I believe God heals today.
No question.
I also believe there’s a jumble of interesting ideas about this topic floating around my town (and probably yours too). Sometimes pastors find themselves in the crossfire of those ideas, and as leaders, it can be tricky to navigate.
There's a reason for the contention around theories of healing because unless I'm missing something, there’s some ambiguity in Scripture around the subject. You'll find ironies and dichotomies that (in my opinion) make it hard to come up with definitive statements (ie. God always desires to heal, or healing is for eternity and not this lifetime). Did God leave it this way intentionally?
I think he did.
Nothing in the Christian life can be accomplished without him (John 15), and it appears like he’s hard-wired the supernatural this way too. So basically, no formulas.
Here are some things I've observed, both in Scripture and in my own experience.
1. God does heal people today.
He’s been doing so from time immemorial.
I experienced this powerfully in my own life (again) just a couple weeks ago. I could hardly walk for pain in my foot, which had persisted for about four days. On day four, just before our Christmas Eve gathering, my son-in-law Logan asks if he can pray for me. Of course I can't say, "No!" He prays twice (we teach persevering in prayer, so more than once and up to three times if needed), and after the second prayer - the pain decreased dramatically! By that evening, I was walking comfortably. By Christmas Day, the pain (and thus the limp) were completely gone!!
Yes!
As a sidetone: I’m convinced the primary reason we don’t see a buttload more miracles is that we simply don’t ask Jesus (Matthew 7:7 is better rendered "keep on asking, and you will receive" instead of "ask and you will receive").
2. Healing in this life doesn’t always happen as we hoped or expected.
Every honest Christian must admit this. We don’t have to know why. It’s beyond our pay-grade. Even when you do everything “right” (ie. confess sin, have faith, call the elders to pray, etc. etc.), miracles are sometimes hard to come by.
Speaking of faith - what will really cook your noodle is this: it takes a tremendous amount of confidence in Jesus to face a terminal diagnosis and declare, “I’m not afraid and trust God through all things - even death.” I’ve watched dear friends battle through cancer, all the while believing God could heal them, yet trusting him no matter the outcome, and then passing away, sometimes in prolonged and painful ways.
There’s nothing artificial about that kind of faith. It’s the real deal.
3. God allows suffering (including sickness).
I don't even like saying it. It sucks.
But at the same time, how do you read the book of Job and come up with any other conclusion?! You'd have to do some fancy footwork with Scripture, that's for sure. And for a New Testament example of a very similar situation, see Luke 22:31, where Jesus told Peter that Satan has requested to sift him like wheat (same plot line as Job).
And then he offers to pray for Peter, that he'll make it through okay.
So, yeah.
Some people use Paul’s thorn in the flesh as an example of God allowing sickness, but I think it’s a poor example. For one, we don’t know for certain what this idiom referred to. And secondly, if you have a sliver and ask God to heal you, I’m pretty sure he’s going to expect you to pull it out yourself? I want to suggest there are two kinds of pain in the body: 1) the kind you can do nothing about and thus should rightly seek help through both medicine and prayer, and 2) the kind you can do something about and should do something about - pull the thorn out. And this second category certainly accounts for many first-world health issues.
4. Never build your theology around your experience.
Egads.
When it comes to healing, many of us are guilty as charged. I’m not sure if I haven’t built ideas about God around my own story (as opposed to The Story). It's hard not to when you watch massive prayer requests go unanswered.
Build your theology on Scripture - to the best of your ability, keeping in mind that you are interpreting Scripture. What this means is that ALL of us finite humans - including John MacArthur and Hank Hanegraaff- are going to get a few surprises when we see Jesus face to face and he straightens out our theology (we see in part, 1 Corinthians 13:12).
On this point, I appreciate the tenacity of churches like Bethel who - in the face of much opposition, criticism, and disappointment around healing - hold fast to what they see in the Bible as absolute (whether you agree with them or not). And interestingly, most rebuttals to their theology around healing (that I’ve seen) circle back to a person’s personal experience (often as not, they haven't received healing for an ailment) and I must add, pulling statements or sounds bites from Bethel's pastors out of context (otherwise known as "fake news").
5. Taste…and see.
This is a crazy invitation to experiment, found in Psalm 34:8. Try something on, and see what it’s like to be in those shoes. Why not the experience of healing?
Most critics of healing (and of movements/churches that emphasize it) are of the variety called "non-tasters". They're the awkward dude avoiding the tasting booths at Costco, sticking to the important task at hand - shopping.
Relax. You can actually be a critic and still be open to tasting. I have been a critic of healing! I have been skeptical of healing stories. I'm normal like you :). But to my credit, I’ve also always been willing to "taste and see" (of course, I would not do this if something clearly violated Scripture). And guess what? I more often than not discover something good. Do I agree with everything around the idea and practice of healing in the church today? No, of course not! But do I sense God at work? Absolutely. Absolutely. And in beautiful ways that I can only dream about in my church (it’s coming!).
6. Go and learn.
This was Jesus' commandment to his disciples (Matthew 9:13), and it’s genius. Don’t sit back and just fill your head with facts and talk yourself out of action. Get out there and give it a go. Learn on the fly.
That’s how it works with this whole healing-thing. So myself and a few other leaders in Evangel are going to Livingston, Zambia, this February to be apart of an outreach. We'll be partnering with a good friend of mine, Louw Ronquest, from Spirit Ablaze Ministries. If stories can be believed (and I know they can), we will experience and be apart of:
seeing hundreds of people give their lives to Jesus
witnessing hundreds of miracles of healing from blind eyes opened to the lame walking (often the catalyst for a person's decision to surrender their life to Jesus)
seeing the dead raised to life. Louw (a fiery little South African, in case you were wondering) has seen everything as it pertains to healing, including resurrection.
I'm stoked and can't wait to do this. It'll be a brand new experience for me, like tasting that new flavour of Lindt's Chocolate at Costco. Bring it.
Anyway, just a little processing. Not done yet. Haven’t arrived. Only a work in progress trying to figure out what it looks like when the Lord of All (Jesus) encounters my life in the here and now.
What are your thoughts on healing and the plethora of ideas floating around the church these days? I'd love to hear from you. Post below!
Comments