I firmly believe that local churches should be more involved in the care and discipleship of our combat veterans and their family members. While there remain opposing views among pastors and seminaries on the necessity to learn about trauma and its impact upon the person – mind, body, and soul, I believe local churches and pastors should have a basic understanding of trauma to provide a loving and practical response among those who suffer from mental health issues. Thus my new endeavor in starting a nonprofit to educate local churches, students, and organizations who desire to understand posttraumatic stress and moral injuries caused by combat from a Christian worldview and walk with them while they seek treatment or counsel.
The biblical rationale for this approach to ministry comes from the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, specifically in verse 34. As Christians, we often use this parable to teach us to see and love all people as made in the image of God. Yet, as I spend more time in this parable, especially in verse 34, I am captivated by how the Samaritan understood wound care! But let me recap the parable before I unpack the biblical rationale for trauma-informed care.
As we read, a man was robbed, stripped of his clothes, beaten, and left half-dead on the side of the road (v30). On two different occasions, religious leaders of Israel, a priest and a Levite, traveled the same road and saw the man who was robbed and severely beaten. But these religious leaders did nothing for the man (vv31, 32). They saw him and ignored him. Yet, a Samaritan who traveled on the same road saw the man and responded to his needs (v33). At the end of the parable, the Lord asked the lawyer who was more of a neighbor to the man who was robbed, beaten, and left half-dead on the side of the road in which the lawyer replied that it was the one who showed the man mercy (v37). It wasn’t the religious leaders of their day as they ignored the man’s suffering, but the one who showed compassion. In other words, the one who provided a practical response to the man’s needs.
But what is casually passed over in this parable is verse 34. Even in commentaries on the Samaritan binding up the wounds, the Samaritan’s use of oil and wine is ignored or overly simplified as using his own resources. But as a combat veteran, there is more here that many seminarians and pastors miss. And that is the Samaritan understood wound care!
The man who was beaten was left half-dead (v30). That is severe! The Samaritan bandaged the man using oil and wine (v34), that is, the Samaritan applied oil and wine to the bandages so they would not stick to the wounds, help seal the wounds, and provide pain relief (wine). This is the practical response to this man’s needs found on the side of the road in addition to taking him to an inn and leaving money to ensure proper care is maintained (vv34, 35). A few commentaries note the wound care being applied, but many of the commentaries I have on Luke gloss over or simplify the oil and wine. For example, one commentary sadly addressed the use of oil as an anointing. A very spiritual response that does not fit the context.
As a career military soldier, we are taught very early in how to respond to various wounds, from basic field dressings and tourniquets to chest seals for a sucking chest wound. As my career progressed, so did my training. I eventually was taught how to maintain an airway, splint broken bones, and start an IV. My more advanced medical training included needle decompressions and emergency tracheotomies. Yet, none of the medical training I received replaced the need for unit medics or surgeons. As warfighters, we are taught how to keep fellow soldiers alive until they can be evacuated to receive proper medical care and treatment.
So when I read v34 in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the same principle should be applied when it comes to those who suffer from mental health issues, but specifically here when it comes to those who struggle with posttraumatic stress and moral injuries caused by war. These words were given to us to teach us. Luke could have left them out and the parable would still have the same teaching impact in loving others as ourselves, but I believe these inspired words are here to help us learn more about this Good Samaritan and his response to the man severely beaten. Therefore, I believe churches, pastors, and seminary students be encouraged to have a foundational knowledge of posttraumatic stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, moral injury, secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, suicide awareness and suicide prevention, and posttraumatic growth from a Christian worldview if they plan to work with combat veterans or the military. Having a foundational knowledge in these areas does not make one a clinician, counselor, or therapist, but having that foundational knowledge enables and encourages local churches, pastors, and seminary students to respond practically with the love of Jesus Christ to the very real needs of our combat veterans and their family members struggling with the residue of war.
Yes, I trust in the sufficiency of Scripture. As a combat veteran who has been diagnosed with TBI and PTSD from six combat rotations to Afghanistan and Iraq, I depend completely on Jesus Christ every day in my hope and source of my growth! And it is here in Scripture, in verse 34 specifically, that is often overlooked in how the Good Samaritan understood proper wound care. He poured oil and wine over the bandages so they would not stick to the wound, sealing the wound, and providing the needed pain relief from a severe beating that left a man half-dead on the side of the road. The actions of the Good Samaritan should move us with similar compassion to have a better understanding of posttraumatic stress and moral injuries caused by war: “For an intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge” (Prv 18:15). For when we understand how war impacts the warfighter – mind, body, and spirit, we can truly provide a practical and loving response to their needs.