As the Church, we are supposed to be the body of Christ. As individuals, we are supposed to be followers of Christ. So, in both of these cases, we must be like Jesus. We're all for that, but there is something we forget. We say to love like Him, to forgive like Him, to sacrifice like Him, to serve like Him, and to teach like Him, but whatever happened to healing like Him?
"Wait a moment," you say, "I didn't think you were Pentecostal or Charismatic?" In that you are correct. I don't necessarily mean healing in miracles. I believe that gift, like the other supernatural ones present at the establishment of the New Covenant, existed to validate the Gospel before the Scriptures were completed. I believe that now only very few have the gift of supernatural healing, and the vast majority, if not all of them, are missionaries to lands where the Scriptures cannot be communicated. So, then, what am I talking about? I want us to be healers, just as Jesus is the Healer. How do we do that without miracles? Let's look back in time.
There have been two superb periods for the Church since its inception. The first was during the early Church, from Christ's ascension to Christianity's endorsement under Emperor Constantine. During this time, there were many supernatural healings. This dwindled after the Scriptures were completed. Unfortunately, the Church didn't have much of a chance to come up with new ways to be healers before the Roman Empire and subsequently the Roman Catholic Church polluted Christianity beyond recognition. The next great period, then, was that of Protestantism, from the Reformation to the last Great Awakening. During this period, the Church slowly came to exercise healing in a new way. Its most brilliant innovation was the founding of hospitals. Most history books don't mention this, but the hospital was invented by the Church. The creation of the hospital was a huge step in the direction of healing like Jesus. With the hospital came Christian doctors. The era of Christian healing had begun.
For some reason, the Church gave up on this sometime after the Civil War. It just stopped begin a healer. Christian hospitals stopped popping up, and many existing hospitals lost their Christian foundation. Even more complex things like Christian medical research facilities lost their chance to be. It continues like this to this day.
What, then, do I suggest? There are three specific things I believe that we can both as the Church and as individuals to play the role of healer like Jesus.
- Found Christian hospitals, medical centers, and research facilities (Church) – This is probably the most significant and effective thing we can do, even though it also seems to be the least commonly considered. Many churches can't afford to do this. However, there are also many churches which have spent more on their sanctuaries than it would cost to found a medical center. There are associations which could afford to build hospitals but instead spend money on concerts. Let me say this: Jesus never spent any part of His ministry trying to entertain people or give them a beautiful place to meet. He spent a huge portion of His ministry healing people.
- Become doctors, nurses, and pediatricians (Individuals) – This is a very good way to act as Jesus the Healer. However, it's not for everyone. Thankfully, this effective means is probably the most common one today. Unfortunately, few Christian doctors, nurses, and pediatricians associate their work enough with their faith for it to be a ministry. To them, it's just a job, or maybe a passion. But it's not an outreach. That can be fixed by a desire to serve God in everything.
- Help those who can't afford medical care acquire it (Church and individuals) – This can be done just as effectively by Christian individuals, entire churches, and associations of churches. Hundreds of thousands of people can't afford quality health care. Sadly, the only people who usually seem to care are the socialist Demoncrats (that was actually a typo, but I thought it was too funny to erase) who support Obamacare as the solution (no offense intended if you're a Democrat who's not a socialist and doesn't support Obamacare). Now, today is not the day for me to explain why socialist universal healthcare is a terrible, horrible, worthless, destructive, despicable system. My point is that we should care more than the socialists should. We, Christians, should be putting money together to help those who can't afford the care they need. Few of us can afford to help someone with even an entire emergency room visit, but together we could put millions to the cause of healing in the name of Christ. I don't intend to lay out an actual system to use, but there is a way, and it should be done.
Finally, we should remember that no amount of healing is any good without the Gospel. What good is it if we heal the body and not the soul? A healthy body won't be any less painful in Hell. No matter what we do in trying to heal like Jesus, we must remember that the most important thing Jesus did while healing was present Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, without whom no one can come to the Father. So, when we go out to heal, display more than anything the true Healer. He is more sweet and pleasant than even the highest health.