Towards a theology of healing

Tonight I’ve read some helpful insights from Tom Smail on the importance of a healthy theology for healing. Here are a few snipits.

The ministry of healing has often suffered from what I might call Pentecostal compartmentalism. This ministry is based on a few biblical verses often treated in isolation and out of the canonical contest of the whole gospel revelation of which they are part. They then become pretexts for the construction of precisely these manipulative techniques that sees healing as something that can be achieved on the fulfilment of certain conditions by the healer and the healed, usually to do with faith, rather than as a gratuitous gift of grace to be sought of God and to be granted as and when he chooses in the freedom of his love.

When our concern for healing is thus seen as a thing in itself and is isolated from our commitment to the gospel and to the God of the gospel, the way lies open to a dangerous reversal in which first of all Christ is valued as the means to physical healing and then, quite consistently rejected when that physical healing is not given, so that it may then be sought from some other source in some other way.

Smail has some intersting insights that I had not thought of before. For example, concerning James 5:14 Smail writes on the importance of healing within the local church context:

Every congregation that is open to the healing ministry sooner or later has to face the situation when one of its most beloved and respected members falls terminally ill. All the resources of prayer and faith are summoned and put into operation; prophecies or assurances of healing may be given but in spite of it all the person dies and the theological questions that we have been discussing become existential and agonising. Then the whole relationship of the community to God and his promises comes into question in a way that, in the mercy of God, will in the end be deepening rather than destructive. This will mean that the ministry of healing will be exercised not in a context of triumphalist fantasy but where people face together things as they really are, and look to whole gospel of Christ, incarnate crucified and risen, if not to answer them, at any rate to cope with them. For all these reasons, here as in many other contexts, local is best.

Smail also writes:

As cure-all wonder drugs that were going to banish sickness from the world appeared one after the other, death was no longer seen not as the passage to fulfilment to be prepared for, as in classical Christian teaching and practice, but as defeat and failure to be dreaded and avoided. When that culture took over in Christian circles the cure of souls became the cure of bodies and a theology of healing was pursued one-sidedly without a balancing theology of suffering and death.

You can read the whole article here. I don’t agree with everything Smail says, but there is gold to be taken.

Dark nights of the soul

Have you ever had dark nights of the soul? Times when you just felt God had given up on you and turned his face away? I have. And I am comforted by the fact that the psalmist did to. Psalm 88 says -

1 LORD, you are the God who saves me;
day and night I cry out to you.

2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

3 I am overwhelmed with troubles
and my life draws near to death.

4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like one without strength.

5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.

6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.

7 Your wrath lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. ^[d]

8 You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;

9 my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.

10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction ^[e]?

12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

13 But I cry to you for help, LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14 Why, LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?

15 From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.

17 All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.

18 You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.

This is one of a few psalms (if not the only one) where the psalmist stays in a spiritual depressed tone throughout all the passage, rather than turning to praise the LORD at the end or during. Have you ever felt that way?

Search out other passages using BibleGateway.com.

 

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Should we expect manifestations of the Holy Spirit today?

Thankfully, it is rare to find many followers of Jesus who would claim that the Holy Spirit isn’t alive and active today. But… how is He active? To get a handle on this let’s have a look at what the bible has to say regarding the role of ‘signs and wonders’ and how they might be connected with evangelism. Did those in New Testament times expect encounters with a Spirit of power? Has the role of the Holy Spirit within evangelism and mission changed since the early church? Is there any evidence of this today?

When we examine the ‘preaching of the Word’ in the New Testament, we see that ‘proclaiming Christ’, involved not only preaching but also other ministry, including healing and deliverance. John Wimber identified a pattern of ministry conducted by Christ and later followed by the apostles being that of:

(1) Proclamation – preaching repentance and the good news of the Kingdom

(2) Demonstration – healings, casting out of demons, raisings from the dead

Wimber refers to this pattern as ‘power evangelism’, “evangelism which is preceded and undergirded by supernatural demonstrations of God’s presence” (a). Manifestations of the Holy Spirit of a powerful nature seemed to be common place, especially when combined with the message of the gospel, giving authority to the message that was spoken (Mk 1:27, Lk 4:36) and drawing attention to it. “It is for the most part, a manifestation of the power of God that will ultimately attract unbelievers to Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord” (b). The question then is – did those in such times expect encounters with the Spirit in a powerful way?

The dictionary defines anticipation as; to expect, realize beforehand or foresee. When surveying the Gospels it would seem that those who showed anticipation, in the form of faith, experienced the Spirits power.(Mk 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Lk 5:20; 8:48) The response to Jesus’ healing ministry was so great that everywhere he went crowds of people followed him (Mat 13:2; 15:30; 19:2; Mk 10: 1; Lk 14:25). The Apostles, following Jesus example, experienced similar expectations from the people. This anticipation was no better explained than in Act 5:15-16, which describes the number of people who came to receive healing. The Apostles shared this anticipation in response to what Jesus had taught them; ‘Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these…’ (John 14:11, 12). In Acts ‘signs and wonders’ performed through the apostles accompany a majority of the occasions when the gospel is preached. Acts 2 records the filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost followed by Peter’s address to the crowd, resulting in 3000 people added to their number. Acts 3 records the healing of a crippled beggar in Solomon’s Portico, followed by an evangelistic message: “With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Act 4:33) Again, Acts 5:12,14,15 records the many signs and wonders done amongst the people through the apostles, seeing “more than ever” believers being added to the Lord. Faith is again highlighted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1 and 5. Whether by those who received the Spirit’s powerful blessing or by those whom the Spirit worked through, a great anticipation of the Holy Spirit’s power was present.

It should be noted that the Spirit did not always manifest in such forms as ‘signs and wonders’. An example of this would be Paul’s message to the Areopagus in Acts 17:16-34 where the Spirit’s power is not recorded, yet some still believed. Acts 17:11-12 records a similar event. Needless to say, the openness of Paul to the Spirit’s power can not be questioned, given the many examples of how the Spirit used Paul.

The New Testament clearly records the anticipation combined with faith of the Spirit’s power. There can be no question whether the combination of ‘signs and wonders’ with the preaching of God’s Word was effective. The debate therefore turns to understanding whether the role of signs and wonders since the early church has changed or not. There seems to be a great division on this topic amongst Christians today. Many have attempted to provide evidence from scripture to suggest that the role of the Holy Spirit has changed. Some believe the purpose of the sign gifts was to establish God’s authority – that the sign gift was a visible demonstration that what they spoke was the Word of God. Yet they would also says that sign gifts are of no relevance today since we have the Word of God in the form of the Bible, claiming there is no higher authority than His Word. This explanation is not completely satisfying as was not scripture handed down verbally from generation to generation in early New Testament times. Therefore it would be conceivable to think the stories of Jesus would have been shared as part of the gospel message by the Apostles and yet it was evident that this was not enough. The Holy Spirit still had an awesome part to play.

Here is some more biblical support to the idea the Holy Spirit’s power is equally available today. This would include but not be limited to:

(1) The Great Commission in Mark 16: 15-18 (Matt 28:18-20; John 20:21-23) where manifestations of the Holy Spirit are mentioned

(2) Peter at the day of Pentecost addresses the crowd saying repent, believe and receive ‘the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Act 2:38-39).

What then of the Spirit’s power in evangelism today? The experience of church growth within third-world countries is evidence to the manifestation of the Spirit’s power, especailly within evangelistic mission today, recording explosive growth of multitudes coming to Christ. It would seem those in third-world countries have a heightened awareness of the spiritual realm, an anticipation, especially given the exposure to demonic worship and witchcraft. Some have questioned why then this is not experienced within western society? “In western culture, because of the influence of materialism and rationalism, many people do not believe in a spirit world, or if they do, they do not believe or live as though the spirit world can affect the material world” (c). In other words their ‘world view’ simply does not allow for belief in such things.

It was not too long ago that my own world view was limited by my own experience. yet over the past 4 years God has openned my eyes to the amazing work of his Spirit to bring about transformation in people’s lives in what can only be described as supernatural events.

Jesus brought new hope and light to the people to whom He ministered”, opening their eyes to His Kingdom… and He still does the same today. When we reflect upon the Spirit’s power within evangelism of the New Testament and weigh up the experience of today’s church in the third world amd even our own, it becomes clear that we should anticipate or at least be open to manifestations of the Spirit. In faith, we should expect God to work through powerful ways even if this does not always occur. “It is not so much a matter of what we, ourselves, think is necessary for discipling. What matters is what God has planned and what he desires of us. As long as we have faith in Jesus and His Word and are totally available to Him as His obedient servants – that is what really counts” (e).

 

 

(a) (c)Wimber J, 1985, “Power Evangelism”, Hodder and Stoughton, Kent, London

(b) Wagner C P, 1987, “Spiritual Power & Church Growth”, Hodder and Stoughton, London

(d) Kraft C H, 1979, “Christianity in Culture”, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New Yor

(e) Norling A, 1994, “Jesus, The Baptiser with the Holy Spirit”, Alken Press, Australia

The Journey Begins

I’m wondering whether you might journey with me in understanding more fully the topic of healing in the name of the Lord Jesus. I wonder if you are like me? When I read the exciting stories of healing in the scriptures my heart is set alight! This is not the work of a distant being who has no concern for what they have created but rather the fingerprints of a loving and compassionate Father who longs to care for His children and see them come into a deeper and intimate realtionship with Him.

Can it be that such miracles occur today? If so, how… and why don’t we see much of it happening, especially in places like Sydney (Australia)?

Nicole Nordeman wrote a song called ‘Live’. The lyrics go something like this:

Did you come that we might just survive?
Did you come so we could just get by?
Did you walk among us
So we might merely limp along beside?

I was bound, I have been set free
But I have settled for apathy
Did you come to make me new
And know I’d crawl right back into the skin you found me in?

You make me want to live
You make me want to live
You came to shake us
And to wake us up to something more
Than we’d always settled for
And you make me want to live

I can not help think that many followers of Jesus have settled for apathy. I reckon I’m one of them. We greatly desire the powerful work of God in our lives, but for some reason don’t expect it to happen. I see this in the lives of theological students at the college I currently attend. To talk of God’s healing power working supernaturally generates awe and wonder, but this soon dissipates as they reflect on their own experiences. Why does it have to be this way?

Come with me on a journey of discovery to find out whether there truly is more to the life offered by Jesus and how we might begin to walk freely in it.