Using Self-Care as a Means of Evangelism and Witness
The concept of "self-care" as a means of evangelism and witness is not explicitly developed in traditional Christian theology, which often emphasizes self-denial and reliance on divine power rather than personal well-being as a primary evangelistic tool. Biblical texts and theological traditions frequently highlight self-denial, suffering, and dependence on God's grace as central to the Christian life and witness.
For instance, Jesus himself set an example of self-denial, as seen in passages like Matthew 4:8-10 and Philippians 2:6-8 [1]. The Apostle Paul also exemplified this, stating, "But I consider my life as worth nothing to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24 LEB) [2]. This perspective suggests that the Christian mission often involves personal sacrifice rather than self-preservation or self-focus. Self-denial is presented as a test of devotion to Christ and necessary for following Him and for the spiritual warfare of saints [1]. Ministers, in particular, are called to exercise self-denial [1].
Theological traditions, such as Reformed theology, stress that salvation and sanctification are not achieved through one's own power but are entirely "of Christ" [6]. Charles Hodge argues that individuals, recognizing their inability to heal themselves, seek help from outside themselves, much like a sick person sends for a physician [5]. This principle extends to spiritual healing and growth; believers are not sanctified by moral suasion or outward influences, but by God's work [4]. John Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, emphasizes that believers endure patiently, not by their own strength, but by God's hand, confirming their faith in God's aid [12].
While the Bible speaks of God bringing "health and cure" and revealing "abundance of peace and truth" (Jeremiah 33:6) [3], this healing is typically understood as a divine act rather than a human-initiated "self-care" strategy for evangelism. Early church fathers also focused on spiritual healing and guidance. Clement, Polycarp, and Irenaeus, for example, sought to be "medicine to the weak," addressing people with "revealed truth" rather than catering to their opinions [7]. John Chrysostom, in his Homilies on Acts & Romans, describes the role of a messenger or priest as conveying God's words, not his own [10].
The emphasis in these traditions is on the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit in conversion and sanctification [8, 9, 11]. The Christian witness is primarily about testifying to the gospel of grace [2], not about demonstrating personal well-being as a result of self-care practices. The focus remains on looking "out of himself for salvation" [4], rather than inward.
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Self-Denial — Christ set an example of -- Mt 4:8-10; 8:20; Joh 6:38; Ro 15:3; Php 2:6-8. A test of devotedness to Christ -- Mt 10:37,38; Lu 9:23,24. Necessary In following Christ. -- Lu 14:27-33. In the warfare of saints. -- 2Ti 2:4. To the triumph of saints. -- 1Co 9:25-27. Ministers especially called to exercise -- 2Co 6:4,5. Should be exercised in Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. -- Ro 6:12; Tit 2:12. Controlling the appetite. -- Pr 23:2. Abstaining from fleshly lusts. -- 1Pe 2:11. No longer living to lusts of men. -- 1Pe 4:2. Mortifying sinful lusts. -- Mr ”
- Acts “Acts 20:24 (LEB) — But I consider my life as worth ⌞nothing⌟ to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
- Jeremiah “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth. -- Jeremiah 33:6”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 31: sinner to look out of himself for salvation; i.e ., for deliverance from the power, as well as the guilt of sin. The law is a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Why could not the Apostle say all this of himself? There is nothing here inconsistent with the character or experience of a true believer. It is as true of the Christian that he is not sanctified by moral suasion, by the objective presentation of truth, as it is of the unrenewed sinner, that he is not regenerated by any such outward influences. It is, 223 therefore, perfectly pert”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 52: own powers, he instinctively seeks help out of himself. If ill, if he knows he cannot cure himself, he sends for a physician. If persuaded that the disease is entirely under his own control, and especially if any metaphysician could persuade him that all illness is an idea, which can be banished by a volition, then it would be folly in him to seek aid from abroad. The blind, the deaf, the leprous, and the maimed who were on earth when Christ was present in the flesh, knew that they could not heal themselves, and therefore they went to Him”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 30: it by their own power. Our whole salvation is of Christ. Those who are in the grave hear his voice. They are raised by his power. And when they live it is He who lives in them. This is the doctrine which our Lord Himself so clearly and so frequently teaches, and upon which his Apostles so strenuously insist. St. Paul in the sixth and seventh chapters of his Epistle to the Romans, where he treats of this subject “ in extenso ,” has for his main object to prove that as we are not justified or our own righteousness, so we are not sanctified ”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — THEIR HEARERS. (part 2): find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth. For no persons of any kind would act properly, if they should advise blind men, just about to fall over a precipice, to continue their most dangerous path, as if it were the right one, and as if they might go on in safety. Or what medical man, anxious to heal a sick person, would prescrib”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 54: seventy-six verses of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm contains some recognition of the excellence or power of the Word of God. “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” ( Jer. xxiii. 29 .) In the New Testament the same divine efficacy is attributed to ths Word of God. It is the gospel of our salvation, i.e ., that by which we are saved. Paul said that Christ commissioned him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, saying, for this purpose I appeared unto thee to make thee minis”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 65: 186-189. All the arguments against the doctrine in question drawn from the general teachings of the Bible are, of course, arguments against the traditionary interpretation of this particular passage. Another passage on which special reliance is placed as a support of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration is Titus, iii. 5. The Apostle there says, God saves us “by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” By “the washing of regeneration” is understood baptism; and the Apostle is understood to assert two things, first, t”
- CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: that there was no need to add aught to what was said, or to take away. For a messenger’s business is this, to convey from one to another only what is told him. For which cause also the priest is called a “messenger” ( Mal. ii. 7 ), because he speaks not his own words, but those of Him that sent him. And yet Peter had preached there. But he reckons what was his, to be his own as well. In such degree, as I said before, was he beyond measure clear of all grudging! Ver. 9 . “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the Gospel of His Son.” Wo”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 9: by God in His Word ( 1 Cor. ii. 10-16 ). It is not, therefore, a revelation of new truths, but an illumination of the mind, so that it apprehends the truth, excellence, and glory of things already revealed. And second, 16 This experience is depicted in the Word of God. The Bible gives us not only the facts concerning God, and Christ, ourselves, and our relations to our Maker and Redeemer, but also records the legitimate effects of those truths on the minds of believers. So that we cannot appeal to our own feelings or inward experience, as ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 63: promise; while supported by his hand, they endure patiently. This they could never do by their own strength. Patience, therefore, gives the saints an experimental proof that God in reality furnishes the aid which he has promised whenever there is need. Hence also their faith is confirmed, for it were very ungrateful not to expect that in future the truth of God will be, as they have already found it, firm and constant. We now see how many advantages are at once produced by the cross. Overturning the overweening opinion we form of o”