Don't Shoot the Wounded

There is much we can learn from the book of Job about suffering. His example demonstrates how we are to understand the meaning of suffering and how to respond to it.
We can also learn what not to do by learning from the example of Job’s friends. Job did not deserve the calamity that befell him soon into the story, emphasized in the first verse:

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

However, his friends could not accept he had done no wrong since they believed bad things do not happen to good people:

Job 4:5-8 5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. 6 Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? 7 "Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

As a result, they added insult to injury by urging him to repent of the sin that led to his affliction, to their shame. They were genuine in wanting to help their friend when they responded to his pain. They made sense of his circumstances the best they could and responded accordingly. Lacking perspective and understanding, they lacked the needed prescription that would provide healing. Like archaic medicine that used to cut patients to try to bleed the illness out them, their efforts only made the situation worse.

Bad medicine is only one example of the mismanagement of the body of Christ in the effort to “take care of” their wounded. Many well meaning “friends” take it a step further by choosing to “shoot” their fallen comrade, like a horse with a broken leg, “putting them out of their misery” rather than suffer the inconvenience of trying to nurse them back to health, especially given the odds they may not recover. This trend is most seen when dealing with leaders. Leaders are supposed to be strong so when weakness is exposed, responsibility is taken from them “for their own good.” Really, like the horse, they are seen as a liability since their ability to carry their load has been lost or diminished. Since no one knows what to do with them and followers feel betrayed that the one they were depending on to carry them suddenly needs to be carried, the wounded leader is simply ignored and left to die. As for the other leaders, like in the parable of the good Samaritan, their self-righteous belief in their own strength and credentials leads them to walk on the other side of the road, passing the bleeding man who was attacked by robbers because they are too busy or repulsed to stop and help. Those who passed may have even thought the man deserved it.

Some wounded do bring it on themselves, some do not. Unlike Job, everyone deserves punishment for something but it is a mistake to associate suffering as punishment for sin, deeming the sufferer as “deserving” of their condition due to some flaw in their character or history of poor judgment. While some sinful behaviors do need to be answered by leaving the one in bondage to their destructive behavior to learn the consequences of their rebellion, it is negligent and dangerous to group everyone in the category of “deserving it,” especially in the attempt to justify leaving one to die of their wounds.

The Biblical church is a hospital for the hurting and hopeless, inviting everyone in need of healing to come. Mercy is the Biblical response when pain is observed. Mercy requires being inconvenienced and uncomfortable, requiring one share in the sufferings of the one being helped. It cost the Good Samaritan time and money to help the wounded traveler. He even risked becoming sick himself by allowing himself to be soiled by the blood of the beaten man, something the “pure” religious leader were unwilling to do. Like those who chose to keep their hands clean, the final judgment may reveal those who thought they were healthy were actually more sick than the ones they were avoiding, afflicted by a cancer that leads to destruction.

Matthew 25:34-46 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40 And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' 45 Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."