Sometimes a familiar word becomes so familiar that we stop thinking about what it means. I was looking at Mark 1:1 and the Greek Christou, the form of Christos, the Anointed One. The related verb chriō refers to anointing, often through the application of oil. There is something wonderfully physical about that.

Christ is not Jesus’ surname. It is a title, identifying Him as Messiah, the Anointed One. The Greek does not mean that He goes around touching people, but the physical language prompted me to think about how He actually walked among humanity. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus touches, listens, questions, challenges and heals. And He does so as a human being.

Fully God and Fully Man

I believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. Both are essential. Yet sometimes we explain His extraordinary earthly ministry by immediately appealing to His deity. When He heals, we say, of course He could, He’s God. When He demonstrates wisdom, of course He knew, He’s God. But what happens when we take seriously His genuine humanity, His intimacy with the Father and His empowerment by the Holy Spirit?

Jesus says in John 5:19 that the Son does what He sees the Father doing. In John 12:49, He speaks according to the Father’s command. Luke describes Him as full of the Spirit and returning in the Spirit’s power (Luke 4:1, 14). In Luke 4:18 He declares that the Spirit has anointed Him.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38, NKJV)

Notice that description: anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, going about doing good, with God present. Hebrews 4:15 also tells us He was tempted as we are, yet without sin. His humanity, testing and obedience were genuine. If we explain His ministry in ways that make His humanity practically irrelevant, we risk missing what it means to follow Him. The BibleProject’s guide to the Holy Spirit offers a useful wider biblical overview.

Walk a Yard in Their Shoes

For years I have used the expression Walk a Yard in Their Shoes. It is part of my approach to ministry, community work and recovery, and to the thinking behind In His Mould. It is often taken simply as an appeal for empathy towards people in difficult circumstances. I mean something more substantial: recognising a person’s standing position.

Where are they physically? Emotionally? Ideologically? Spiritually? What is shaping how they understand themselves and the world? We do not have to read minds, share someone’s history or agree with their choices. We need to understand where they stand sufficiently to respond appropriately.

Consider the leper in Mark 1. Jesus reaches out and touches him. Consider the rich young ruler in Mark 10. Jesus looks at him, loves him and issues a challenging invitation. Consider the scribes and religious leaders, whose assumptions Jesus questions and confronts. Has He abandoned His compassion when He confronts them? Of course not.

The same Christ encounters people in different standing positions. His response changes because their circumstances change. His character does not. Walking a yard in someone’s shoes applies as much to a religious leader or a wealthy person as it does to someone experiencing exclusion. Sometimes the appropriate response is encouragement. Sometimes it is correction. Sometimes it is a question.

Christ the Interrupter

Another idea running through my writing is the Interrupter. Throughout the Gospels Jesus enters situations already shaped by people’s circumstances, expectations and patterns. His presence interrupts them.

The woman with the issue of blood reaches for His garment in Mark 5. Jesus stops, and she tells Him the whole truth. Bartimaeus cries out from beside the road, despite the crowd trying to silence him. Jesus stops and calls him. The rich young ruler approaches with a question and leaves facing a choice he had perhaps never considered.

God does not always remove the circumstances our choices have created. But an interruption can create a moment in which a different choice becomes possible. Consequences may remain. The journey may be long. And the person still has to respond. The rich young ruler walks away sorrowful. The interruption was real, even though he did not take the opportunity.

The True Elder Brother

In Out of Hiding I explore Jesus as the true Elder Brother. Romans 8:29 calls Him the firstborn among many brethren, and Hebrews 2:11 says He is not ashamed to call them His own. Jesus is more than a distant example. Through Him we are brought into relationship with the Father and receive the Holy Spirit.

John 14:12 speaks of believers doing His works and of greater works. The extent of those words deserves careful reading, but the invitation to participate in His mission is unmistakable. Only Christ accomplishes the saving work of the cross. Yet we should take seriously the power, wisdom and intimacy with the Father available through the Spirit. The Spirit who empowered Jesus’ earthly ministry is not a lesser Spirit when He indwells the Church.

That is central to In His Mould. Becoming more like Christ must shape how we recognise, understand and respond to people.

Bearing One Another’s Burdens

There is another dimension to all of this: sin, guilt and shame. Galatians 6:1–2 links restoring someone overtaken in sin with bearing one another’s burdens. James 5:16 calls believers to confess to one another and pray for one another. And 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 describes the ministry of reconciliation entrusted to the Church.

Christ alone pays the price for sin. His saving work cannot be repeated or replaced. But the Church is called to participate in reconciliation through listening, prayer, truth, gentle restoration and shared burdens. This is human mediation in a real, relational sense. Christ ministers through His people, and human relationships can become places where His reconciliation is encountered and worked out.

What We Might Learn from the Confessional

I am a Pentecostal pastor, but there is something about Catholic confession that deserves consideration beyond the theological differences between our traditions. I am interested particularly in the setting and the act itself, not in arguing for a special authority belonging to the priest.

A confessional provides a designated space, someone prepared to listen and an established expectation that difficult things may be spoken aloud. The person does not have to manufacture an opportunity to disclose what they carry. The opportunity already exists. For someone carrying deep shame, that may be enormously significant.

The Catechism’s discussion of the minister of reconciliation belongs to a different sacramental understanding from mine. Yet its concern for how the person confessing is received prompts a useful practical question for any church: what spaces are we creating in which people feel able to speak? Sometimes the greatest obstacle is not finding someone willing to listen. It is finding a way to begin speaking.

The Burden of Shame

This has occupied much of my thinking while writing Burden of Shame. Stan, the central character, is not without relationships. He has people who love him. Yet he carries something he cannot bring himself to disclose. Shame creates an internal world in which being known becomes frightening.

Someone can be loved and still feel unable to speak. Someone can attend church, hear about grace and forgiveness, and still carry something they have never told another person. The difficulty may not be ignorance of forgiveness. It may be fear of what happens when the truth becomes known.

Research gives us reason to take this seriously. James MacDonald and Ian Morley’s 2001 study of shame and non-disclosure explored how people referred for psychotherapy concealed difficult emotional experiences. It was a small clinical study, not a universal account, but it illustrates the relationship between shame, anticipated judgement and silence. The American Psychological Association’s discussion of secrecy also explores how carrying secrets can shape our thoughts and wellbeing.

Stan’s past cannot simply be erased by another person. The Interrupter cannot pay for his wrongdoing or guarantee restoration. But another person can enter the moment and create an opportunity for him to speak. That interruption may become the beginning of a different relationship with the truth.

Sometimes restoration requires more than someone willing to listen. It requires circumstances in which another person feels able to speak. Of course, such spaces must be trustworthy and safe. Confidentiality, safeguarding, appropriate boundaries and the freedom not to disclose are essential. But these responsibilities should lead us to better pastoral practice, not to avoid difficult conversations.

Anointed to Walk Among Humanity

So I return to Christos, the Anointed One. Jesus, fully God and fully human, walking among humanity in communion with the Father and empowered by the Spirit. He encounters people where they stand. He understands their circumstances. Sometimes He touches, sometimes He asks, sometimes He confronts, and sometimes He creates the opportunity for someone to tell the whole truth.

The Church is called to reflect this Christ. That means understanding people rather than categorising them. Recognising that someone in authority may need an interruption as much as someone experiencing exclusion. Bearing burdens rather than simply telling people to put them down. Creating spaces where confession and restoration can become possible.

If we are called to walk in His mould, how can we do so without first being willing to walk a yard in their shoes? Because the Anointed One did not remain at a distance. He came among us. And He calls His Church to follow.

References and further reading

Biblical passages: Mark 1; Mark 5; Mark 10; Luke 4; Acts 10:38; John 5:19; 12:49; 14:12–17; Hebrews 2:11–18; 4:15; Romans 8; Galatians 6:1–2; James 5:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18–20.

Mark 1:1 Greek lexicon; BibleProject: Holy Spirit; Catechism: Penance and Reconciliation; MacDonald & Morley (2001), Shame and non-disclosure; APA: Exposing the hidden world of secrets.

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