What do we NEED?

Brothers and Sisters in Christ

This Sunday we will be thinking about needs… Here’s a dictionary definition of need: A need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as disfunction or death. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a social level, needs are sometimes controversial. Understanding needs and wants is an issue in the fields of politics, social science, and philosophy.

Jesus famously said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ The extraordinary truth about the Cross is this: all we need is found there in the death and resurrection of Christ. However, getting to that point in discipleship is also extraordinarily hard as so many wants get in the way, as well as so much of the brokenness of this world. On one level when we ask people about their needs we could be taking about money to pay the bills, opportunities to find work, a relationship that lasts, help with parenting, a friend….and much more besides. These would all be real and genuine. However, what if we were willing to go much deeper within ourselves and then help others go deeper too? My needs are primarily about knowing that I am really loved by God and that I would love to be able to shed the feelings that deep down I’m not good enough. I need to be able to shed my fears from childhood that often warp my views of the world and others around me. I have many deep needs that often don’t get discussed or shared. What are our real needs and do we have a clue what the real needs of our community are?