The Table Briefing: Ministering To Hospital Patients -- By: Darrell L. Bock

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 171:682 (Apr 2014)
Article: The Table Briefing: Ministering To Hospital Patients
Author: Darrell L. Bock


The Table Briefing:
Ministering To Hospital Patients

Darrell L. Bock

and

Mikel Del Rosario

Darrell L. Bock is Senior Research Professor in New Testament Studies and Executive Director of Cultural Engagement at Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. Mikel Del Rosario is cultural engagement assistant.

Matthew 25 records Jesus’ teaching: “I was sick and you took care of me . . . I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me” (vv. 36-40, NET).

Although caring for the sick may be a ministry of basic compassion, many Christians are hesitant even to visit people in the hospital. Why? For some, this hesitancy may be related to a negative past experience. For others, it may be the uncertainty of what might happen during a visit. Many wonder, “What should I do?” and “What shouldn’t I do?” Indeed, feeling unprepared seems to be a major reason that people do not visit even their friends and relatives who are in the hospital.

Oddly enough, pastors often visit hospital patients but rarely share with people in their churches what they have learned to do or not to do. Yet everyone faces times when family members or friends are in the hospital or are seriously ill. How can one prepare to minister to those in pain or recovery?

In a podcast of “The Table” called “Patient Care: How to Minister to the Sick,” hospital chaplain Eva Bleeker and Stronghold Ministry director and cancer survivor Joe Fornear talked with Darrell Bock about how Christians can prepare to minister to patients. Out of this conversation comes practical advice that anyone can immediately put into practice.

Bock began on a personal note that demonstrates how difficult it can be for some to visit patients in a hospital:

Bock: I want to share a little bit with you about how the hospital, for me, is a difficult place. My mother died of cancer when I was fourteen years old. She had been through a series of operations; I think it was up to a half dozen between the time when I was eight and fourteen. The hospital was a place that I went to as a child to visit my mom, who was always in terrific pain or suffering whenever I went there. So hospital visitations, for me, are very, very difficult . . . I almost cannot walk in a hospital and not think back to that experience. . . .

What advice would you give to people who are visiting patients in the hospital? You are a chaplain. ...

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