-11
Part 2 - False Coverings for Sale
A.
Taking Attention Off Sin.
When sin is not identified as the
cause of every human handicap, the Gospel will not be identified as the
greatest need of the handicapped. In
order to help the handicapped cope with today’s stigma, a new emphasis is
sought in the church. Opportunities are
offered in the congregation to help the handicapped get their mind off their
sinful nature and on something else. The church becomes a meeting place to do
what normal folk do at the very time that you meet others who are like you.
As an example, the church growth
movement loves to do outreach to the handicapped and disabled. To help ease the stigma that has been
fastened to them, the handicapped are given another reason for going to church:
to foster relationships involving human love, friendship, and support. It is a chance to normalize your life as you
increase your social calendar. Then
again maybe this is why in their opinion that the rest of us are supposed to go
to church.
1.
Why do believers meet in God’s
house however healthy or incapacitated they may be?
Matthew
11:28
Acts
2:42
Luke
11:28
Luke
14:15-22
B.
Underscoring Human Attributes.
Overcompensate
through various helps or entitlements.
1. Whose
rights shall we give first consideration?
Romans
9:21
2. Where
do we find the first citing in Scripture of man believing “he’s entitled”?
Genesis
3:6-13
Enable
the handicapped by helping them tap into their self-healing powers.
“Joni
and Friends”
“David Ring Ministries”
Many
churches of today fail to blame the handicapped’s condition on sin. We are apparently much more civilized than
that. Instead, we remember that they
have certain “felt needs” just like we do.
And we do what we can to satisfy these felt needs.
3. As society stresses one’s so-called
ability to overcome one’s handicap through self-healing etc, the mentally ill
especially become the target of stigma.
Explain.
Romans
7:15-20
John
9:1-3
4. With an emphasis on self-healing, how do
many churches these days slip into the same mindset as today’s atheists? How do we best encourage today’s handicapped?
Galatians
6:2-3
5.
In what context does God speak
about “felt needs”?
Galatians
5:16-24
Mark
7:21-23
John
12:43
James
1:14
Ezekiel 11:19-21
6.
What does God have to say about
our spiritual needs?
Ephesians
2:1-3
Romans
7:7-8
1
Corinthians 2:14
Matthew
5:6
Part
3 - One Thing Needful
A.
A Cover Promised.
1.
What is the covering God promises
sinners?
Genesis
3:11-15
B.
A Covering Applied.
2.
How is a covering for sin applied?
Genesis
3:21
John
8:1-11
Isaiah
61:10
Revelation
7:13-14
3.
In what sense do we put on
the covering?
Matthew
15:21-28
Romans
3:21-25a, 3:28
Galatians
3:23-27
C. A Covering That is Ours for Keeps.
Luke 10:38-42
1. How do Mary and Martha represent various
interests in the Church today?
2. What is the “one thing needful”?
See also: Matthew
4:4
2 Corinthians 12:9
3. How
does Jesus encourage us as we strive to keep the right priorities in the
Church?
See
also: Isaiah 55:11
Luke 11:28
Luke
5:17-26
1. What does this account suggest to us
about those who are disabled or shut in?
2. What does Jesus regard as the greatest
need facing the handicapped?
See
also: Romans 5:8
Ephesians 2:4-6
Philippians
4:10-13
3. What beef do the Pharisees have with
Jesus? Who might they represent in the
Church today?
4. What does this account suggest about
Christ’s exercise of authority in the Church today?
See also:
Matthew 18:18