Preach It!

…and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”

           Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. (Mark 1:37-39)

          For some, the biggest reasons Jesus came were to heal the sick and perform miracles. Even at the beginning of His ministry, the people already had it in their minds that Jesus was there to work miracles: to heal the sick, drive out impure spirits, raise the dead, feed the hungry, and make Earth into a utopia where everyone (sigh) loves one another (sigh.)  None of those are in the list of reasons Jesus gave for coming here. Or, if it is, I haven’t found it.

          That isn’t to say that Jesus doesn’t want us to love one another, or to live at peace with one another. Those may be (and perhaps should be) effects of His coming, but we’re not really discussing effects. Some folks would tell us that as long as someone is disadvantaged, they won’t listen to our message. But Jesus talked about how blessed the poor in spirit were, and how hard it is for those who don’t feel needy to get into heaven.

          I don’t know if this is thanks to Abram Maslow, but it seems as though this idea that we have to help the poor not be poor before they can think about something like salvation follows Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. A person’s physiological needs (air, food, water, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction) must be met before safety needs (personal security, health, employment, resources, property) become important. Once safety needs are met, then love and belonging (family, friends, sense of belonging) become important. After love and belonging needs are met, esteem needs (respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, and freedom) come into play. Lastly, once all those are addressed, self-actualization (the desire to become the most one can be) can be addressed.

          But what if that’s not true? What if, at the very least, the needs are more like the Kuber-Ross’s Stages of Grief? According to that theory, you can go from stage 1 to stage 3, to stage 4, to stage 1, to stage 2, to stage 5, to stage 2, to stage 3, and all of that can probably happen within five minutes. If that is the case, then the poor might, in fact, be closer to having their love and belonging needs, their esteem needs, and/or their self-actualization needs met than the wealthy.

           And that would explain why Jesus came to preach, and not to meet our physiological needs.