Caring For The Sick…
Submitted by Andy on August 17 2000 13:36:19
In reply to The Problem With Our Churches submitted by Chris on August 16 2000 12:37:01
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Have you ever stopped to consider what a church is actually all about? A church is supposed to be like a hospital. How many ministers actually want to cure the sick? If people come into a church, it is because they are sick, and looking for healing for their souls. Yet many ministers act as though their church should be more like a retirement home. If somebody "sick" comes in, they are rejected if they show any sign of "illness". Many church members don't want to witness the trauma associated with injury, so instead of treating those who come to the "emergency room", they kick them out, and hope that they never return. How many wounded souls have died because they weren't allowed to come into the emergency room, or carried the wrong "insurance card" that the hospital staff refused to accept? What if you built a beautiful big hospital with all the latest equipment and technological advances, and then wouldn't allow any patients in, because you didn't want to use the equipment, and just left it to be displayed like a fancy piece of furniture? What if you had a staff who didn't want to bother treating any patients, or didn't know what to do for them, because they were waiting for doctor's orders, but still expected to collect their paycheck at the end of the week? It's time for the hospital to go to work, and do what it was intended to do… and that is save lives. How would it look, if someone were to come to the emergency room, and instead of treating their injuries, the doctors and nurses were to stand around and criticize the patients for being stupid enough to get hurt, instead of treating their injuries? Or what if they told the patients, "Well, you're in such bad shape, that you might as well leave… there's nothing we can do for you here."? Is that what it's all about? I don't think so. I am sure we have seen nurses and doctors who have forgotten what their mission was all about, and don't want to be bothered with complaining patients, and I am just as certain there are times when all of us lose sight of what being a real Christian is all about. We lose patience with people when we don't see them advancing in the church as fast as we think they ought to, or ask for too much, and contribute too little. Be careful! None of us know what kind of illness is working in us. There are things in each and every one of us that need treatment. There is an illness working in you, right now, that you have no idea is there, until some situation will come along some day, some how and will bring it to the surface, and you will be the one who needs treatment. It's all very nice for a hospital administrator to be able to say, "Look what a grand place we have, here; you won't find a sick person here. Can you see how smoothly everything is running?" That's not what it's all about, folks… A church is for sick people… and the sicker they are, the more they need help. Let's have compassion for the lost, sick and dying, and put our hospital to work… Let's do it the way the Great Physician taught us. Andy |
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