Definition: Healing A Dog and Pony Show?

    Healing has been a sore spot among Christians for a very long time. I was among the weary skeptics who thought healing was just a dog and pony show to draw people into a church. I have found since that there is some truth in my skepticism, but like anything else, one bad apple doesn’t mean that the rest of them are bad--unless it is left unattended to, then it will eventually spread rot throughout the entire basket. Jesus warned us about such teachings, He used yeast as His example, how it takes such a little amount to work its way through the dough making it impure. (Lk 12:1-3 & Matt 16:12)

    The health and wealth messages preached by some have left a bad image toward something God has intended as a great and wonderful gift. To some, whenever the words faith and healing are said in the same sentence, it is usually dismissed as one of those tongue talking health and wealth fanatics.

   I, having been raised in a conservative church, was like that. I would visit health and wealth churches and couldn’t get past all the hype, glitter, performance, and racket.

One of my first experiences was when a pastor was teaching that if we are ill or in need it is because of our lack of faith. (I can find no Biblical foundation on which this teaching can stand.) Two weeks later this same pastor stood before the congregation asking for prayer because of an ear infection that had lasted for weeks, now it had moved to the head and throat. Naturally, red flags went up in me, stirring the question in my mind, “where is your faith? You teach and expect others to live a life of faith, condemning those who may be ill or in need. My question would be, where is your faith?” This is exactly what the Pharisees were all about, putting a burden on the people that seemed not to apply to them. Jesus called them hypocrites. (Lk 11:46, Lk 12:1)

There are times when we become ill because of our own foolishness. Ironically, as I write I am fighting a cold. Do I have a cold because my faith is lacking? (Just a little something I’ve been curious about--When does faith begin? And when does faith end? Does it begin when my faith shield is dropped? And is it over when my faith shield is raised?) I don’t think so, I have a cold because I went outside to build a snowman without being properly dressed, which has nothing to do with my faith, it has everything to do with foolish judgment. Maybe if I would have dressed appropriately I would not have gotten a cold, plain and simple.

There are also times when we can be hit with an illness by the enemy. Job 2:7 says “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.” Job did not ask for what happened to him, he was attacked by Satan. There are also times when we are ill because God desires to heal us for a sign to others or so God’s work might be displayed in our life. (John 9:3) We need to make sure that we turn to God and ask Him for our healing--only He knows the reason for our illness. He is the only one that knows exactly what we should do--and if we ask--He will answer!

Please remember we can’t let the yeast of the hypocrites dictate true faith. Let me encourage all the skeptics, healing is real and faith is real, don’t let the dog and pony shows diminish what God wants to do in and through us.

As with anything there are extremes, and Christians are not immune. (Prov. 30:8-9) “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Solomon knew the nature of a man’s heart and the importance of keeping everything in check with a balanced life. In this particular passage the subject is money, but it applies to every aspect of a Christian’s life. On one hand, there are churches that believe the Holy Spirit was given only to those who were physically present on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) and since those who were there are no longer with us there is no one to pass on the gifts by the laying on of hands. Peter addresses the crowd saying “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) I have yet to understand why apostles would be needed to pass on the gifts today when it clearly says “I” (meaning God) will pour out My (meaning God) Spirit on all ( you and I) people. It does not say I will pour out my spirit on the apostles to impart on the people. On the other hand, there are churches that believe there must be evidence of speaking in tongues to be saved. Both beliefs are extremes and Biblically unfounded without taking them out of context. (Ecclesiastes 7:18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.)

If we were to look at all the healings recorded in the gospels there were times when Jesus would heal in private (Mt 9:25; Mk 5:40; Lk 8:51) and other times when Jesus would heal before large crowds. (Mt 12: 9-14, 15) There were times when Jesus would tell the healed to go proclaim (Lk 17:14), there were times when Jesus said to tell no one (Mt 9:29-30), and there were times when Jesus would use the spoken word to command demons to submit. (Mark 1:25) Jesus had his reasons then and God has His reasons today.

   We read about the ten leprous men in Luke 17:11-19 who begged to be healed, Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests and they would be cleansed. Out of ten men only one came back to give thanks to God, and he was a foreigner. Jesus saw the man’s heart and told him “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” The other nine were physically healed (as far as we know, the bible doesn’t really tell us what happened to them) but the one man showing his thankfulness and faith was physically and spiritually healed.

   Putting faith in only signs and wonders or rejecting signs and wonders is a reflection on the depth of ones’ personal walk with the Lord. We need to be very careful about our approach to faith, there needs to be a balance not extremes. If balance is not a priority the possibility of deceiving spirits can carry us down a path that is not of God. We are called to test all things. (1 John 4:1, 1 Thes 5:20-21) Jesus taught balance, and truth, we never find Jesus going off on some hypocritical tangent like the religious leaders did. (Lk 13:10-16)

   The two most common beliefs that seem to rub people the wrong way, and have for many years, are the health and prosperity movements--“Health and Wealth” or “Name it and Claim it.” These movements have become primary reasons why so many believers are cautious about even the thought of healing outside of a physician’s care, and understandably so. What a shame, regardless of the means of healing it is still God who does the healing. At one end of the spectrum there are those who do not believe in physicians, hospitals, or medicine, etc. At the other end are those who put all their faith solely in physicians, hospitals, medicine, etc.

   Have we made it customary to attain the advise of a health care professional over the promise of God? God is the one who equipped the doctors, staff and hospitals, for His purpose, but we should turn to God first, seek His will and guidance, then be obedient. God may heal right where we are or He may have us go to a hospital, God may heal right away or He may prolong the healing for an opportune time that will bring glory to Himself and reach others, whatever the situation we must be cautious about limiting God with our limited understanding. (Luke 4:23-27--Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum’...”) If God sends us to the hospital for an illness the illness is the reason we go to the hospital, being obedient to God and doing God’s will while in the hospital is our purpose for going. I do feel better knowing that God is in control of my health--not doctors, despite what the doctors think.

    How about insurance? We’ve known families who could not afford insurance. They had to depend on God for everything including their health needs. As soon as they were employed and could get insurance through their work, reliance on God slumped and the medical experts became first. Any little sniffle or thought of an illness and they were at the doctor’s office. What made the change? How quickly we can find a substitute for God as long as it is tangible and does not require faith. As long as we can see, feel, smell, or hear we can easily justify our pension for replacing God. I have heard it said that “Faith only grows in the dark.” Faith is something you can’t see, feel, smell, or hear--faith is ask, seek and knock and it will be given unto you. (Mt 7:7; Lk 11:9)

   It may be God’s will for us to go through an illness or a disease, if not for our own good, maybe for the good of another. We are called to be light and salt. (Mt 5:13-14) If we spend time grumbling about being ill we may miss the purpose and the blessing God has for us. There is nothing wrong with turning to God saying, “I don’t know the purpose, nor do I like the illness, help me understand, give me the strength and understanding to persevere in doing your will not mine.”

My father-in-law, John went to the doctor for a routine visit when they found he had prostate cancer. After further X-rays the doctors found cancer over John’s entire body, asking John how he could even lay his head on a pillow to sleep with so much cancer in his head. With this devastating news John and his wife went home. My mother-in-law, having a simple faith, remembered the Bible saying “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14) They didn’t have elders in their church so they called a friend and the two of them laid hands on John and prayed. The Lord spoke to John saying, “I have taken care of all the cancer but you will have to go through the prostate surgery.” Making a long and wonderful testimony short, John went through the surgery and was put into a room with a man who had practically every kind of illness with very little time to live. (A side note; John likes his privacy but God had other plans.) After a visit from Jenifer and her mom the roommate remarked to John about the peace and joy shown through his family. The man asked John what the difference was, and John got to lead the man to Christ. John was not turning over rocks searching for a ministry moment, he wanted to recover and go home. But God had other plans and, thankfully, John was obedient. John could have focused on his needs or feelings rather than the desperate cry of the other man, but he would have missed out on a life changing testimony as well as leading that man to the Lord. John was cured of cancer and the roommate became a child of God. We shouldn’t try to under estimate God’s purpose for our lives, if we think shallow, shallow is where we’ll stay, and if we think only of ourselves, selfishness is a lonely place.

I was humbled when God healed me. I found myself questioning, which seems to be a lack of faith in itself. Although I didn’t want to question it still popped up in my mind. As I struggled with questioning God’s healing, the Lord reminded me that it was not the lack of my faith in Him but the lack of faith in myself. I knew what kind of life I lived before turning it over to the Lord and the devil had no problem reminding me of my past, planting seeds of guilt and unworthiness, producing doubt and despair, eventually leading to a rejection of God’s gift of healing. I knew I didn’t deserve the gift, but if I accepted the devil’s lie I would be putting Jesus on the cross again. I had to repent and receive the gift my Father so wanted to give me. At that moment I felt change, all my Father wanted to hear was “forgive me and help me receive.” Thank you Father! I have personally been healed of drugs, alcohol, dyslexia, and cut-off fingers--just to mention a few of the things God has healed in me.

Healing is not a dog and pony show--it is real. It comes in different ways and at different times, but we must not limit God because of someone else’s overzealous flamboyant ways. God desires to heal us, we should not let our legalistic tendencies get in the way.