"Are you still in pain?” she asked. I was lying in a hospital bed with monitor probes attached to my body, an automatic blood pressure cuff on one arm, an IV in my hand, an oxygen tube draped around my head, and she just stuck me with a needle. How could I not be in pain, I thought. I knew, however, that she was talking about what was going on in my chest and so I answered truthfully, “Yes.” That’s when the excitement began.
It started earlier that morning when I rose to get out of bed. The most excruciating pain I have ever felt cut through my chest. I have had broken bones, migraines, body parts stitched back together, and have locked up my back so bad that I couldn’t move, yet nothing I had ever experienced before compared to that pain. I was terrified.
Hospital emergency departments are amazing places if you have chest pain. It seemed like they lifted me onto a gurney before I got to the door.
As we raced toward a cubicle, a doctor asked me questions while someone else took off my shirt. Someone else connected me to monitors as soon as we arrived. Another drew blood and still another stuck an IV connection in the back of my hand.
I don’t remember what the doctor asked, but I do remember thinking this must be serious because they wouldn’t even let me undress myself.
Once stabilized, they sent me to the “heart floor" where personnel who specialize in heart cases took care of me in a room designed to deal with heart problems. I realized that’s where I was as the cardiac nurse tried to help me with my pain.
I took the medicine she offered and the pain disappeared—I thought. Actually, my mind started to go into a fog and I really didn’t feel anything. In the background I could hear a monitor making a noise I hadn’t heard before. I knew it bothered the nurse because it sounded like she was saying something about a code to turn it off.
Instantly, the room was filled with people helping her search. They must have been through this before because everyone seemed to have an assigned spot. The only person who spoke called out numbers. The numbers apparently didn’t do any good because the monitor kept up its steady wail.
Finally, the person working around my chest said, “We got him.” Soon the fog lifted and my mind began to clear. I then realized the numbers they had called out were my blood pressure.
Since I had worked on the heart floor of a hospital in my youth, I recognized the blue tape on the cart that appeared in my room. This was the “Code Blue” team, called to rescue me.
The church has been called a hospital for sinners. Our mission, like the “Code Blue” team, is to rescue people who are dying. Our work, however, is more urgent because we are dealing with death that is eternal.
There are several lessons I learned from my experience with the “Code Blue” team. First, responding to my crisis was their number one priority. No one decided to wait until they had more experience. No one refused to help because I might not respond. No one said it was time for their break. I was their single focus. As a church, our single focus should be caring for the “dying” around us.
Second, they worked in unity. Nobody tried to take someone else’s job; ethnicity didn’t seem to matter; and nobody’s culture got in the way. Wouldn’t it be great if we operated that way in our congregations, our conferences, and our union?
Third, everyone had a specific assignment. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to each of us; and all of us are needed to accomplish the task. If one person had been missing from that team, I might not be here today.
Fourth, they had the best training and equipment. We should constantly refresh our skills, employing the latest technological advances to respond to the latest cultural changes. They didn’t work in a “second rate” hospital and we don’t serve a “second rate” God.
Finally, they worked together as a team. When the doctor said, “We got him,” he could just have easily said, “I did it. Nurses and technicians are just support staff.” The truth is, you and I are only support staff. Our Savior is the One who does it.
You and I are on God’s “Code Blue” team for the communities in the Lake Union. What an awesome place to care for people. What an honor to be on God's team!
Rodney Grove is the Lake Union Conference executive secretary.
Share the Light Church Ministries Convention
August 26-28, 2005
Radisson at Star – Plaza Merrillville, Indiana
Youth, laity, and pastors within the Lake Union Conference are invited to attend any track offered in English or Spanish. Share the Light Church Ministries Convention provides training workshops in various aspects of church life and programs designed to optimize evangelistic tools and opportunities.
Children’s Ministry
Communication
Computers
Deacons/Deaconesses
Discipleship Training
Diversity in Worship
Elders
Evangelism Basics
Family Life
Hospitality
Intercessory Prayer
Leading People to Christ
Women’s Ministry
Youth Evangelism
Youth Ministry
Desarrollar el evangelismo en la iglesia
El Ministerio Femenino
Grupos pequeños en la iglesia local
Perfiles de la personalidad
Principios para pastorear una iglesia hispana en Norteamérica
Un modelo de discipulado.
Visit website: http://SharingOurHope.org for information. Call (800) 732-7587 or visit website: www.PlusLine.org to register.
