Healing - Our Way or God's Way?

There are some very disturbing statistics floating around (they have been for years) that when surveyed, people who attend church are really no different than those who don't attend. The divorce rate among church-goers is just as high if not higher than those who do not attend church. Every other category is virtually identical as well, and when I first heard about this it got me thinking. Now, a good number of years later, I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on, and it ain't pretty.

If you walk into most any church in the United States on a Sunday morning, chances are you would find yourself gathered with a group of people who meet weekly. The church itself would more than likely be run like a corporation or small business. Members of the church would probably be encouraged to “serve” in some capacity, and garnering this service would be the main goal of the church. Therefore the members would be taught that their service to the church is their service to God and by serving they are fulfilling their calling or obligation to the Lord. Serious study of the Bible would be low on the list of priorities for the church (therefore for the members) if it were a priority at all.

Because of this distancing from the Word, the church has become identical to the world with the addition of Christian lingo being thrown around. In essence what we are seeing today in churches across the country is the world's way of doing church. Members are kept so busy in their service to the Lord that they have no time to nurture their relationship with Him (if they even realize that they are supposed to do that). They also have little or no time to strengthen their relationships with their family members. Everywhere we turn today people are running, running, running, and the church has become a great place to add to your busy-ness. Ironic since the Lord tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Now, about healing.

One of the consequences of this busy-ness and distance from the Word of God is that church-goers have certain ideas about prayer and healing and these ideas have helped to turn churches into God's “one-stop shopping centers.” I think I would be safe to say that for the majority of those who attend church Sunday morning is the pinnacle of their religious life. Many are of the mindset that by attending church on Sundays they have fulfilled their religious duty and they are good-to-go for the week. If someone has a problem that they would like God to take care of for them, all they need to do is ask for prayer at church and wait for God to answer their prayer. At this point God is turned into a holy bellhop. We come to the altar, ring the bell, and expect God to come out and do our bidding. If God doesn't perform for us immediately, we continue to ring the bell every Sunday with the expectation that if we are persistent enough God will heal us. Can He heal a person this way? You bet He can! I have been the recipient of healing in this way. But is this His preferred method? I'm not so sure.

First of all, Christians have the notion that God is somehow obligated to heal them of everything they ask healing for. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding that has been propagated in the church for quite some time. It also leads to condemnation being heaped on those who don't receive healing since it's obvious (to those “in the know”) that their faith must be lacking. It breaks my heart to think of how many people have been turned off of God because of these high-and-mighty Christians. God can and does heal, but does He always heal? No.

Christians today have been led to believe that we should be seeing more and more miraculous doings by God. Christians have been primed to look for miracles and they look at anything miraculous has naturally coming from God. Unfortunately that doesn't line up with Scripture and because of this Christians are setting themselves up for trouble. Big trouble.

“Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.” In this verse we are admonished “not to go beyond what is written.”

Miracles must line up with Scriptural doctrine and are used to affirm doctrine. Miracles cannot stand alone without doctrine. The problem is that most Christians don't have an understanding of what Scripture teaches, so they don't know that they shouldn't accept just anything that is presented as being from God. Does this mean that there are counterfeit miracles taking place in the church? Unfortunately, yes. Jesus Himself predicted that this would happen in Matthew 13, when He taught the parable of the mustard seed. The birds in that parable are agents of the enemy and they have made themselves at home in the church during this phase of God's Kingdom program. I don't know about you, but that really does sound like a very bad thing to me.

Another quick point about miracles is that they were not a common occurrence in Scripture. There were several periods of time where miracles were very prominent, one of these times being when Jesus was on earth. But miracles, by their very definition, are things that are not commonplace. If they were, what would be so miraculous about them?

I'll ask again - does God heal? My answer is an emphatic yes. But if we look at Jesus' ministry one thing that becomes clear is that Jesus wasn't a show-off. He wasn't looking for attention. In fact time and again He purposely faded into the background to avoid attention. I don't believe that He would have changed His ways between now and then. He wasn't a show-off then and I don't believe He's a show-off now. There is one who has always wanted attention and praise, and as we've seen he can counterfeit miracles. If there's something showy going on it probably needs to be scrutinized through the lens of Scripture to make certain that it truly is of God.

So, if we have turned the church into God's convenience store where we can go in and get what we want when we want it - everything on our terms so that our schedules are disrupted - then our goal is to have God perform for us and do what we want Him to do. It is then that we feel that God answers our prayers and truly cares for us. But what is God's goal for us? Spiritual maturity. And how do we get this?

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:5-11

Wait a minute. These verses speak of trials, hardship, discipline, and punishment. I don't know about you, but those things don't sound too fun to me. And you know, they don't sound terribly seeker friendly either. Maybe that's why these things are rarely taught in churches anymore. But now that I think of it, I don't recall anywhere in Scripture where the Lord says that once we put our trust in Jesus we're in for a fun time. In fact, God says just the opposite. In the Gospels and in many of the epistles we are told that we going to face trials and persecution. Then there's God's disciplining of us. The above verses from Hebrews says straight out that it will not be pleasant, but painful, and that later on it will produce righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. It seems that even in this we have a choice. We can embrace God's discipline and allow Him to teach us, or we can ignore it. But what does his discipline look like?

“That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

According to this verse weakness, sickness, and even death are ways that the Lord disciplines us. Discipline is moral training so that we can conform to the expectation of the Father. He does this for our own good if we are in sin and do not judge ourselves in order to turn away from that sin. If He disciplines us we will not be condemned with the world, but first we need to recognize that we are being disciplined and then allow God to teach and guide us so that we will indeed be trained by it. The problem is that there is very little teaching along these lines nowadays, which is leaving Christians in a fix. How? They are seeking a quick fix for their maladies without knowing whether or not God is trying to discipline them. How can they know if they are kept so busy “serving” in church and are not being taught that they have a need to study Scripture?

So what happens? My guess is that there are countless individuals who are receiving prayer for healing when in fact God is bringing discipline through these maladies. And I have a funny feeling that if that's the case those prayers aren't going to be answered in a quick, miraculous way.

Another thing that happens when Christians don't receive instant gratification from their petitions for healing is that the trot off to the doctor come Monday morning. It's as though they're thinking, “Well, I'll give God a chance to do this for me on Sunday, but if He doesn't I'll just go to the doctor and get it taken care of there.” Now don't get me wrong. Doctors have their place. But what if you're trying to doctor away God's discipline? The scary thing about ignoring God's discipline is that if you do you will progressively get worse, until ultimately God will bring death in order to keep His child out of serious sin issues. And because of the mentality we have in churches nowadays, if someone dies after receiving prayer for healing countless times, well, we tend to think that maybe God isn't quite as loving as we thought He was. And then we continue in our sins because we are free in Christ and we never experience the true riches that God has for us - the love and care that He wants to give to us as we strengthen our relationship with Him.

Healing isn't instances of God intervening in our lives so that we can go about our business until we need Him to rescue us again. Rather, healing is a lifelong process. When we can come to the place where we know that we are indeed broken, poor, blind, and naked, then we can turn to our Father in heaven and say to Him in all honesty, “Teach me your ways.” The ways of God rarely look anything like the ways of the world, but they are the very best ways. Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Following God and learning His ways can be painful and unpleasant. The narrow road can be very lonely. But in the end it is the only way to true healing and wholeness - it is the way of Life.


	Healing: Our Way or God's Way 5/08 There are some very disturbing statistics floating around (they have been for years) that when surveyed, people who attend church are really no different than those who don't attend. The divorce rate among church-goers is just as high if not higher than those who do not attend church. Every other category is virtually identical as well, and when I first heard about this it got me thinking. Now, a good number of years later, I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on, and it ain't pretty. If you walk into most any church in the United States on a Sunday morning, chances are you would find yourself gathered with a group of people who meet weekly. The church itself would more than likely be run like a corporation or small business. Members of the church would probably be encouraged to “serve” in some capacity, and garnering this service would be the main goal of the church. Therefore the members would be taught that their service to the church is their service to God and by serving they are fulfilling their calling or obligation to the Lord. Serious study of the Bible would be low on the list of priorities for the church (therefore for the members) if it were a priority at all. Because of this distancing from the Word, the church has become identical to the world with the addition of Christian lingo being thrown around. In essence what we are seeing today in churches across the country is the world's way of doing church. Members are kept so busy in their service to the Lord that they have no time to nurture their relationship with Him (if they even realize that they are supposed to do that). They also have little or no time to strengthen their relationships with their family members. Everywhere we turn today people are running, running, running, and the church has become a great place to add to your busy-ness. Ironic since the Lord tells us to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) Now, about healing. One of the consequences of this busy-ness and distance from the Word of God is that church-goers have certain ideas about prayer and healing and these ideas have helped to turn churches into God's “one-stop shopping centers.” I think I would be safe to say that for the majority of those who attend church Sunday morning is the pinnacle of their religious life. Many are of the mindset that by attending church on Sundays they have fulfilled their religious duty and they are good-to-go for the week. If someone has a problem that they would like God to take care of for them, all they need to do is ask for prayer at church and wait for God to answer their prayer. At this point God is turned into a holy bellhop. We come to the altar, ring the bell, and expect God to come out and do our bidding. If God doesn't perform for us immediately, we continue to ring the bell every Sunday with the expectation that if we are persistent enough God will heal us. Can He heal a person this way? You bet He can! I have been the recipient of healing in this way. But is this His preferred method? I'm not so sure. First of all, Christians have the notion that God is somehow obligated to heal them of everything they ask healing for. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding that has been propagated in the church for quite some time. It also leads to condemnation being heaped on those who don't receive healing since it's obvious (to those “in the know”) that their faith must be lacking. It breaks my heart to think of how many people have been turned off of God because of these high-and-mighty Christians. God can and does heal, but does He always heal? No. Christians today have been led to believe that we should be seeing more and more miraculous doings by God. Christians have been primed to look for miracles and they look at anything miraculous has naturally coming from God. Unfortunately that doesn't line up with Scripture and because of this Christians are setting themselves up for trouble. Big trouble. First Corinthians 4:6 says: “Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.” In this verse we are admonished “not to go beyond what is written.” We should not do anything nor look for anything miraculous to happen that is not written in God's Word. But why? Because satan can counterfeit miracles and signs. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:9: “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.” Miracles must line up with Scriptural doctrine and are used to affirm doctrine. Miracles cannot stand alone without doctrine. The problem is that most Christians don't have an understanding of what Scripture teaches, so they don't know that they shouldn't accept just anything that is presented as being from God. Does this mean that there are counterfeit miracles taking place in the church? Unfortunately, yes. Jesus Himself predicted that this would happen in Matthew 13, when He taught the parable of the mustard seed. The birds in that parable are agents of the enemy and they have made themselves at home in the church during this phase of God's Kingdom program. I don't know about you, but that really does sound like a very bad thing to me. Another quick point about miracles is that they were not a common occurrence in Scripture. There were several periods of time where miracles were very prominent, one of these times being when Jesus was on earth. But miracles, by their very definition, are things that are not commonplace. If they were, what would be so miraculous about them? I'll ask again - does God heal? My answer is an emphatic yes. But if we look at Jesus' ministry one thing that becomes clear is that Jesus wasn't a show-off. He wasn't looking for attention. In fact time and again He purposely faded into the background to avoid attention. I don't believe that He would have changed His ways between now and then. He wasn't a show-off then and I don't believe He's a show-off now. There is one who has always wanted attention and praise, and as we've seen he can counterfeit miracles. If there's something showy going on it probably needs to be scrutinized through the lens of Scripture to make certain that it truly is of God. So, if we have turned the church into God's convenience store where we can go in and get what we want when we want it - everything on our terms so that our schedules are disrupted - then our goal is to have God perform for us and do what we want Him to do. It is then that we feel that God answers our prayers and truly cares for us. But what is God's goal for us? Spiritual maturity. And how do we get this? “And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: `My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.' Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” - Hebrews 12:5-11 Wait a minute. These verses speak of trials, hardship, discipline, and punishment. I don't know about you, but those things don't sound too fun to me. And you know, they don't sound terribly seeker friendly either. Maybe that's why these things are rarely taught in churches anymore. But now that I think of it, I don't recall anywhere in Scripture where the Lord says that once we put our trust in Jesus we're in for a fun time. In fact, God says just the opposite. In the Gospels and in many of the epistles we are told that we going to face trials and persecution. Then there's God's disciplining of us. The above verses from Hebrews says straight out that it will not be pleasant, but painful, and that later on it will produce righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. It seems that even in this we have a choice. We can embrace God's discipline and allow Him to teach us, or we can ignore it. But what does his discipline look like? In I Corinthians 11:30-32 it says: “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” According to this verse weakness, sickness, and even death are ways that the Lord disciplines us. Discipline is moral training so that we can conform to the expectation of the Father. He does this for our own good if we are in sin and do not judge ourselves in order to turn away from that sin. If He disciplines us we will not be condemned with the world, but first we need to recognize that we are being disciplined and then allow God to teach and guide us so that we will indeed be trained by it. The problem is that there is very little teaching along these lines nowadays, which is leaving Christians in a fix. How? They are seeking a quick fix for their maladies without knowing whether or not God is trying to discipline them. How can they know if they are kept so busy “serving” in church and are not being taught that they have a need to study Scripture? So what happens? My guess is that there are countless individuals who are receiving prayer for healing when in fact God is bringing discipline through these maladies. And I have a funny feeling that if that's the case those prayers aren't going to be answered in a quick, miraculous way. Another thing that happens when Christians don't receive instant gratification from their petitions for healing is that the trot off to the doctor come Monday morning. It's as though they're thinking, “Well, I'll give God a chance to do this for me on Sunday, but if He doesn't I'll just go to the doctor and get it taken care of there.” Now don't get me wrong. Doctors have their place. But what if you're trying to doctor away God's discipline? The scary thing about ignoring God's discipline is that if you do you will progressively get worse, until ultimately God will bring death in order to keep His child out of serious sin issues. And because of the mentality we have in churches nowadays, if someone dies after receiving prayer for healing countless times, well, we tend to think that maybe God isn't quite as loving as we thought He was. And then we continue in our sins because we are free in Christ and we never experience the true riches that God has for us - the love and care that He wants to give to us as we strengthen our relationship with Him. Healing isn't instances of God intervening in our lives so that we can go about our business until we need Him to rescue us again. Rather, healing is a lifelong process. When we can come to the place where we know that we are indeed broken, poor, blind, and naked, then we can turn to our Father in heaven and say to Him in all honesty, “Teach me your ways.” The ways of God rarely look anything like the ways of the world, but they are the very best ways. Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Following God and learning His ways can be painful and unpleasant. The narrow road can be very lonely. But in the end it is the only way to true healing and wholeness - it is the way of Life. Back to Under The Shadow of His Wing Back to Living Waters Homeschool