When we give supplement, dietary and health advice, we are no longer acting as ambassadors of Christ. We stop walking in Kingdom knowledge and in the power of Holy Spirit and instead we are spreading natural knowledge, wisdom of men and associating that information with the Word of God. Yet Jesus never ministered healing to someone by telling them to take an herb, go on a diet or to take a supplement and he had full Kingdom knowledge and power of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately people have twisted the meanings of certain scriptures to say that God wants people to use herbs and supplements as another method for his healing power. Yet this is not seen anywhere within Jesus' ministry.
Herbal remedies or natural health techniques were not demonstrated by Jesus and we know that He is the perfect image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Even the Disciples who learned directly from Jesus never used herbs to heal any person in the multitudes. It was ALWAYS through prayer and through demonstrations of power that healing happened.
If a person is able to take supplements or herbs and they feel better, then we can Praise God and be Thankful for it. However (and this is where I disagree with a lot of ministers) we also need to accept that this is worldly knowledge and not spiritual knowledge. Doctors and all medical care is included into this as well. It's human and scientific knowledge that has been learned through the advancement of science, medicine and biological studies. We can be thankful for many great things in our day and age. Thank goodness for running water, personal hygiene, antibiotics and emergency doctor care. All of these save many lives today!
However, you do not need to be a Spirit-filled Christian in order to learn about or learn how to understand the way herbs, supplements or a medicine "work" in the body. It is not revealed to us through God's Spirit, so therefore it is not Kingdom knowledge and has no place in a ministry setting. In a ministry setting you are representing Christ and Christ alone.
Am I saying we should condemn people who are using natural supplements or are currently going to a doctor? No of course not! I've been to over 50 doctors, used countless supplements and went to many naturopathic and natural minded doctors. I still see doctors and use antibiotics and other things when needed.
We show love and grace to everyone:
...those who have been helped by doctors.
...those who have been helped by natural medicine.
...those who were hurt by doctors.
...those who were hurt by naturopaths or natural medicine.
...those who have done both, but are still sick and want healed!
Regardless of which path a person has come from or is currently on, we show them love and grace! When they are ready to accept Jesus as healer and they come for prayer, we show them love and grace! However, within the walls of a church or within a prayer, ministry setting we should never be pushing someone down any other path outside of Jesus.
If someone comes to you and is in immediate need of medical attention, then you can pray for them as you take them to the hospital or call an ambulance.
I'm not an ambassador of doctors. I'm not an ambassador of natural health. I'm an ambassador of Christ and that's what you are going to get from me! If you want natural knowledge or wisdom of men, then you have come to the wrong place. ;) You can get that kind of wisdom anywhere. How many churches can you go into and see a demonstration of Jesus as healer? ...Not many.
We need to be able to look at people with eyes of love no matter what path they have come from. That's why it's so important for the church to stop identifying with all of these other healing methods.
If we accept doctors and natural medicine as being an extension of what Jesus did, then we may have a hard time ministering to those who were either harmed by or not helped by those methods. We may take offense at the person and may not even believe them, let alone have faith and compassion to pray for them. Sadly I have seen what happens when a minister takes offense when a supplement they recommended actually hurt someone!
1 Corinthians 2:11-14 [Emphasis mine]
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
My heart cry is that the church doesn't give in to the ways of the world. We need to heed Paul's words in this chapter of 1 Corinthians and put our faith in Jesus for healing.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Amen!
2 comments:
Hey Dana. My name is John, I live in Germany and have lost my friend two years ago to heart failure. He was only 21. He actually had a genetic disfunction which is called HOCM. Long story short, the reason i am writing you is because one year after this happend, i became very sick, and was lying in bed with fever for about 2 weeks. After that i noticed my heart racing like crazy when i got up. I felt real bad dizziness and just couldn't do anything. I freaked out and went to the cardiologist,who in turn told me i was having anxiety. The problem is, my heart rate didn't come down ever since. I had a great resting heartrate because i was an athlete, but once i get up it rockets up to 130, sometimes even higher. I feel very anxious and life has become a living hell. You know all about it. But here's the reason i write to you :D : I used to swim alot, but since i didn't trsut my body i haven't done any exercise ever since my heart racing episodes , but i remeber feeling great in the pool, especially under water. And i did some research on the topic. There is something called the mamalian diving reflex, it is an autonomic reaction of the body,when diving under water,it slows your heart rate and presses your blood into the lungs and and heart. So i took a deep breath and went back into the pool, in the beginning my heart was 130 just standing in the water, once i went under it went straight down to 70, wich was like heaven for me. I started diving laps and it worked. My heart dodn't go over 120 during pretty straining execise. The amazing thing though was once i got out of the water my heart rate was fine. It stayed below 100 fpr at least 4 houres. I was so relieved i wanted to cry out. I am doing this for only one week now and it works. I feel i have found the ticket out of this misery. I did some more research and found that diving actually is the best execise against orthostatic disfunction, because the vasal pressure is much higher. I cannot promise anything, all i can say it worked for me for now today was my first day without anxiety and heartracing. It was the first day i could walk up the stairs without really having troubble. This text already is to long :D If you want i can update you on my progress and how i am doing it, also sry for spelling errors :D though my name is american, i am german. Greetings and like we say in germany keep your head held high
I'm very glad you are doing much better! Unfortunately what works for one person may not work for another, so I can't really push any single treatment, exercise. Swimming for me is absolutely awful, so we are all different. Take care!
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