1 Corinthians 9:19-24 (TMNT) “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
This reflection is the result of a visit that I had with a very confused lady in her mid-sixties, who also happens to be Catholic. They had not yet determined the reason for her confusion, and it was becoming more pronounced by the hour. Over the course of 15-plus minutes, I could not keep her oriented to who I was and where we were (if not so serious, it would have been a very funny experience). However, I have not been able to get this situation off my mind, and therefore I will write the essence of my reflection.
While there, she thought that I was many things: doctor, priest, neighbor, relative, nurse, stranger, chaplain, and more. Because she was so confused, she also did not hesitate to speak her mind, much to the embarrassment of her daughter. She asked me if I was her priest, and when I said no, she asked me what religion I was. When I answered Pentecost, she responded with, “Oh, you’re one of those that speak in tongues.” I then asked her if she felt like she would like a Catholic Sister to visit her. She said, “Yes, I would like communion.” She then became very puzzled that a Catholic Sister and a Pentecostal minister could be chaplains together. I then tried to explain to her that both the Catholic Sister and myself visited with people, regardless of their faith, and if a specific need arose, we would contact each other. To try and explain, I offered the following example, “If a Catholic wants communion, I contact a Sister to fulfill that wish, and I suppose that if Sr. Mary was visiting a Pentecostal [I was fishing for an example she would appreciate] that wanted to speak in tongues, she might ask me to visit them.” There is quite a bit of humor here considering this lady was very confused.
This little interaction has provided me with many chuckles over the last week, but also a whole lot of reflection about who I am to the people I visit, and can I be “…all things to all people that I might [help] some?” Paul’s words, expanded by The Message Bible, expressed his desire to be a wide range of things, “whoever,” with the simple caveat to keep one’s self oriented in Christ. While communion and speaking in tongues are both Biblical experiences, they are not my missions while a chaplain. Yes, both may happen at times, but the important thing is to be a servant that attempts to lead people into a ‘God-oriented’ experience, taking them from wherever and whomever they are and pointing them towards God. I stand at the bedside as neither Catholic nor Pentecostal, but rather as an ambassador of God’s goodwill to all woman/mankind, whoever they may be.
It is not always easy to lay aside who I am and forget my particular brand, title, experiences, and/or traditions. As chaplain I am not there for me, but rather I am there for the patient lying in the bed. My time there must be spent focusing on where the patient is and how they might come closer in both faith and experience to the Christ of the Scriptures. I must draw from the resources of who they are and the traditions that are loved and meaningful to them and point them to a living God who is both present and interested in their situation. They are not forgotten, rejected, or abandoned, but rather sought after, loved, and succored by Christ.
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