Chapter 4, “Ministry by a Lonely Minister” pp. 81-96

Chapter 4, “Ministry by a Lonely Minister” pp. 81-96

In this chapter Nouwen explores the idea of “both the wounded minister and the healing minister” (p. 82). It is this minister, who operates out of a place of his own weakness, who brings the strength of God to our world.

Nouwen first (p. 83) discusses the weakness in loneliness, something which ministers know very well and which troubled people often fight. Nouwen redefines the issue. “The Christian way of life does not take away our loneliness; it protects and cherishes it as a precious gift” (p. 84). This is a gift because it makes us look beyond ourselves.

Nouwen goes on to discuss the professional loneliness, in which the minister is minimally tolerated even though he has God’s words of life and hope. Yet it is exactly this pain and alienation which empowers a minister to associate with the pain of others.

nouwen now turns (p. 87) to the minister as a healer. The minister can see “the depth of the human condition which all men share” (p. 88). The wounded minister is able to hve the compassion and grace to be a witness to hurting people. This healing is shown in making purposeful space for the other to open up. it then shows itself to be a very friendly space. In this space, the guest can find healing and care.

Chapter 3, “Ministry to a Hopeless Man” pp. 47-80

Chapter 3, “Ministry to a Hopeless Man” pp. 47-80

Nouwen observes that in all walks of life people lead others. In the simplest form, leadership may be a one-on-one encounter. These simple interactions may be key to understanding more complex relationships.

Nouwen builds a case study involving a patient and a chaplain. The patient is frightened and essentially shuts down conversation. The patient is scared of the impersonal, technological surroundings in the hospital. He was fearful of death but the chaplain did not perceive this. The patient has nothing good waiting for his recovery so does not really know what to desire, not to mention how to express his desires.

We think about these conditions, as does Nouwen on p. 62. “What could or should John have done for Mr. Harrison? But this question is really not fair. For the condition of Mr. Harrison was not immediately clear and comprehensible.” Possibly the theology student could have recognized the impersonal surroundings and given a personal response. This moving forward to make oneself known and knowable is an important step in ministry, especially in a largely impersonal world. The Christian can promise to be present, whether in life or in death. This is a great comfort. We minister through showing “first, personal concern, which asks one man to give his life for his fellow man; second, a deep-rooted faith in the value and meaning of life, even when the days look dark; and third, an outgoing hope which always looks for tomorrow, even beyond the moment of death” (p. 71).

Chapter 2, ‘Ministry for a Rootless Generation” pp. 26-46

Chapter 2, ‘Ministry for a Rootless Generation” pp. 26-46

Nouwen asks two questions in this chapter. “First, how do the men and women of tomorrow look today? And second, how can we lead them to where they can redeem their people?” (p. 26). Nouwen characterizes this generation of young people in three important ways. he sees them as being “the inward generation, the generation without fathers, and the convulsive generation” (p. 27).

As an inward generation he sees our youth as giving priority to personal matters, often being withdrawn. Rather than looking to outside authority our young people tend to be militantly individual. Nouwen suggests that a ministry which is sensitive can transform the inward focus from one of selfishness to one of a focus on “the reality of the unseen” (p. 29).

As a generation without fathers young people are suspicious of any claims to authority. Having seen the adult world fail young people wish to avoid taking any examples. Unfortunately this can lead to a dependence on peer examples which lack experience.

As a convulsive generation young people who see few real opportunities in their lives attempt to do something to create change. There is hope for real change but the vision is fragmented.

“When we look for the implications of our prognosis for the Christian ministry of the future, it appears as though three roles ask for special attention: (1) the leader as an articulator of inner events; (2) the leader as man of compassion; (3) the leader as contemplative critic” (p. 36).

1. The minister as the articulator of inner events

The contemplative and other inwardly-focused people often find they need a guide, someone or something outside of themselves upon whom to depend. This personal mentoring is not a work many ministers are accustomed to. The minister needs to find ways of articulating the inner life for others.

2. Compassion

Nouwen compares compassion with authority, finding that compassion can “become the core and even the nature of authority” (p. 40). We take the compassion of God to our world. This is coupled with professionalism. It sets the Christian minister apart from other professionals.

3. The minister as contemplative man

As Nouwen considers it, the contemplative person is able to interact with a fast-paced world and keep up with it. yet he is thoughtful about the interactions. This is revolutionary in its own right as it cuts to the heart of difficult issues.

Nouwen, 1972. Chapter 1, “Ministry in a Dislocated World”

Chapter 1, “Ministry in a Dislocated World” pp. 1-25

Nouwen tells of a young man named Peter who seems adrift and disconnected. He is not moored to past, future, or family. This, Nouwen says, may describe the condition of many modern people. We find a purpose statement on p. 5. “In this chapter I would like to arrive at a deeper understanding of our human predicament as it becomes visible through the many men and women who experience life as Peter does. And I hope to discover in the midst of our present ferment new ways to liberation and freedom.” So Nouwen divides the chapter into nuclear man’s predicament and liberation.

The nuclear man realizes that the same forces which bring progress may also bring destruction. Psychohistorian Robert Jay Lifton characterizes nuclear man “by (1) a historical dislocation, (2) a fragmented ideology, and (3) a search for immortality” (p. 7).

The nuclear man easily sees destruction on the immediate horizon. It is therefore difficult for him to look to the future rather than the end. This is different from previous generations. “Most Christian preaching is still based on the presupposition that man sees himself as meaningfully integrated with a history in which God came to us in the past, is living under us in the present, and will come to liberate us in the future” (p. 9). With the historical breakdown the message seen is very disconnected.

Nuclear man “has shifted from the fixed and total forms of an ideology to more fluid ideological fragments” (p. 10). These more fluid boundaries allow people to hold self-contradictory ideas at the same time. “Nuclear man no longer believes in anything that is always and everywhere true and valid” (p. 11). Being confronted with the exclusive claims of Christ creates confusion and skepticism.

Nouwen, with Lifton, suggests that man has an innate desire for immortality but finds the ephemeral nature of many pursuits lacking. They are not connected to life and history.

How does nuclear man seek freedom from this prison? Nouwen suggests that he attempts his escape through mysticism or revolution (p. 15).

There is an interest among nuclear men in mind-altering drugs, meditation, and other measures intended to reach a spiritual liberation. This liberation may be seen as stepping away from one’s own unreality into a reality that cannot be grasped.

As we consider the other way, the revolutionary one, the focus shifts. “Here man becomes aware that the choice is no longer between his world or a better world, but between no world or a new world” (p. 17). The nuclear man is thus provoked to activism, hoping to create some sort of ideal world, or at least prevent the world from collapse.

Nouwen suggests that “in Jesus the mystical and the revolutionary ways are not opposites, but two sides of the same human mode of experiential transcendence” (p. 19). It is in the union of the spiritual and physical found in Christ that we are able to connect with history and our world.

Nouwen, 1972. Introduction, "The Four Open Doors"

Nouwen, Henri J. The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society. New York: Doubleday, 1972. Kindle Edition.

Introduction, “The Four Open Doors” (Loc. 82)

In this book Nouwen opens four doors of life to consider what is behind them, realizing that every door in life leads to many more. “The first door represents the condition of a suffering world (Chapter 1); the second door, the condition of a suffering generation (Chapter 2); the third door, the condition of a suffering man (Chapter 3); and the fourth door, the condition of a suffering minister” (Loc. 87). As he wrote this book, Nouwen says he came to a realization that all of life and ministry was finding its focus on the healer who is wounded.