Jerry Patton, a former member of the Oregon City Followers of Christ, and the grandson of an FOC preacher, agreed to write about his beliefs in regards to faith healing and the role of medicine in a believer's life.
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It’s been a long time
since I thought about being forbidden to use a doctor. I can remember learning about that belief and
knowing that it was something somehow I had to accept. It’s not something that seems too menacing
until pain, fear, and all kinds of thoughts are up in your face. I did my best to embrace it, but it was that
young age, probably around the age of 10, it didn’t seem to make much sense. I could go to the dentist; he was doctor; he
used drugs to deaden the pain, but that was alright. It was there I began to realize this
inconsistency. Is this really the way
faith is? Sometimes it’s relevant – it
matters - and then at other times it doesn’t?
Life hits you that way as you grow up.
Everyone gets to experience it and the crazy bewilderment it brings.
I think my experiences
in being sick and injured are pretty common for the time period I grew up in: a
busted lip, sprained ankle, colds, etc.
Very few folks took their children to the doctor the way they do now
when all they have is a sniffle. Even
with my own kids, they were very healthy and occasionally visited the doctor
when they couldn’t seem to get on top of a cold or infection. We did make a few trips to the emergency room
for stitches, an outpatient surgery for tonsil removal, but most of the time
they were treated at home. When our youngest
was eight years old, my wife Paula graduated from Wichita State University with
her bachelor’s degree in nursing and became a registered nurse. I must say, I was thankful having her looking
after us and so were all our nieces, nephews, and family, the church kids, the neighbor
kids, and new mothers and fathers asking questions about a new one on the
way. She is always helping someone by
looking at something or answering a question.
Sometimes, however,
things are more serious. I can tell you
if we had not sought medical help, my father would be gone, my brother would be
gone, and even perhaps a son would be. I
can simply find no place in the Old or New Testament that prohibits people from
getting well. The only time seeking care
was considered wrong was if someone was using a medium or some kind of
charm. It was wrong because it was wrong
to be with a medium in the first place and as for the charms, they were silly
superstition, the same as idols. Putting
your faith in something like that is disrespectful to God. At the church where I worship and fellowship
with my brothers and sisters in Christ, we have many that are sick or
injured. We lift them up constantly
through prayer chains, Wednesday night hour of prayer, house churches, and
whenever we meet. We also lay hands on
them and invite anyone to come join us as we pray over them. We are very aware that medicine is useless
without the blessing of God, and we believe medicine to be a blessing from
God. But God is sovereign and we respect
his wisdom as he works out everything for the good.
We all know that
wonderful passage from the Hebrew writer at the beginning of chapter 11
defining faith for us:
1Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2
For by it the elders obtained a good
testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things
which are visible.
Why would the writer
bring up faith? Not that it’s written
all over the Bible, both Old and New Covenant, but it is the language by which
we commune with the Creator. God belongs
to the spiritual world where our bodily senses cannot reach and it requires
faith for us to reach out to him. He
reached out to us first, where his plan would eventually merge heaven and earth
and those who put their faith in Him would live with him there forever. Through this plan he showed us we need a
savior and he provided one: the Lord
Jesus Christ. Through the life of Christ,
his death on a cross, his burial, his resurrection from the dead on the third
day, his appearance to many: We have
been rescued from darkness. Those who
put their faith in Christ Jesus have been claimed as “the holy ones” (the
saints) of God.
Faith and obedience are
intertwined. You can’t have one without
the other. They feed on each other. Faith is built on obedience and obedience
depends on faith. But obedience to
what? This is going to sound funny, but,
the answer is: Loving one another as
Christ loved us. When you boil it all
down, that’s where it is. It requires an
enormous amount of faith. Jesus talks
about it again and again. His disciples,
his apprentices are to practice loving others.
In order to do this, you have to set your entitlements, agendas, and
needs aside in order to look out for those around you – even the ones that
don’t think the way you do or the ones who don’t like you; especially
them. Who looks after my needs? You do – through the power of Jesus Christ. That’s where faith comes in, eh?
When I decided to follow Jesus, all my claims
of wrongs done me, all my entitlements bestowed on me by whatever means, are
nailed to the cross. It wasn’t very fair
that Jesus, an innocent man, died on a cross:
what claim could I possibly have to anything? Nailing them to the cross takes great faith,
the kind of faith that makes us brothers and sisters to the One and Only King
of Kings, Lord of Lords. For me, this
looking out for one another in love and compassion is what is meant by “walking
in the Spirit”.
Galatians
5:16-26
16 I say then: Walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are
evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21
envy, murders, drunkenness,
revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control. Against such
there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another,
envying one another.
Did Paul really say
that? “Against such there is no
law.” When we walk in the Spirit and
that lovely fruit is produced in us, there is no need for law, no need for rules. Everything is fulfilled; especially us and we
become what we were created to be: Real
human beings. Now you can be someone who
wants to focus on rules and about the only thing you’ll discover is how big a
rule breaker you are. And rules don’t
change us, at least not in the direction we would want to go. Paul says in the letter to the Galatians and
elsewhere: the law is death and if the Law
of Moses is viewed this way then any law that man comes up with is certainly
not any better and leads to the same things.
Law-keeping is focused
on the mundane and diverts our eyes from taking care and looking after one
another. It gets us all wrapped around
the axle in thinking about how we look, for the law shows what a righteous
person looks like on the outside, but it does not have means to change us. This is why we need the Spirit and walk with
him faithfully as he trains us in his ways and over time he transforms us into
the sons and daughters of The Most High.
Luke 10:25-37 NKJV
25 And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal
life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your
reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 And He said to
him, “You have
answered rightly; do this and you will live.” 29 But he, wanting to justify
himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Then Jesus
answered and said: “A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his
clothing, wounded him, and
departed, leaving him half
dead. 31
Now by
chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and
passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when
he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took
out two denarii, gave them to
the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was
neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed
mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Don’t tell me there
wasn’t some doctoring going on here. The
man received the best care he could have had in his day and age. You wouldn’t receive much better care in an
emergency room from a doctor and nurses.
Sure, we now have more modern ways to nourish him, and more effective
techniques to bandage and treat his wounds but the outcome is the same. Is there something wrong here? Is it wrong to do good, even though you used
some bactine, Neosporin, or alcohol?
And then there’s that
nagging question again - one of the things that has always puzzled me: when does something rise to the point that
it is wrong to seek out a trained professional, someone who has exhibited the
God-given talent and gifts for healing?
Where is that line? And who
decides where that line is? Men? Bad idea.
I believe God has blessed us with incredible minds. Do we do evil with them? Sadly, yes.
But we can do good with them also and serving someone’s needs through
healing is something that is right and good.
Did the good Samaritan
love this man even though he didn’t know him?
Of course. Did it cost him
anything? Of course. The good Samaritan’s actions may have delayed
the business he was on and cost him a customer, but he put his faith in what is
good even though the injured man had nothing to return. In this act I see love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.
Love is so much better
and yet, so much harder than law. Is
that why rules are chosen over love? With law you know where you stand. With love, you may never know, for the good
you do may not come to fruition until you are long gone. Loving others will consume our lives just
like it consumed the life of Jesus. But
when you’re going to live forever, what does it matter? Or do we really believe that? There’s a saying I like: “He is no fool who loses what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.”
Words are so
insufficient to communicate the wonder that God did through Christ. God’s wonder continues in all the wonderful
things he wants to do through you and me.
That’s what grace is. Technically,
it’s defined as “unmerited favor,” and because of the unmerited favor granted
to those who put their faith in Christ, He reaches down and changes us through
our love for one another. There are
basically four types of love: eros, phileos, storge, and agape. Agape is the love that God has for us. It is the type of love that reaches out and
blesses even when the recipient has nothing to offer. This is agape love:
I
Corinthians 13:1-13 NKJV
1Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become
sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand
all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I
bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love
does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;
whether there are tongues, they
will cease; whether there is
knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we
prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then
that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a
man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror,
dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as
I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope,
love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
With agape love, God
raises the bar all the way to the top.
This is what God expects of his holy ones. It’s the way he loves us and it’s the way he
changes us. Since we are made in the
image of God, he has bestowed on us the ability to create and like him we can
create something out of nothing if we choose.
Creative goodness; that’s what love is and God wants to teach us and train
us into those who do it just like him.
Faith is required. He has written
an epic story to us revealing his plans.
He has saved us and given us a wonderful example in Christ Jesus our
Savior. He has given us a great teacher-coach-counselor
in the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt – He
has held nothing back - He loves us more than we can imagine.
All the things I have
written down here are just a very small trickle of the great river of truth and
love that is Jesus. I could go on and
on. I want to leave you with a story I
heard that is so convicting. There was
once a group of preachers that would get together every now and then and share
with one another the different things that were going on in each of their
parishes. One of the preachers had a bit
of a cranky attitude at times. At one of
their get-togethers, he was being grouchy and so one of the preachers that was
fixing the refreshments filled his tea glass all the way to the brim and then
as he served it to him, he bumped into him quite abruptly spilling the
tea. The grouchy preacher started to
huff and puff and as he did the offending preacher said, “You know, that’s just
the way it is in life. When you’re
bumped into whatever it is that fills you is what spills out.”
Father almighty, maker
of heaven and earth:
Set up your kingdom in
our midst.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son
of the living God:
Have mercy on me, a
sinner.
Holy Spirit, breath of
the living God:
Renew me and all the
world.
May the Lord of All be
with you and bless you
and may Jesus Christ our Lord come quickly.
Amen.
