CHPL500 New Testament Chaplaincy Assignment
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New Testament Chaplaincy Assignment
Michael David Warren
CHPL 500: Introduction to Chaplain Ministry
October 29, 2023
Contents
Introduction
....................................................................................................................................
1
The Foundations of Chaplaincy in John’s Gospel
......................................................................
1
Conclusion
......................................................................................................................................
5
Bibliography
...................................................................................................................................
6
ii
1
Introduction
While some of the first examples of chaplaincy can be seen in the Old Testament by the
instructions of the priests to accompany their army into battle (Deut. 20:2-4), the ultimate
example is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. John’s Gospel is the source of many
foundational truths for chaplain ministry, gleaned from Jesus’ ministry through words and
actions. The purpose of this paper is to explore a few passages from John’s Gospel and examine
the instructional parallels that can be seen between Jesus’ life and ministry and a chaplain’s life
and ministry.
The Foundations of Chaplaincy in John’s Gospel
In similar fashion to that of John the Baptist’s ministry, chaplains are always ready to
admit they are not the light, but bear witness of the Light, Jesus Christ (Jno. 1:8). John states that
“the true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (1:9, ESV), and
chaplains continually point to that Light because even though “the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him” (1:10). Chaplains, shining His light into a dark world, hold to
the Biblical doctrine of the Imago Dei, treating every single person they meet with dignity and
respect, even to those who continue to reject the good news (1:11). Chaplains also follow the
example set by Jesus and His disciples by having an open invitation to “Come and see” (1:39,
46) because they know some things are “better felt than telt.”
When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in John 3, He spoke in such a way that, while answering
some questions, He created interest and further questions, directing the conversation toward
heavenly realities (3:12). Chaplains, as students of Scripture, speak of earthly things to those
around them while looking for the heavenly realities that the earthly point to. This conversation
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2
between Jesus and Nicodemus happened in private (3:2), which privacy chaplains also provide to
those who desire to confess sin or have undivided attention on a religious conversation.
A considerably large passage that builds a Biblical foundation for chaplaincy is John 4:1-
26, Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman at a well. The story begins with Jesus taking a
route from Judea to Galilee that, although the faster and more direct path, was regularly avoided
by Jews because it cut through the region of Samaria, which Jews despised.
1
As would become
apparent, Jesus intentionally took this route so that He could have a conversation with a certain
woman from Samaria. From Jesus’ deliberate act of putting Himself in the path of this Samaritan
woman, chaplains seek to follow “Christ’s example of cross-cultural ministry,” providing “many
forms of caring ministry to countless people in various places beyond the walls of the church.”
2
Jesus initiated what started out as a simple conversation with the woman by asking for
water. Through the course of the conversation, the woman used different tactics to revert to
socio-religious norms or deflect from getting into personal details, but Jesus kept the
conversation steered toward her worship of God. Based on this example, “a chaplain practices
intentional initiation. The Christian chaplain is committed to proclaim God’s redeeming love to a
world that will most likely never step through the doors of a church. Therefore, the chaplain exits
the doors into the world.”
3
Jesus struck a balance between challenging and comforting the
Samaritan woman according to her condition, which chaplains also learn to do the better they
know the people they are serving.
1 William MacDonald,
Believer's Bible Commentary, Second Edition
. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson
Incorporated, 2015. 1438. ProQuest Ebook Central.
2 Naomi Padget,
The Work of the Chaplain
. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2006. v.
3 Alan T. Baker,
Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide
. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 2021. 15.
3
Once Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman was over, the disciples were
concerned with Jesus’ physical nourishment. Jesus responds to their worry by telling them “My
food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (4:34). In His human
nature, He did need physical sustenance, but spiritually His sustenance was obedience to the
Father’s will. Chaplains similarly must not only be concerned for their physical nourishment, but
find their regular spiritual nourishment in the Father’s will in order to carry on in their ministry.
If chaplains fail to sustain their own spiritual well-being through disciplines like regular Bible
intake (Matt. 3:4), fellowship (Acts 2:42), and prayer (Phl. 4:6), it will effect their efficacy in
ministry.
In John 5, Jesus went to a certain man by the Pool of Bethesda who had been hopelessly
handicapped for thirty-eight years. John records that Jesus, knowing how long the man had been
there in that condition, wasted no words before asking “Do you want to be healed” (5:6)? The
man replied by making excuses for not being able to get into the pool faster than others. Having
mercy on the invalid man, Jesus healed him. While chaplains are unable to perform such
miraculous healings on the physical body, they nevertheless seek out spiritual and emotional
maladies to remedy. Sometimes, if people have a problem that has been burdening them for a
long time, an approach as direct as Jesus’ can shortcut to the Gospel.
Another passage worth examining is found in John 11:1-44, the story of Lazarus dying
but Jesus resurrecting him. It is established early in this story that Jesus loved and cared deeply
for Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha, and they for him. From this example it is seen
that Jesus was not aloof or disconnected from people, but formed long-lasting and trusting
relationships. Chaplains must similarly be socially-inclined and, above merely making many
acquaintances, must be ready to “stick closer than a brother” when hard times come (Pro. 18:24).
4
When the hard times did come and the news spread of Lazarus’ serious illness, Jesus did not
panic. Chaplains, also, must not panic in the face of unsettling news.
Just as Jesus went toward Lazarus’ grave and did not shy away from speaking to Lazarus’
family, chaplains intentionally move toward those who are suffering from any kind of pain,
whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. Alan Baker wrote about the chaplain’s presence beside
those who are suffering:
Many prospective chaplains don’t like the idea of being in the uncomfortable path of
other people’s suffering, because they fear unanswerable questions about faith: Why did
God do this to me? Why did God punish my innocent son by taking his life? Instead of
withdrawing from these faith-challenging moments, chaplains contribute value by
moving toward the pain and praying for a transformational, faith-changing moment. It is
the place of greatest risk because chaplains don’t have the answers. However, vulnerable
people need the comfort that chaplains can provide. Comfort often comes not in the
answer but in the safe presence of one who understands the question.
4
While chaplains are by no means able to raise the long-dead back to life again like Jesus
did, they can obey the command Jesus gave after raising Lazarus to “unbind him, and let him
go.” The once spiritually-dead who are being brought to new spiritual life through the Holy
Spirit’s work of regeneration must be taught that they have been loosed from their bondage to sin
and are free to leave their grave-clothes of death and the devil behind and put on their grace-
clothes through the sanctifying influence of Jesus Christ’s finished work (cf. Eph. 4:22-24).
Chaplains are trained to have some measure of Biblical, theological answers to questions like
those posed above, but chaplains do not flaunt their knowledge and understanding of God’s
purposes in human pain, lest they become nothing more than a “clanging cymbal” in the ears of
the hurting (1Cor. 13:1-2).
4 Alan T. Baker,
Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide
. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 2021. 21
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5
In chapter 20, verse 31, John plainly states his purpose for writing his Gospel account:
that his readers “may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing [they]
may have life in his name.” John did not hide his evangelical intentions, which is instructional
for chaplains in that they make it their goal for everything they say and do to, in sometimes small
and sometimes big ways, encourage those they interact with to believe that Jesus is the Son of
God.
Conclusion
Over the course of Jesus’ ministry, He cared for the hurting, brought light to dark places,
taught truth to the students, and usually all it took was humility on their part to recognize their
lack and need of Him. His impact on the world is still felt to this present day and there is no
reason to doubt His influence will continue till the end of time. Chaplains recognize that “there is
no other name” where salvation is found (Acts 4:12), so they seek to spread the good news of
what He accomplished by emulating the kind of caring and teaching ministry He invested in.
6
Bibliography
Baker, Alan T.
Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide
. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 2021.
MacDonald, William.
Believer's Bible Commentary, Second Edition
. Nashville, TN: Thomas
Nelson Incorporated, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Padget, Naomi and McCormack, Janet.
The Work of the Chaplain
. Valley Forge, PA: Judson
Press, 2006.