Healing of the whole person

Here's what I know.

The New Testament teaches us that our humanity is a unified whole.

God created us, as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, "....spirit, soul and body..."

This view of humanity is quite different from the Greek concept that emphasized the different parts of the human being as body and soul or as body, soul and spirit. The Greek understanding pivoted around the idea of an immortal soul, an idea that Plato popularized. The goal of the soul was said to be release from the body, an idea that Paul thought unnatural (2 Corinthians 5:1-4).

In the early church, Athanasius and Augstine, then during the Reformation, Luther and Calvin, all of them affirmed our humanity as an integrated whole with different aspects and maintained that our every acts is done by the total person. Our souls alone do not sin; men and women sin.

Our bodies alone do not die: men and women die.

Our spirits alone are not redeemed; men and women are redeemed.

While it is true that the soul and body are separated at death, Christ' bodily resurrection assures us that our salvation will someday be made complete, reuniting soul and body, redeeming our humanity.

Just as there is a "Wholistic" (my word) approach to who we are - there is to be a "holistic" approach to the healing of who we are.

The body can affect the spirit and the spirit can affect the soul and the soul can affect the body and the...well, you get the point.

What I would suggest is that there is no one approach that can be pinpointed as "the approach to the healing of our souls (emotions, mental condition), our body (physical condition) or our spirits (spiritual condition).

Many times, to bring about wholeness and health, all three of these areas need to be addressed.

Years ago, it was popular in the kingdom to attribute all of our hurts and wounds and needs to sin. That was followed up by a striving to deal with every negative aspect of our lives with "deliverance" and a prayer that would "deliver" person from there woes.

While there is validity to the understanding that many times our problems are caused by sin, and that many times we do need to pray a prayer of deliverance, I would suggest that we "throw everything we can" at the challenge, the problem, the addiction, the habit.

In other words, just as we are body, soul, and spirit, so we must combine the methods that God has given us to bring about healing in those areas.

Let me give you an example of this. When someone is sick, I always say that we, "pray and go to the doctor."

Going to the doctor is not showing a lack of faith. Nor is taking medicine. It is following through on good common spiritual sense and what is shown in the scriptures (Luke 17:14; James 5:14; 1 Timothy 5:23).

When it comes to our spirits - same prescription. "Pray and go see a pastor, or an elder of the church." Take the "medicine" of talking it out. Being accountable. Seeking God together. Asking for and receiving godly counsel.

Yet somehow, for whatever reason, some rebel against this when it comes to the soul. Somehow, for whatever reason, some believe that when struggling with emotional and mental conditions, that prayer is the ONLY avenue (specifically a prayer of "deliverance") that someone can be healed to the extent that they are brought back into mental and emotional wholeness and health.

I would suggest that is uncaring at best and mean spirited at worst. It is also a misapplication of God's Word.

When someone is struggling emotionally and mentally, the same principles should apply. Pray and go to a counselor.

That might be a pastor, it might be an "elder" in the faith, it might be a Christian counselor, it might be a Christian psychologist and yes, it might even be a Christian psychiatrist.

Prayer helps. A belief in God helps. Fasting helps. Seeking God helps. And....many times does bring about emotional and mental healing. But to suggest that we must "throw out" other avenues of healing is preposterous.

What about the individual who is struggling with some kind of chemical imbalance in their brain? Do we throw a lot of condemnation at them and point fingers saying that they are dealing with some kind of "sin" in their lives and they what they need to be is "delivered" from their struggles, purporting some kind of "superspirituality" that comes, most of the time, from a sense of pride and a lack of humility.

I think not. How unloving. How unkind. In these kinds of cases, we "pray and go to the doctor." A person believes and takes his medicine (if necessary and prescribed).

Many times a person is not in a position to pray. They are hurting so bad that they need help to cope, help to be placed in an emotional and mental state to where they can reach out and be touched by God.

If you are struggling today with your emotions (depression, anxiety, any kind of mental condition), please know that you are not going to received "stones" from me or our church family.

We love you. We desire to minister to you using every resource that we can.

With much love....George