Is There a Conflict Between Divine Healing and Medicine? (3 page)

Surely, we can acknowledge
the undeniable fact that medical science and the function of doctors have helped multitudes of people. Many diseases that previously killed millions of people in epidemics such as polio and smallpox have been largely wiped out where there is adequate medical treatment. Cures to these diseases have been found by medical science. Some illnesses that previously killed millions - despite still having no complete cure - now kill few people. This is because medical science knows what to do when someone contracts one of these diseases. They know also how to prevent the spread of many infectious diseases. The list of diseases that previously killed a high percentage of infants has gone from dozens to just a few now. Cancers that previously killed people quickly and painfully are now becoming more and more treatable due to advances in understanding and treatment. There are medical breakthroughs on the horizon that will cause many cancers to be a thing of the past.

The use of prescription drugs keeps many people alive who would have died without them. For example, many people would be blind today, would face amputation of limbs, and would have organ failure except for medical treatment of diabetes. Many older people would be blind today except for the medical treatment through surgery that removes cataracts. Many people would have had strokes or heart attacks that are alive today due to medical treatment of high blood pressure. There are a thousand examples of how medicine and doctors prolong and enrich life through their care.

In writing this, I am not advocating medical treatment over supernatural healing. I am just stating that the attitude that there is something spiritually wrong in the use of medicine is simply not validated by Christ or the rest of the Bible. While each person's situation is different, it is entirely possible for those who believe to do both things without compromising. We can believe that God can help us through medicine and supernatural healing at the same time. We have seen this happen on a number of occasions. Perhaps using medicine until we receive healing is a wise choice that we can adopt without compromising our faith in Christ as Healer.

Many effective medicines today are drawn from herbs that God has given for healing in creation. The New Testament mentions the healing nature of the leaves from Tree of Life. The Revelation says:
 

And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve
kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)

The leaves of the Tree of life are for the healing of the nations. God, in His kindness and mercy, provides both supernatural and natural healing. Likewise, in the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel, he relates a similar truth about all the trees in the future. Ezekiel writes:

"And by the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Ezekiel 47:12)

Their leaves will be for healing. Today, many effective medicines have been obtained by studying what God put in nature. Here are a few that have been around for a while:
 

Aspirin -used as a pain reliever and particularly effective against certain forms of arthritis when taken in moderation. Its formula comes from white willow bark and was used as early as 400 BC. Recently, research has shown its protective properties when taken in small amounts daily. The daily use of small amounts of aspirin has been shown to significantly reduce the possibility of a stroke, heart attack and certain forms of cancer.

Metformin - presently used primarily for those who develop Type 2 diabetes. It is the most widely prescribed drug for this condition. Beyond this, it has recently been discovered that it has a significant effect on killing cancers of various types. Many people will eventually take this drug to help treat cancer as more doctors understand this. Some medical authorities are predicting that the cancer rate in America will be cut in half just as soon as physicians prescribe it for those with cancer in their family lines or who presently have cancer. Metformin also significantly prevents strokes and heart attacks. This drug's formula
originates from the French Lilac, a plant used in folk medicine for several centuries.

Taxol - one of the best anticancer drugs that is presently available. It comes from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree.

There are thousands of drugs that have been drawn directly from nature. Half of all anti-cancer drugs introduced since the 1940s are either natural products entirely or medicines derived directly from natural products. Around 70 percent of all new drugs introduced in the United States in the past 25 years have been derived from natural products.

In writing this, no reader should think that the author believes that all drugs are beneficial. To the contrary, because of financial motives, the drug industry creates many dangerous, ineffective drugs. Often they start with the formula in nature but because they cannot patent a natural substance, they change the formula slightly in order to be able to patent the drug. This can and does create dangerous drugs. Nevertheless, God has placed in creation itself many beneficial substances.

Unfortunately, even beneficial substances in nature can be misused. For instance, God has provided in nature substances that are very effective pain killers. However, they can be abused for the sake of becoming intoxicated. Nevertheless, these substances are still good in themselves. This requires some clear thinking. Perhaps an illustration would help. I own an automobile. We call them "cars" in America. This car is very beneficial to me and my family. However, I know people who misuse their cars. They drive unsafely, too fast and often ignore the laws concerning driving. They may even drive when they are intoxicated. However, just because someone else abuses their car, this is not a good reason for me to cease using my car.  Likewise, God has provided in nature, many helpful substances that can be used as medicines. Just because someone abuses these substances, it is not a good reason for the rest of us to not use them reasonably when they will be a help to us and our families.

God is ruler of both the natural and spiritual realms. In the natural realm, God has provided help to man through natural substances such as herbs. We may yet discover that all of the natural afflictions of humanity have a counterpart in nature that will aid in healing of that affliction. Condemning the realm of medicine as sorcery suggests that this portion of creation belongs to the devil when it actually belongs to God. God has graciously provided help to the world, even to those who do not believe in supernatural healing.

There have been some prominent religious groups that have condemned medicine as sorcery. Coupled with this condemnation, they often teach, that someone will not be healed supernaturally if they fail in their faith by using medicine.
(We know that this is false out of much experience. Many of these groups have had multiple deaths that could have been avoided. They have ruined their witness for Christ in their communities because of people dying that could have lived with medical treatment.

In a few cases, some Christian leaders have been charged with "practicing medicine without a license" or "manslaughter." Some have been incarcerated. Some have been successfully sued by the families of those that they influenced to refuse medical treatment and died as a result. In other words, this belief that Christians must not use medicine has produced some very evil fruit such as the premature death of a parent, a child or a spouse.

The worst criticism of healing ministries - by the Church and the unbelieving world - comes as a result of those ministries who reject medicine. Because some teach this unwise view of healing, the secular media presents all who believe in supernatural healing as being opposed to medicine. This teaching is so unreasonable that it undermines the acceptance of supernatural healing. It discredits even those ministries who do not reject medicine. It so undermines the acceptance of supernatural healing that it causes many unnecessary deaths. If these people had heard a more reasonable and biblical presentation of healing, they could have received supernatural healing even as they sought natural healing.

Rejecting medicine - as being sorcery or unbelief - would not be so dangerous and unwise if supernatural healing was automatic. The reality is that not everyone receives their healing quickly or easily. The presentation of a legalistic God, who condemns sick believers for using medicine, certainly does not help someone receive a supernatural healing. In contrast, presentation of Christ who wants to help everyone no matter what they have been doing medically is the truth and certainly works much better to help people receive healing. 

We give the Good News about Christ the Healer to people. They qualify for healing because of what Christ has done for them through the cross. They do not disqualify because they have used medicine and are under a doctor's care. Christ shows us His willingness to heal by healing all who come to Him. He never turns anyone away. Christ never separates people into those who qualify for healing because they have rejected medical care and those who don't qualify because they have been to a doctor.

Occasionally, someone will teach that some successful healing ministries out of the past never had need of a doctor such as John G. Lake or Smith Wigglesworth. These presentations are often misleading and state things that they cannot possibly know for certain
or omit significant details.

Often biographies fail to record what some might think are contradictions such as the use or need of medicine or doctors. The writers of biographies are trying to present the successful healing ministry in the best light possible. Therefore, they do not present failures in getting people healed or even the ministry itself needed medical help. They only present the successes of these ministries and tend to ignore or omit their failures.

While his healing ministry was amazingly successful, John G. Lake's first wife, Jennie, died of a stroke. This information comes from Lake himself. If she was the same age as Lake at the time, she was 38 years old. In other words, Lake did not successfully minister healing to her. Again, this is certainly not a criticism of Lake but an attempt to reveal the truth that even amazingly successful healing ministries do not get everyone healed.  It would be wonderful to say otherwise but it would simply not be true.

John G. Lake himself suffered a serious stroke in 1935. He died two weeks later, on September 16, 1935, at the age of 65. In other words, Lake himself did not receive the healing of this stroke. Again, this is not a criticism of him personally but it is a reality that we cannot deny. Today, there are excellent medical treatments of stokes that perhaps would have saved Lake's life and enabled him to have several more decades of service to Christ.

Smith Wigglesworth, in his later life, suffered painfully from kidney stones. He refused any medical treatment. This apparently went on for many years but the condition eventually passed. While we can be thankful for the amazing supernatural healings in the ministry of Smith Wigglesworth, he had to endure for many years this condition. While it may be a matter of interpretation, it does not appear that it was supernaturally healed but the condition passed more naturally.

Smith Wigglesworth, like Lake, had a young wife die early in his healing ministry. Her name was Polly. Healing biographies often give scant details about the deaths of the members of the minister's family. This is true concerning Polly. It is sufficient to say that Polly did not receive a healing.

I was ministering in England to a group of Christian leaders who were all interested in healing ministry. We were doing a "Question and Answer" Session. The subject of Smith Wigglesworth success in healing ministry came up. Some were under the impression that everyone he prayed for received healing. I said that this is hard to know since only his successes are recorded in history. I went on to say that I suspected that he ministered to some who were not healed but because many were healed very dramatically, these facts of some failures were obscured by his amazing successes.

There was an elderly minister in the audience that day that stood up and said that his family had been members of Smith Wigglesworth's church. He had observed Smith Wigglesworth in healing ministry as a teenager. He went on to say that what I suspected was accurate. He said that people would line up and Smith Wigglesworth would pray for them. In most cases, nothing seemed to happen and Wigglesworth would move on to the next person.