Sickness, and death for that matter, have become something of a deep fear for many these days. I live in Southeast Asia and getting sick is wildly misunderstood as well as poorly treated. Unfortunately, this is exacerbated by poor education levels and severe poverty. The poorest communities are often uneducated about hygiene, medicine, and sickness in general. As a result they treat every runny nose and cough with extreme regimens of medicine.
A dear friend of mine recently had a cold. Nothing serious. Some coughing, a runny nose and a minor headache. In response he went to what he called “the doctor”, later learned to be the pharmacy. Upon getting there the “pharmacist” (in quotation marks because the person did not go to school nor study biology, medicine or perhaps have any post-secondary education).
This “pharmacist” gave a variety of pills:
1 – Antibiotics which were typically prescribed for stomach problems.
2 – Rheumatoid arthritis medicine.
3 – Medicine for menstrual cramping.
Where I live, antibiotics are prescribed without a doctor visit and without proper evaluation of symptoms, certainly they can’t be prescribed appropriately seeing as pharmacist operators don’t usually go to school for medicine or pharmacy. Many times, pharmacies are inherited from parents and their children simply throw on the white coat and start handing out pills.
Given the events of the past 3 years an intense fear is now living among the general populace and sickness has become somewhat of a topic of conversation among many, including those of faith. Christianity has engaged with this and historically always has. Christians are notorious for being on the front lines of pandemics and risking their lives for the welfare of others.
However, many in the Christian church are teaching an absolute, and I argue objectively, evil doctrine about sickness.
Before the “big C” of 2020 arrived in full swing, a colleague of mine said, “don’t be afraid, we are Christian and work for a Christian ministry, therefore, God promises we will not be sick.”
My jaw dropped and then I proceeded to diligently deconstruct that belief almost immediately. But where did that come from I thought? Negligence? Ignorance? Bad teaching? Abusive teaching? I can’t say where he began to believe this, but what I do know is that he has most certainly repeated it, including to children. The same children who then got sick in the following months, 1 of which was hospitalized and nearly died due to having 1 lung and a damaged heart. The kids were then under the impression they were sick because they were behaving badly, not believing correctly, or did something wrong. God must hate them they thought!
It can be spiritually abusive to teach such false doctrines. Even if it is unintentional the consequences can be damaging. The kids in our care are not forced or coerced into faith and nor do they receive special treatment for professing a faith in Christ or participating in spiritual activities. In fact, the ones who declare a faith in Christ are asked to serve those who do not profess a faith in Christ. In the spirit of Philippians 2, Christ humbled himself to us and washed our feet, died for us, cared for us.
A false hope generated by incorrect teaching may appear to be harmless, but, can lead many to believe that if they were sick then they are not a Christian or they were acting in rebellion which meant that God was angry with them.
I will say this. I don’t believe God wants us to be sick in that He doesn’t enjoy it and it doesn’t bring Him a sense of pleasure, however, He does have a history of at least allowing it for correction and our benefit. Furthermore, His ultimate desire is for all to come to repentance so that in eternity we can be eternally healthy, this is the only guarantee we have in Christ Jesus. (No other faith or belief system can offer this assurance.)
Let’s look briefly at a couple passages from the Bible.
Wow, so God does allow, permit, dare I say use, sickness for His purposes. Let’s continue…
Amos 4:1-10, says, that it is God that destroyed the people’s lands, their welfare, and yes, sent plagues. Verse 10 even says that the “stench” of their camps, that being dead bodies, was caused by God.
So then, what can we see, learn, and observe from knowing this? If God has used sickness, plagues, destruction in the Old Testament what do we see in the New Testament?
Acts 5:1-10, this is the story of a husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira. They colluded to withhold from the Lord and as a result they were struck down immediately and killed, yes, by God. There’s more to it, but I’ll leave it here for the purposes of this blog.
While it is more rare in the New Testament for God to providentially allow sickness, what we see could be described as a general, somewhat temporary “pause” on this as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross. Orthodox Christian belief is that Jesus was the payment for sin and a satisfaction of God’s wrath, until that day when Jesus returns and God brings His justice to the earth in order to eternally defeat evil. This was however primarily for our sickness of sin, although sin brought with it a decaying body and slowly degrading world, there is no promise or guarantee of health in this temporal world.
To argue that God’s silence or lack of using plagues and sickness as a way to say it is a promise would be an incorrect and opposite to Scripture stating the triune Christian God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8) God’s silence on this topic is not affirming a promise, in fact I could argue the opposite. God’s relative silence in the New Testament could say that the teaching on sickness is so clear that it needs not repeating.
I don’t believe there is any promise for health as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross, except the eternal promise of life everlasting in Christ. We can have an abundant life, but that means a life of joy despite pain, and love despite hate, and beauty despite ashes.
What then is the point of this blog? Hopefully, to aid in someone’s believing and process of sanctification.
Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, many a false teacher will come to you and declare, decree, promise, or affirm that “God guarantees your health, wealth and prosperity in Jesus.” This is simply not true. Some will say “it’s part of the love package” you get from Jesus.
Saint Paul details his life in 2 Corinthians 11:24-29.
* 5 times he was whipped with 40 lashes minus 1. 40 lashes was to indicate that or someone/ something was less than human, so 39 was a customary punishment in Jewish law. Also, there was a belief that 40 would kill a man. To make it 39 was perhaps a way of showing mercy and not imposing a death sentence.
* 3 times he was beaten with rods.
* 1 time he was stoned.
* 3 times he was shipwrecked.
* Spent a night and a day at sea.
* In danger from rivers, bandits, Jews, Gentiles.
* In danger in the city, in the country, in the sea.
* In danger from false believers Acts 20:30-31
* Has labored, going without sleep.
* Has been hungry, thirsty, often going without food.
* Has been cold and naked.
Does this sound like an amazing life in Christ? For our contemporary ears we say, “no this is awful!” But to Paul he responds like this.
2 Corinthians 11:30-31, “30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying.”
Further, Paul starts 2 Corinthians in Chapter 1 Verses 8-9, by saying that many things in Asia happened which caused him to think he may die, BUT that it was a GOOD thing. This is definitely a message which is not often preached by many at the pulpit these day and on social media.
Certainly no-one would say that the ones who walked, sat, slept, ate, listened, learned, prayed, and bled with and for Christ were somehow unable to access the great health promises of Christ. It seems silly that today people are promising that God hates sickness and so if you are sick then it is a result your own doing and not for your sanctification, testing of faith, perseverance or even bad choices. (If you are obese because you don’t exercise, eat fast food, and smoke and drink, that’s on you!)
God is providential, meaning he can do what He wants, when He wants, how He wants, but it’s always for a purpose.
How come there are 0 bible verses that, when used in context, affirm the teaching of guaranteed health? If preachers and teachers are promising health today, why didn’t ANY of the biblical apostles experience it? Are the teachers today better than the authors of the Bible? I think not.
There are many verses saying that God uses, permits, and has exercised His supreme authority to bring about sickness, plagues, destruction on His own people. The missing piece for the false teachers in this is that when God did this it was due to extreme, flagrant, and enduring violations of His statutes. In Amos, the people of God were denying justice to the poor and oppressing them, eating and getting fat while the poor suffered, and hogging the blessings of God for themselves. So much so God calls them “fat cows” in Amos 4:1. God’s people were in such long lasting violation of His ways, despite repeated warnings, that He was forced to take drastic action to bring about correction. I’m going on too long… but stay with me.
Andrew Wommack is one of many false teachers who promotes “God promises health” teaching. His teaching will say it’s either your fault or you haven’t done something. Basically, if you’re sick, you’re doing faith wrong. What a terrible burden to place upon a believer!
I write this because I have been sick, experiencing physical pain, for over 7 weeks now. Allergies, the flu, 2 bulging discs in my neck, all happening at once. Is this because I have been a bad Christian? To oversimplify, no. There is no “good” or “bad” Christian. A Christian is sealed, saved, sanctified, and delivered to eternity with Christ, non-Christians are sent away from the Father to hell, end of story. So for my current situation, I am seeking Jesus every time I wince in pain, each tear that falls, and every time I am upset, angry, frustrated, I turn to the cross and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to be near and help me endure. Essentially, “make me more like you Jesus,” I call out. Am I perfect in this? Absolutely not, am I trying? Absolutely yes.
Now I want to clarify. Bad things are just that, bad. Victims of violent crime or survivors of war and natural disaster, are NOT supposed to say it was a good thing. No, bad is bad and evil is evil. Yet, what I am saying is that only the God of the Bible says bad things will happen but that HE will use it for GOOD! This is very different. A terrible thing resulting in a good thing is worth celebrating and certainly worth praising God for.
God says bad and evil are… bad and evil, however He finishes the thought and says, “I will use these bad and evil things to draw you to Me so that you can be comforted, rescued, and restored, and you will look more like Christ.” (Romans 8:28-29) What a beautiful message that the God of the Universe and Maker of the Wind promises to comfort and come alongside us in pain and suffering.
Much like Saint Paul in 2 Corinthians explains, “these result in our deeper dependance on God.”
So then as it pertains to sanctification. If you are sick and/ or hurting, trust in Christ, alone. He may come alongside in the way of a friend, a nurse, a doctor or through some spiritual manner which only you can discern.
A Greek Orthodox monk, Father Maximus of Cyprus says, “give thanks for each illness that comes upon you, for it is an opportunity to get to know your God <meaning the Trinitarian God of Christianity> in a uniquely intimate way.” (paraphrased from Mountain of Silence).
I’ve gone on for a while and this is a longer than normal post, but I believe it’s worth it. Everyone on planet earth has either died or will die, so I want to do my best and cover as much as I can.
Be assured, Jesus, all of his disciples (except John who was exiled), suffered a brutal death for the faith. Sickness does not mean that God has removed His love for you, He is not angry with you in the worldly way of thinking about it. No. God loves the believer so much, that He knows our sin and wickedness only harms us. In His infinite mercy and wisdom He extends to us patience that is undeserved. To be sick may be to be disciplined, or maybe you are making bad choices, sinful choices. Drink too much alcohol for too long? Your liver will fail and you will die.
God however, promises that suffering and perseverance will produce hope and an eternal life and future with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth which then and only then will we experience a life without pain, suffering, and sickness.
Lord Jesus keep us close to you, and draw to you those whom you desire. Amen.
Love Has a Name 
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