Pain and Evangelism

Pain and Evangelism

Lately I've really had the urge when I hear of pain an suffering to just go back in time and save people from their troubles, it may sound weird and I can't really explain it, but I just hate to see suffering.  The truth of it is though that the pain and suffering is what makes us. It may not define us, but it does distinguish us. Now having said that, we shouldn't encourage pain or instigate it, in fact we should try to prevent it, but it does teach a great lesson if we allow it to. I think the key is to help heal those that are hurting now, and do our best to prevent suffering for others. But this is where the oxygen mask theory comes into play, as I like to call it. You know, when you hear the instructions on airplanes and they say "before assisting others with their masks, make sure yours is on first." We can't help others if we can't first help ourselves. Now that's not to say that we must be healed in order to help, in fact many times its easier to overcome something if you are going through it or something similarly with someone else, but we need to be healing. And the theory applies to evangelism as well. We don't have to be perfect before we spread the Gospel, but we must be working on ourselves, otherwise we are mere hypocrites. When it comes to pain and witnessing alike, we must first work on ourselves and then help and be there for others, seeing everyone as true equals in the Eyes of the Lord, all sons and daughters of the Most High. We must learn to love our neighbor as ourself and then spreading the gospel and helping those who are hurting become second nature to us.