The Ministry of Healing

It has always seemed that the church has shied away from the ministry of healing.  Perhaps, it is out of a fear that it is a ministry prone to sensationalized images of people jumping out of wheelchairs, or throwing away crutches.  It could also be that it is a ministry with such powerful undertones that the timid church knows not how to handle something beyond its ability to handle.  Or, perhaps, it is a ministry which the church would rather relegate to the Jesus on the earth era and not something which is really possible for this more sophisticated and medically enlightened age.     

When I first found myself as a  spiritual leader being moved toward embracing this mysterious ministry, there was more than just a measure of hesitancy.  It seemed that praying for people to be healed was dangerous business.  It involved risking the possibility that people would pray,  rise as before, and then leave the place of prayer with a compromised or lost faith in Christ.  A part of me argued that it was not worth the risk, but another part of me argued that there was too much within the Scripture which pointed the church toward such a ministry.    

As I struggled with what to do, those Words of the Scripture lingered demanding a response which spoke of faith, "Are any among you sick?  They should ask for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord."  (James 4:14)  In the end the Word's call prevailed and I moved toward this ministry of healing with a church that was affirming of the call.  Looking back to those beginning days, it seems that any church interested in the ministry of healing must begin with the Holy Word which is where the church always gets its primary directives.