Neighbor Groups: Restore Well-BeingExemplo

Leaving Our Comfort Zones 

One way Jesus demonstrates His care for our well-being is by meeting us right where we are. He doesn’t wait until we’ve “arrived.” He simply shows up. 

He met Matthew at the tax collector’s table. He met Peter, Andrew, James, and John at the lake. He meets us in our ordinary lives but invites us to follow Him into something extraordinary.

But here’s the kicker: Following Jesus into the extraordinary is rarely comfortable.

We see this in Luke 8 when Jesus heals a demon-possessed man. The setting of this story—the region of the Gerasenes—is important. 

This area wasn’t far from where the majority of Jesus’ ministry took place—just on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. But it might as well have been on another planet. 

Jesus and His disciples were Jewish. They worshiped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their culture was built around honor. This was the only way of life they’d ever known. 

Gerasa, on the other hand, was part of the Greek Decapolis, a cluster of Greek cities. The Gentiles in these cities worshiped Greek gods, like Zeus and Apollo, and their cities were built on power and pleasure—meaning a good Jewish person would avoid such an area. And yet, Jesus chose to visit.

As if that weren’t enough of a culture shock, Jesus and the disciples arrived on the shores of the Gerasenes only to come upon an area with a graveyard on one side and 2,000 pigs on the other. According to Jewish custom, contact with death or with pigs would leave them unclean and unable to participate in their Jewish traditions.

In the middle of all the things Jewish culture avoided, however, was a demon-possessed man hurting and in desperate need of Jesus. And nothing was going to stop Jesus from reaching him. 

Remember that wonderful truth we established earlier? Jesus meets us right where we are.

Sometimes we unintentionally arrange our lives to avoid certain people. Maybe they’re people we don’t understand, people who live differently than we do, or people with a different faith. But Jesus challenges us to rethink our way of living. 

He invites all of us, regardless of where we are in life—whether we’re rich or poor, weak or strong—to follow Him to uncomfortable places. As followers of Christ, we’re called to serve one another in these places using the gifts and the resources He’s given us. 

The demon-possessed man approached Jesus and the disciples naked and without a home. He was suffering mentally, physically, and spiritually. To everyone who saw him, he seemed dangerous. Perhaps he was. 

Have you ever faced someone like that? Someone you didn’t understand, or someone who seemed too messy or too complicated to love? 

Before reading how Jesus responded, consider how you would react in that situation. Then, take some time to think about these questions:  

• What would it look like to respond like Jesus when confronted with situations you don’t understand?  
• How might responding like Jesus improve not only the well-being of others but also your own?  

 Pray: God, I recognize the good that happens when Your people follow You into difficult places. But taking those first steps isn’t always easy. Will you give me the courage I need to enter uncomfortable situations, trusting that You’ll work in me and through me as I go? Thank You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Challenge: Spend time thinking about what it would look like to care for the well-being of others the way Jesus did. How might it change you in the process?