MR. A was a patient in the hospital where I was working a few years back. I was called to visit him because he exhibited abnormal fear. He believed that some of the workers at the hospital were trying to kill him. His fear proved to be groundless, and the physician could find nothing wrong with him, except that he showed symptoms of sleeplessness, indigestion, and headaches.
As I visited him, he began to tell me about his life. As a boy he received very little love and affection at home. His father left the family because he was an alcoholic. Consequently, his mother did not have time to be with him because she was busy earning a living. As he grew up, this young man experienced difficulty in getting along with his family and friends. He tried to make himself acceptable by the way he dressed and acted. But his friends just made fun of him. Part of his problem was that he could not accept himself. He looked down upon himself, and several times confided in me that he was good for nothing. Once, after a conflict with his fellow workers, he attempted suicide, feeling that it was useless for him to live on.
Searching for meaningful relationships, he failed. He claimed that he was a Christian, but his Christianity did not help him much. Instead he felt guilty and ashamed because he could not measure up to the standards of the church.
I continued visiting Mr. A while he was in the hospital and had ongoing counseling appointments after he left. To me, his problem seemed one of broken relation ships. He was unable to relate with his fellow men, owing to his family background. He was not at peace with himself. In this condition it would be quite difficult for him to understand fully the love of God.
Man was created in the image of God, to live in relationship with God, his Creator and Source of life. As a result of sin, this relationship was broken. Sinful man was alienated from God.
In his sinful nature, man's plight is further compounded by his social and personal problems. He is not at peace with God, neither is he at peace with his fellow men, and above all he is not at peace with himself.
Sin results in broken relationships that cause hatred, war, fighting, sickness, and eventually death. Man's health is affected. In his rebellion against God, he refuses to obey God's laws of health, and consequently is sick.
Because man is at rivalry with his fellow men, there is no peace. Selfishness, jealousy, self-centeredness, and dishonesty are all signs of broken relationships.
Man is also at war within him self. He finds it difficult to accept himself. He is not satisfied with his present condition, yet he cannot do anything about it. The best we can say about sinful man is that he is a broken being, living amid broken relationships.
There are many like Mr. A who suffer from sickness owing to broken relationships. Most of them are not aware of their condition. Yet they feel that life is not what it should be. There is not much that they get out of life. They merely exist from day to day.
If man's problem is that of a broken relationship, is there any possibility of restoring the relationship? Thanks be to God. He has provided a way of restoring our relationships, through Jesus Christ our Lord. "Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself" (Col. 1:20).
Jesus came to this world to live as a human being, work as a human being, relate with human beings, and He died as one of us. In doing so, He provided a way whereby men may be restored to the fullness of life. He also helped us to understand God's loving concern for us and to be reconciled to Him. Through Him the broken relationship can be re stored.
It is the task of all who are in Christian service to engage in this work of restoration, whether they be medical personnel or gospel workers. In essence their work is one: to help restore man to the image of God and to be able to relate with God again. We are to relate with others in such a way that they can see the love of Christ shining through us and accept Him. As Christ came to this world to relate with men in order to save them, so the gospel must be communicated through relationships, not by words alone.
What happened to Mr. A? As we developed a close counseling relationship, he began to tell me a lot of negative feelings that he had accumulated over the years. He expressed the longing for love, yet he could not find love in his environment. He could not relate well. I listened to him, tried to understand and accept him, while at the same time expressing my concern and love for him by attempting to establish a real friendship with him. Slowly, he began to be able to respond. He began to see what a loving relationship really is. As we grew in our relationship, he also slowly grew in his relationship with others.
This opened the door for him to more fully comprehend the love of Cod. I was used of the Lord to merely provide an atmosphere of love, acceptance, and concern, within which healing could take place. God became more meaningful both to me and to him as we grew together.
While I was counseling with him, the doctors were trying to help him overcome some of his physical problems. Some of them were related to his emotional condition. Exercise was suggested so that he could get rid of some of the tensions and be able to sleep better. Slowly he changed his life-style as he was able to find meaning in life.
Now he has a steady job. He has more friends than before. He is active in church work. Christianity has more meaning to him because God is real to him. He now relates much better to God and to his fellow men.
The broken relationships have been restored.
