📖 Huduma za Kichungaji — Sehemu ya 3: Mahubiri ya Uponyaji📖 Pastoral Ministries — Unit 3: Therapeutic Preaching

UtanguliziOrientation

Neno uponyaji (kwa Kiingereza "therapeutic") linahitaji kufafanuliwa kwa makini kabla hatujalitumia. Hatuazimi kundi la mawazo kutoka saikolojia ya kidunia na kulipamba kwa lugha ya Kikristo. Neno hili linarudi nyuma hadi kwenye Kigiriki therapeuō — kuponya, kutumikia, kuhudumia. Septuajinta (tafsiri ya Kigiriki ya Agano la Kale) inalitumia kumhusu Bwana Mwenyewe, anayewaponya watu wake. Tunaposema mahubiri ya uponyaji, tunamaanisha mahubiri yanayofanya kile ambacho Neno la Mungu lilikusudiwa kufanya tangu zamani — kuiponya dhamiri iliyojeruhiwa, kuufunga moyo uliovunjika, kumweka huru mateka, na kumimina mafuta na divai katika majeraha ambayo hakuna dawa ya kibinadamu iliyowahi kuyafikia.The word therapeutic needs to be defined carefully before we use it. We are not borrowing a category from secular psychology and dressing it up with Christian language. The word goes back through the Greek therapeuō — to heal, to serve, to attend. The Septuagint uses it of the Lord Himself, who heals His people. When we say therapeutic preaching, we mean preaching that does what the Word of God was always meant to do — heal the wounded conscience, bind up the broken heart, set the captive free, and pour the oil and the wine into wounds that no human balm has ever reached.

Mahubiri ya kwanza kabisa ambayo Yesu aliyahubiri katika mji wake wa nyumbani yalianza kwa maneno haya: "Roho ya Bwana MUNGU i juu yangu; kwa maana BWANA amenitia mafuta niwahubiri wanyenyekevu habari njema; amenituma ili kuwaganga waliovunjika moyo, kuwatangazia mateka uhuru wao, na hao waliofungwa habari za kufunguliwa gereza" (Isaya 61:1, yaliyonukuliwa na Kristo katika Luka 4:18). Bwana Yesu Mwenyewe — mhubiri mkuu kuliko wote aliyewahi kusimama kusoma gombo — aliieleza huduma yake ya kuhubiri kuwa huduma ya kuwaponya waliovunjika moyo. Kila mchungaji msaidizi anayemfuata analipokea agizo hilo hilo.The first sermon Jesus ever preached in His hometown opened with these words: "The Spirit of the LORD God is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound" (Isaiah 61:1, quoted by Christ in Luke 4:18). The Lord Jesus Himself — the greatest preacher who ever stood up to read a scroll — defined His preaching ministry as a ministry of healing the brokenhearted. Every undershepherd who follows Him takes up the same charge.

Sehemu hii inachunguza agizo hilo. Tutawatazama watu waliovunjika wanaojaza viti vya kanisa Jumapili yoyote ile, mfano wa kibiblia wa kuzihubiria nafsi zilizojeruhiwa, mchungaji kama mponyaji aliyejeruhiwa, hatua tatu za mahubiri ya uponyaji, makosa ya kawaida yanayoifanya mimbari kuwa baridi, na kazi ya mchungaji katika nafsi yake mwenyewe inayowezesha mahubiri ya uponyaji.This unit examines that charge. We will look at the broken people who fill the pews on any given Sunday, the biblical pattern of preaching to wounded souls, the pastor as wounded healer, the three movements of therapeutic preaching, the common errors that turn the pulpit cold, and the pastor's own soul-work that makes therapeutic preaching possible.

I. Mimbari na Viti vya KanisaI. The Pulpit and the Pew

Tazama kusanyiko lako Jumapili asubuhi ijayo. Tazama polepole. Mwanamke aliye katika safu ya tatu aliambiwa Ijumaa mchana kwamba saratani yake imerudi. Mwanamume aliye nyuma yake yuko umbali wa mishahara miwili tu kabla ya kupoteza nyumba yake. Wenzi wachanga walio katika safu ya nyuma walimzika mtoto mchanga mwezi uliopita. Kijana aliye katikati ameketi karibu na wazazi ambao ndoa yao inavunjika, naye ndiye pekee anayejua jinsi hali ilivyo mbaya. Mjane aliye katika kiti cha pili anakesha karibu na upande mtupu wa kitanda cha marehemu mumewe kwa usiku wa mia nne na kumi na tatu mfululizo. Shemasi aliye katika safu ya mbele anapigana na dhambi ambayo hajamwambia mtu yeyote kwa miaka kumi na minane. Wameingia leo wakitabasamu, wamekupa mkono mlangoni, wameimba nyimbo za kanisa, na sasa wanakutazama juu.Look out across your congregation next Sunday morning. Look slowly. The woman in the third row was told on Friday afternoon that her cancer has come back. The man behind her is two paychecks from losing his house. The young couple in the back row buried a baby last month. The teenager halfway down sits next to parents whose marriage is falling apart, and he is the only one who knows how bad it is. The widow in the second pew is keeping vigil on her late husband's empty side of the bed for the four hundred and thirteenth night in a row. The deacon on the front row is fighting a sin he has not told anyone about in eighteen years. They came in today smiling, shook your hand at the door, sang the hymns, and now they are looking up at you.

Ukihubiri kwa umati wa jumla tu, utahubiri juu ya vichwa vyao. Mchungaji anayesahau kwamba viti vya kanisa lake ni wodi ya hospitali ataishia kutoa mihadhara huku kondoo wake wakivuja damu kimya kimya chini ya viti vyao. Yesu aliyaona makutano na "aliwahurumia, kwa kuwa walikuwa wamechoka na kutawanyika, kama kondoo wasio na mchungaji" (Mathayo 9:36). Neno lililotafsiriwa aliwahurumia ni neno la Kigiriki splagchnizomai — linamaanisha kuguswa katika sehemu za ndani kabisa, kuhisi tumbo likikunjika kwa maumivu ya mwingine. Kukunjika huko kwa ndani ndiko mahali pa kuanzia kwa mahubiri ya uponyaji. Mtu anayepanda mimbarini bila huruma moyoni mwake atahubiri kama mtu anayesoma orodha ya namba za simu.If you preach to a generic crowd, you will preach over their heads. The pastor who forgets that his pew is a hospital ward will end up giving lectures while his sheep bleed quietly under their pew. Jesus saw the multitudes and "was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36). The word translated moved with compassion is the Greek splagchnizomai — it means to be moved in the inward parts, to have one's gut twisted with the pain of another. That gut-twist is the starting place of therapeutic preaching. The man who steps into the pulpit with no compassion in his belly will preach like a man reading a phone book.

Hii haimaanishi kwamba kila hotuba lazima iwe ziara ya hospitalini iliyowekwa katika muziki. Mchungaji bado anahubiri shauri lote la Mungu — mafundisho, ufafanuzi wa maandiko, unabii, matumizi, maonyo, na kutia moyo. Lakini chini ya kila hotuba, bila kujali mada, lazima kuwe na ufahamu kwamba watu waliojeruhiwa wanasikiliza. Mchungaji anayefahamu majeraha yaliyomo chumbani, karibu bila kujaribu, atakuta mahubiri yake yakipata upole, umahususi, na ukaribu na maisha halisi ambao mhadhiri mtupu hawezi kamwe kuufikia.This does not mean every sermon must be a hospital visit set to music. The pastor still preaches the whole counsel of God — doctrine, exposition, prophecy, application, warning, and encouragement. But underneath every sermon, no matter the subject, there must be the awareness that wounded people are listening. The pastor who is conscious of the wounds in the room will, almost without trying, find his sermons taking on a tenderness, a particularity, a closeness to real life that the pure lecturer never achieves.

II. Mfano wa KibibliaII. The Biblical Pattern

Manabii, mitume, na Bwana Yesu Mwenyewe wanatupa mfano ulio wazi wa mahubiri yanayoponya. Isaya 61:1–3 ndilo tangazo kuu: "kuwafariji wote waliao; kuwaagizia hao waliao katika Sayuni, na kuwapa taji ya maua badala ya majivu, mafuta ya furaha badala ya maombolezo, vazi la sifa badala ya roho nzito." Kila kirai ni chumba cha ushauri. Taji ya maua badala ya majivu — ibada ya mazishi. Mafuta ya furaha badala ya maombolezo — ziara kwa mwanamke ambaye mumewe ametoka tu kumwacha. Vazi la sifa badala ya roho nzito — mazungumzo marefu ya simu na shemasi anayepambana na sonona.The prophets, the apostles, and the Lord Jesus Himself give us a clear pattern of preaching that heals. Isaiah 61:1–3 is the great manifesto: "to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Every phrase is a counseling room. Beauty for ashes — the funeral service. Oil of joy for mourning — the visit to the woman whose husband has just left. Garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness — the long phone call with the deacon battling depression.

Isaya 53 inatupeleka ndani zaidi. Mtumishi Anayeteswa hahubiri akiwa mbali. Yeye ni "mtu wa huzuni nyingi, ajuaye sikitiko" — kitenzi hicho ni cha ukaribu. "Hakika ameyachukua masikitiko yetu, amejitwika huzuni zetu." Kristo anayewaponya waliovunjika moyo ni Kristo ambaye Yeye Mwenyewe amevunjwa. Waebrania inalichukua jambo hili na kulitumia moja kwa moja: "Kwa kuwa hamna kuhani mkuu asiyeweza kuchukuana nasi katika mambo yetu ya udhaifu; bali yeye alijaribiwa sawasawa na sisi katika mambo yote, bila kufanya dhambi" (Waebrania 4:15). Mahubiri ya Kikristo yanayoponya yana mizizi katika Kristo aliyejeruhiwa. Ondoa majeraha ya Kristo katika hotuba na kinachobaki ni maadili matupu (umaadili).Isaiah 53 takes us deeper. The Suffering Servant is not preaching from a distance. He is "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" — the verb is intimate. "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." The Christ who heals the brokenhearted is the Christ who has Himself been broken. Hebrews picks this up and applies it directly: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Christian preaching that heals is rooted in a wounded Christ. Take the wounds of Christ out of the sermon and what remains is moralism.

Mtume Paulo anatupa fundisho la faraja katika 2 Wakorintho 1:3–4: "Ahimidiwe Mungu, Baba wa Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, Baba wa rehema, Mungu wa faraja yote; atufarijiye katika dhiki zetu zote, ili na sisi tuweze kuwafariji wale walio katika dhiki za kila namna, kwa faraja hiyo tunayofarijiwa na Mungu." Angalia mnyororo huo. Mungu anatufariji; sisi tunawafariji wengine; faraja inatiririka kuteremka. Mchungaji ambaye hajawahi kufarijiwa na Mungu katika maumivu yake mwenyewe hana kitu cha kuwapa watu waliovunjika walio katika viti vya kanisa lake. Mchungaji aliyefarijiwa, hata kidogo, ana mwanzo wa huduma ya uponyaji.The apostle Paul gives us the doctrine of comfort in 2 Corinthians 1:3–4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." Notice the chain. God comforts us; we comfort others; the comfort flows downhill. The pastor who has never been comforted by God in his own pain has nothing to give the broken people in his pew. The pastor who has been comforted, even a little, has the beginning of a therapeutic ministry.

III. Mponyaji AliyejeruhiwaIII. The Wounded Healer

Hii inatufikisha kwenye kweli ngumu. Mchungaji anahubiri kutoka katika majeraha yake mwenyewe, si licha ya majeraha hayo. Mtu ambaye hajawahi kuomboleza hawezi kuwahubiria watu wanaoomboleza. Mtu ambaye hajawahi kuwa na shaka hawezi kuwahubiria wenye shaka. Mtu ambaye hajawahi kupambana na hofu hawezi kusimama mbele ya watu walioogopa na kuwaambia la kufanya na hofu yao. Hii haimaanishi kwamba kila mchungaji anapaswa kuigeuza mimbari kuwa wasifu wake binafsi — hata kidogo. Mimbari ni kwa ajili ya Neno la Mungu, si hadithi ya maisha ya mchungaji. Lakini maisha ya mchungaji ndiyo lenzi ambayo Neno hupitia. Lenzi iliyosuguliwa na isiyo na maumivu huonyesha Kristo aliyesuguliwa asiye na maumivu — na Kristo aliyesuguliwa asiye na maumivu hamponyi mtu yeyote.This brings us to a hard truth. The pastor preaches from his own wounds, not in spite of them. The man who has never grieved cannot preach to grieving people. The man who has never doubted cannot preach to doubters. The man who has never battled fear cannot stand in front of frightened people and tell them what to do with their fear. This does not mean every pastor should turn the pulpit into autobiography — far from it. The pulpit is for the Word of God, not the pastor's life story. But the pastor's life is the lens through which the Word travels. A polished, pain-free lens projects a polished, pain-free Christ — and a polished, pain-free Christ heals nobody.

Joe Bayly, katika kitabu chake The View From a Hearse (Mtazamo Kutoka Gari la Maiti), anasimulia hadithi ambayo kila mhubiri anapaswa kuisoma kila baada ya miaka mitano. Baada ya mwanawe kufa, wageni wenye nia njema walikuja. Mmoja wao aliketi kando yake akaanza kuzungumza. Alizungumza juu ya jinsi Mungu anavyoshughulika na watu, juu ya kwa nini mambo haya hutokea, juu ya tumaini lililo ng'ambo ya kaburi. Alizungumza bila kukoma. Alisema mambo ambayo, Bayly alikiri, alijua kuwa ni kweli. "Sikuguswa," Bayly aliandika, "isipokuwa kutamani aondoke. Mwishowe aliondoka."Joe Bayly, in his book The View From a Hearse, tells a story that every preacher should read every five years. After his son died, well-meaning visitors came. One of them sat down beside him and began to talk. He talked about God's dealings, about why these things happen, about hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly. He said things, Bayly admitted, that he knew were true. "I was unmoved," Bayly wrote, "except to wish he'd go away. He finally did."

Kisha mwingine alikuja akaketi kando yake. "Hakusema neno karibu hata moja. Hakuuliza maswali ya kunielekeza. Aliketi tu kando yangu kwa saa moja au zaidi, akasikiliza niliposema jambo, akajibu kwa ufupi, akaomba kwa urahisi, akaondoka. Niliguswa. Nilifarijika. Sikupenda kumwona akiondoka."Then another came and sat beside him. "He hardly said a word. He didn't ask leading questions. He just sat beside me for an hour or more, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply, left. I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go."

Mtu wa kwanza alikuwa sahihi. Wa pili aliponya. Wa kwanza alimhubiria baba yule aliyekuwa akiomboleza kwa kumnyooshea kidole. Wa pili alihubiri pamoja naye. Mimbari si mahali pa kukwepa mafunzo ya chumba cha hospitali. Ni mahali pa kuyatumia.The first man was correct. The second was therapeutic. The first preached at the grieving father. The second preached with him. The pulpit is not a place to escape the lessons of the hospital room. It is a place to apply them.

Miaka mingi iliyopita, katika barabara kuu ya Interstate 95 vijijini huko North Carolina, Marekani, dereva wa lori aliyechoka alikuwa akielekea kusini. Gari dogo la rangi ya kahawia lililokuwa mbele yake lilianza kuyumba kwa nguvu kutoka njia moja hadi nyingine. Dereva wa lori alidhani ni mlevi, lakini alipokaribia aliona ni mzee mmoja, akitetemeka bila kujizuia, gari lake karibu kutoka barabarani. Dereva wa lori alibonyeza redio yake ya CB akasema, "Wewe uliye katika Chevy ya kahawia, kama unanisikia, simama kando. Toka barabarani!" Kwa kushangaza, mzee yule alifanya hivyo. Dereva wa lori alisimama nyuma yake akakimbia hadi kwenye gari. Mzee yule alianguka mikononi mwake juu ya jiwe kando ya barabara kuu, akamimina hadithi ya miezi kadhaa ya hofu na maumivu kuhusu ugonjwa usiotibika wa binti yake wa pekee. Alikuwa ametoka tu chumbani mwake hospitalini, ambapo binti alimwambia kwamba anasimamisha matibabu. Dereva wa lori aliomba pamoja naye. Wakakumbatiana. Kisha wakarudi katika magari yao wakaendelea na safari, dereva wa lori akimtamkia maneno ya kumtia moyo kupitia CB kwa maili hamsini zilizofuata. Mzee yule alipokaribia njia yake ya kutokea, sauti ya tatu iliingia hewani. Alikuwa dereva mwingine — msafirishaji wa mifugo. "Breaker 19, usijali, rafiki mwema. Endelea na njia yako. Mimi nitamfikisha nyumbani."Years ago, on Interstate 95 in rural North Carolina, a tired truck driver was making his way south. A brown sedan in front of him began weaving violently from lane to lane. The trucker thought it was a drunk, but as he came closer he saw it was an older man, shaking uncontrollably, his car nearly going off the road. The trucker keyed his CB radio and said, "You in the brown Chevy, if you can hear me, pull over. Pull off the road!" Amazingly, the man did. The trucker stopped behind him and ran to the car. The elderly man fell into his arms on a rock beside the highway and poured out the story of months of fear and pain over his only daughter's terminal illness. He had just left her hospital room, where she had told him she was stopping treatment. The trucker prayed with him. They embraced. Then they got back into their vehicles and drove on, the trucker calling words of encouragement on the CB for the next fifty miles. As the older man approached his exit, a third voice broke in over the airwaves. It was another driver — a livestock hauler. "Breaker 19, don't worry, good buddy. Go your way. I'll see him home."

Hivyo ndivyo mahubiri ya uponyaji yanavyoonekana. Mchungaji aliye mimbarini ni yule dereva wa lori kando ya barabara. Mchungaji hawezi kumwendesha kila mtu anayeomboleza mpaka nyumbani — lakini anaweza kuja kando yake, kusimamisha kuyumba kwake, kuomba, na kuwapigia wengine mbele ili mtu mwingine aubebe mzigo katika njia ya kutokea inayofuata. Mimi nitamfikisha nyumbani. Hiyo ndiyo roho ya kila hotuba inayoponya.That is what therapeutic preaching looks like. The pastor in the pulpit is the trucker on the side of the road. The pastor cannot drive every grieving man all the way home — but he can come alongside, stop the swerving, pray, and call ahead so that someone else picks up the burden at the next exit. I'll see him home. That is the spirit of every sermon that heals.

IV. Hatua Tatu za Mahubiri ya UponyajiIV. The Three Movements of Therapeutic Preaching

Mahubiri ya uponyaji yana hatua tatu. Hizi si vichwa vitatu vya muhtasari wa hotuba. Ni miondoko mitatu ya moyo inayopaswa kuwepo katika kila hotuba, bila kujali andiko au mada.Therapeutic preaching has three movements. They are not three points of a sermon outline. They are three motions of the heart that should be present in every sermon, regardless of the text or subject.

Hatua ya kwanza ni utambuzi wa kweli wa tatizo. Mchungaji lazima awe tayari kulitaja jeraha kwa sauti. Wahubiri wengi, wakijaribu kutia moyo, kamwe hawaliruhusu kusanyiko kujua kwamba mhubiri anajua kinachowaumiza. Kwa hiyo jeraha linabaki limefichwa, na hotuba hailigusi. Utambuzi wa kweli unamaanisha kusema maneno kama, "Baadhi yenu hamjalala usiku mzima kwa wiki kadhaa kwa sababu ya kinachotokea nyumbani kwenu." Au, "Najua maana ya kusoma ripoti ya daktari na kuhisi sakafu ikiporomoka chini ya miguu yako." Au, "Kuna watu katika chumba hiki asubuhi hii walioacha kuomba kwa sababu ombi lao la mwisho lilijibiwa kwa 'hapana,' nao hawajapata moyo wa kuomba tena." Utambuzi unayataja maumivu na kumwambia mtu aliyejeruhiwa, Ninakuona, na Neno la Mungu linakuona.The first movement is honest diagnosis. The pastor must be willing to name the wound out loud. Many preachers, in an attempt to be encouraging, never let the congregation know that the preacher knows what is hurting them. So the wound stays hidden, and the sermon does not touch it. Honest diagnosis means saying things like, "Some of you have not slept through the night in weeks because of what is happening in your home." Or, "I know what it is to read a doctor's report and feel the floor drop out from under you." Or, "There are people in this room this morning who have stopped praying because the last prayer was answered with a no, and they have not had the heart to ask again." Diagnosis names the pain and tells the wounded person, I see you, and the Word of God sees you.

Hatua ya pili ni kutumia Maandiko kama dawa pekee ya kweli. Utambuzi si tiba. Jeraha likishatajwa, mchungaji lazima alilete Neno la Mungu juu yake moja kwa moja — si kwa maneno ya jumla yasiyo wazi, bali kwa mistari mahususi, vifungu mahususi, ahadi mahususi, picha mahususi. "Huku mkimtwika yeye fadhaa zenu zote, kwa maana yeye hujishughulisha sana kwa mambo yenu" (1 Petro 5:7). "Huwaponya waliovunjika moyo, na kuziganga jeraha zao" (Zaburi 147:3). "Huenda kilio huja kukaa usiku, lakini asubuhi huwa furaha" (Zaburi 30:5). "Neema yangu yakutosha" (2 Wakorintho 12:9). Neno ndilo kitambaa cha kufunga jeraha. Maneno matupu ya mazoea si kitambaa hicho. "Kila jambo hutokea kwa sababu fulani" haimo katika Biblia. "Mungu hatakupa zaidi ya unavyoweza kubeba" haimo katika Biblia. "Alihitaji malaika mwingine" haimo katika Biblia. Mahubiri ya uponyaji hayabuni faraja — yanachimba faraja ambayo Mungu ameshaificha ndani ya Neno lake na kuiinua mbele ya moyo uliojeruhiwa.The second movement is the application of Scripture as the only true balm. The diagnosis is not the cure. Once the wound is named, the pastor must bring the Word of God to bear on it directly — not in vague generalities, but in specific verses, specific passages, specific promises, specific pictures. "Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3). "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5). "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Word is the bandage. Platitudes are not. "Everything happens for a reason" is not in the Bible. "God will not give you more than you can handle" is not in the Bible. "He needed another angel" is not in the Bible. Therapeutic preaching does not invent comfort — it digs the comfort God has already buried in His Word and holds it up to the wounded heart.

Hatua ya tatu ni kumwelekeza mtu kwa Kristo kama Mponyaji Aliyejeruhiwa. Kila hotuba ya uponyaji, bila kujali andiko, hatimaye inamwongoza mtu aliyevunjika hadi chini ya msalaba na kwenye kaburi lililo wazi. Jeraha la Kristo linaponya majeraha yetu. Damu ya Kristo inaitakasa aibu yetu. Kaburi tupu la Kristo linaahidi kwamba mazishi yetu si mwisho wa hadithi. Mchungaji anayetambua tatizo vizuri na kutumia Maandiko kwa ustadi lakini kamwe hafiki kwa Kristo amefanya ushauri tu, si mahubiri. Mahubiri ni kile kinachotokea nafsi iliyojeruhiwa inapokutana na Mwokozi Aliyejeruhiwa katika maneno ya mtu aliye mimbarini.The third movement is pointing to Christ as the Wounded Healer. Every therapeutic sermon, no matter the text, eventually leads the broken person to the foot of the cross and the open tomb. The wound of Christ heals our wounds. The blood of Christ cleanses our shame. The empty tomb of Christ promises that our funerals are not the end of the story. The pastor who diagnoses well and applies Scripture skillfully but never gets to Christ has only done counseling, not preaching. Preaching is what happens when the wounded soul meets the Wounded Savior in the words of the man in the pulpit.

V. Makosa ya KawaidaV. Common Errors

Makosa manne mara nyingi zaidi huifanya mimbari kuwa baridi kwa waliojeruhiwa.Four errors most often turn the pulpit cold to the wounded.

La kwanza ni ushindi wa kujigamba (triumphalism). Haya ni mahubiri yanayodokeza kwamba kama ungekuwa na imani ya kutosha tu, matatizo yako yangetoweka. Yanaahidi uponyaji bila mateso, ushindi bila vita, furaha bila huzuni. Hayawezi kumzungumzia mwanamke ambaye saratani yake haitibiki kwa sababu katika teolojia yake saratani yake ingepaswa kuwa imeshaondoka. Ushindi wa kujigamba huwajeruhi waliojeruhiwa. Unamwambia mtakatifu anayeteseka kwamba mateso yake ni kosa lake mwenyewe.The first is triumphalism. This is the preaching that suggests if you only had enough faith, your problems would disappear. It promises healing without suffering, victory without battle, joy without sorrow. It cannot speak to the woman whose cancer is terminal because in its theology her cancer should already be gone. Triumphalism wounds the wounded. It tells the suffering saint that her suffering is her own fault.

La pili ni kuchochea hisia tu (sentimentality). Haya ni mahubiri kwa hadithi za kuliza machozi badala ya kwa Neno na Roho. Mchungaji anatafuta hisia bila kweli, anachezea hisia za moyo bila kuigusa dhamiri. Kusanyiko linalia Jumapili na kusahau kufikia Jumanne. Mahubiri ya uponyaji yanaweza kuwatoa watu machozi, lakini machozi hayo yanakuja kwa sababu Neno limefanya kazi yake halisi — si kwa sababu mhubiri ameimba wimbo wa maonyesho ya kihisia.The second is sentimentality. This is preaching by tear-jerking story rather than by Word and Spirit. The pastor reaches for emotion without truth, manipulates the heartstrings without engaging the conscience. The congregation cries on Sunday and forgets by Tuesday. Therapeutic preaching may move people to tears, but the tears come because the Word has done its real work — not because the preacher has performed an emotional aria.

La tatu ni umbali wa kitheolojia. Haya ni mahubiri yaliyo sahihi kimafundisho lakini baridi kichungaji. Kila neno ni sahihi. Kila rejea iko mahali pake. Lakini hakuna joto, hakuna huruma, hakuna kuwanyooshea watu mkono. Waliojeruhiwa wanaondoka wakiwa wamejeruhiwa zaidi — wamefundishwa, labda, lakini hawajafarijiwa.The third is theological distance. This is preaching that is doctrinally precise but pastorally cold. Every word is correct. Every reference is in place. But there is no warmth, no compassion, no reaching toward the people. The wounded leave more wounded — instructed, perhaps, but uncomforted.

La nne ni faraja rahisi isiyo na gharama. Huku ni kunukuu kwa wepesi Warumi 8:28 kwa mama aliyefiwa na mtoto, au maneno ya nia njema "Mungu ana mpango" kwa mtu ambaye ametoka tu kukabidhiwa karatasi za talaka. Mstari huo ni kweli. Maneno hayo yanaweza hata kuwa kweli. Lakini yakitupwa kwa wepesi kwenye majeraha ya kina, maneno ya kweli huleta madhara halisi. Mchungaji lazima ajifunze kuyapima maneno yake kwa wanaoteseka kwa kipimo kile kile ambacho angetumia kama yeye ndiye angekuwa anateseka.The fourth is cheap comfort. This is the casual quoting of Romans 8:28 to a mother who has lost a child, or the well-meant "God's got a plan" to a man who has just been served divorce papers. The verse is true. The phrase may even be true. But thrown lightly at deep wounds, true words do real damage. The pastor must learn to weigh his words to the suffering by the same measure he would use if he were the one suffering.

VI. Nafsi ya Mhubiri MwenyeweVI. The Preacher's Own Soul

Mchungaji hawezi kuhubiri kwa uponyaji kutoka katika moyo usioponywa. Anaweza kujifanya kwa muda — lakini hatimaye ukavu ulio katika nafsi yake unakuwa ukavu ulio katika mimbari yake, na waliojeruhiwa wanauhisi. Mchungaji lazima afanye kazi yake mwenyewe ya kuomboleza, kuungama kwake mwenyewe, na kupokea kwake mwenyewe faraja anayokusudia kuwapa wengine. Lazima awe tayari kulia kabla hajahubiri juu ya kulia. Lazima awe tayari kushindana katika maombi kabla hajahubiri juu ya maombi. Lazima awe tayari kupokea faraja ya Maandiko ndani ya moyo wake mwenyewe kabla hajaiinua kwa wengine.A pastor cannot preach therapeutically out of an unhealed heart. He can fake it for a season — but eventually the dryness in his soul becomes the dryness in his pulpit, and the wounded sense it. The pastor must do his own grief work, his own confession, his own receiving of the comfort he intends to give. He must be willing to weep before he preaches about weeping. He must be willing to wrestle in prayer before he preaches about prayer. He must be willing to receive Scripture's comfort into his own heart before he holds it out to others.

Hii ni mojawapo ya zawadi kuu za mateso ya mchungaji. Mchungaji aliyefiwa na mzazi huhubiri tofauti katika mazishi baada ya hapo. Mchungaji aliyepambana na sonona huhubiri tofauti kwa waliokata tamaa baada ya hapo. Mchungaji ambaye ndoa yake mwenyewe imevutwa hadi kukaribia kuvunjika huhubiri tofauti kwa ndoa nyingine zilizo katika mvutano baada ya hapo. Mungu huwaruhusu wachungaji kuteseka kwa sababu mateso ndiyo seminari ya mahubiri ya uponyaji. Mchungaji aliyeepushwa na kila jaribu anaweza kuwa na ustadi uliosuguliwa wa kuandaa mahubiri, lakini hatakuwa na sauti ya mponyaji aliyejeruhiwa. Mchungaji aliyevunjwa na kufungwa jeraha na Mungu Mwenyewe atahubiri kwa upole ambao hakuna darasa la elimu ya mahubiri linaloweza kuufundisha.This is one of the great gifts of pastoral suffering. The pastor who has lost a parent preaches differently at funerals afterward. The pastor who has battled depression preaches differently to the discouraged afterward. The pastor whose own marriage has been stretched to breaking preaches differently to other strained marriages afterward. God allows pastors to suffer because suffering is the seminary of therapeutic preaching. The pastor who has been spared every trial may have a polished homiletic, but he will not have the wounded healer's voice. The pastor who has been broken and bandaged by God Himself will preach with a tenderness that no homiletic class can teach.

HitimishoClosing

Mimbari ni kituo cha uponyaji. Kila Jumapili asubuhi wanaume na wanawake huendesha magari yao hadi kwenye maegesho ya kanisa wakibeba majeraha yasiyoonekana. Mchungaji mwaminifu anasimama mbele yao, anafungua Neno la Mungu, na kutoa kile ambacho Neno pekee linaweza kutoa — utambuzi wa jambo ambalo wamekuwa wakiogopa kulitaja, dawa ya Maandiko ambayo bado hawajaitumia, na Mponyaji Aliyejeruhiwa Mwenyewe, aliye tabibu pekee anayeweza hatimaye kuwafanya wazima kabisa. "Ee nafsi yangu, umhimidi BWANA… akusamehe maovu yako yote, akuponya magonjwa yako yote, aukomboa uhai wako na kaburi, akutia taji ya fadhili na rehema" (Zaburi 103:2–4). Mahubiri ya uponyaji ni huduma ya mimbarini ya Mungu anayeponya. Na kila mchungaji anayesoma haya awe, kwa neema ya Kristo, mtu ambaye sauti yake mimbarini ni chombo kimoja zaidi cha uponyaji huo.The pulpit is a healing station. Every Sunday morning men and women drive into the church parking lot carrying invisible wounds. The faithful pastor stands in front of them, opens the Word of God, and offers what only the Word can give — the diagnosis they have been afraid to name, the balm of Scripture they have not yet applied, and the Wounded Healer Himself, who is the only physician who can finally make them whole. "Bless the LORD, O my soul… who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies" (Psalm 103:2–4). Therapeutic preaching is the pulpit ministry of a God who heals. May every pastor who reads this become, by the grace of Christ, a man whose voice in the pulpit is one more instrument of that healing.

— Dkt. Wayne Cook
Seminari ya Teolojia ya Chapala— Dr. Wayne Cook
Chapala Theological Seminary

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