Timonides, the Greek philosopher and friend of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, is reputed to have said, at least in the film version of 'The Fall of the Roman Empire', "I am a teacher, and as a teacher, I know that when I have tried to teach the same lesson a hundred times and the student still doesn't understand, there is probably something wrong with the lesson or with the teacher."
For several months I have been teaching on divine healing, we have explored the subject in the Word of God at length; God's will to heal, healing in redemption according to Isaiah 53 Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our pains in the same way that He bore our sins and carried our iniquities; the different ways of praying for the sick. And it was time to see if the lesson was understood.
In matters of healing, to test understanding, there is no need for theory; it is demonstrated by practice. If the lesson has been understood, it is because both sides receive their healing, but even more so it is because both sides have begun to pray for the sick; it is because they have begun to consider illness as abnormal, and they have begun to go towards others, because that is the goal. 'Go…. And do….'.
I was touched by the testimonies of healing and recovery. And the great thing is, these aren't people I went to pray for in person, so I plead not guilty. The guilty ones, well, Christians without ministerial portfolios who grasped the word of God, who simply understood who they were, who knew that they were the hands of God on earth and the ones through whom God wants to work today; they believed Mark 16 – they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. They laid hands on the sick and saw the results.
This is sobering. They put into practice the word they heard and it changed other people's lives and showed the goodness of God. And what if what they had heard was that God no longer heals today or that He only heals through a few specially chosen individuals, or that healing is random? I think they would not have stepped forward in faith to pray for the sick, and these people would still be without hope.
What we teach and what we believe matters. Too often, the truth we espouse is simply what suits us, a matter of convenience, which prevents us from asking ourselves difficult questions, which allows us to move in certain circles and be well-regarded by certain people. (The first Pentecostals experienced disdain and ostracism from traditional churches until the charismatic movement engulfed these churches.)
Any previously neglected biblical truth is first embraced by a bold and determined minority against all odds, until it permeates the entire church. Healing is one of them. It requires faith, commitment, prayer, and overflowing compassion, which, unfortunately, we too often lack. It is easier to deny it and join the ranks of those eminently respectable people who ponder endlessly without ever getting their hands dirty in the arena of spiritual battle to free the captives. And healing is a battle, as much as the salvation of souls.
We must keep in mind that we are each responsible for the truth entrusted to us, responsible for what we do with it. Jesus warned us about how we hear God's word, for we will be held accountable for everything we hear. Likewise, we are responsible for what we teach. This is why the Bible says that those who teach will be judged more severely than those who do not. What we teach can literally mean the difference between life and death for someone. This is sobering.
Shalom!
