When I was in high school, I was hospitalized in the neurology unit for severe muscle spasms. I spent nearly a month there, and in that time got to know a few of the people. This is the story of one of them.
A girl who I will call Jessica had been playing at her friend's house when she fell down with a seizure. The friend's family, of course, took her to the hospital, where they discovered she had an operable brain tumor. Without the operation she was given a prognosis of about six months to live, but they could get her the surgery within the week. Great news, right? Wrong. Jessica's family were all devout, fundamentalist Christian Scientists.
Jessica's family came to visit her in the hospital once they found out, but before asking her if she was alright or reassuring a scared 15 year old girl, they began by chastising her for going to a hospital in the first place. Though not representative of all Christian Scientists, this family believed that faith and prayer are all one needs to cure ailments. Obviously, Jessica wasn't praying hard enough, or her faith had faltered, causing this tumor. They expressly forbade her from getting the surgery, trying to get her to leave the hospital and go to their pastor for extensive prayer.
To make a long story short, Jessica sided with the doctors. I met her about a week after her surgery, which was a complete success. Despite all this, Jessica was horribly depressed. I discovered this was because her family completely disowned her for getting this surgery. She had gained the rest of her life, but lost the life she knew.
What do you think about the idea of healing through prayer versus healing through operations and medicine? If you were in my friend's situation, would you go against your family and get the surgery done?
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Comments (124)
There is nothing in scripture that says we cannot use modern medicine or doctors. As I wrote the last time this subject was covered on Revelife, about 2 weeks ago, Luke, the author of two books of the New Testament, was a physician.
That's horrible! I believe that prayer can be healing (if it's in the will of God), and there may, I repeat MAY, be times when it's better to pray than to visit a particular doctor or have a particular procedure.
However, I believe that God can (and does) work just as well through the hands of a skilled physician as He can by "just healing" someone.
Well, I recall Jesus saying something along the lines of "when I was hungry, you fed me." I think many times we tend to say "bless you" to those in need even when we have the means to help them. I tend to think if God gives us the means to fix something (such as this situation), we can probably use those means. I'm not saying one shouldn't pray also, as one does not exclude the other.
I would have sided with the doctors. Healing with medicine/science isn't showing a lack of faith in God, in my opinion. God created science, his majesty is revealed in science of HIs creation.
Having said that, we should still pray with our whole souls for that which we need and live as worthy as we can of the blessing we are seeking. Then we humbly say, “Thy will be done,” and trust that He know better than us and will give us those experiences we need to become who He desires us to be.
It reminds me of a joke about a man stuck on a roof in a flood. He keeps praying, and a boat comes by, but "No thanks, God's going to save me." He keeps praying, and another boat comes by, but he refuses it with the same answer. Finally, a helicopter comes by, and after he tells it to keep going, he drowns. The man gets to heaven and asks God why He didn't save him. God says, "I sent you two boats and a helicopter--what more did you want?!"
God's given us technology, and I don't think medical technology should be any different than, say, computers or light bulbs. I don't understand why people have decided to go with one form but not another. If God didn't want us to be able to heal with medicine, we wouldn't have it.
@Katja88@xanga - EXACTLY! lol...
That just sounds horrible. I hope her family comes around to realize that it wasn't because she "wasn't praying enough" or "didn't have enough faith'- because it obviously happens to even the strongest of people. Tell her that she is in my prayers.
1. Your new profile picture is perfect.
2. These posts are brilliant and illuminating. Keep it up.
3. A lot of Christians will of course respond that the Christian Scientists have it all wrong, but the truth is that Christian practice and belief is extremely muddled when it comes to medicine. But instead of discussing it in a way-too-long and mostly ignored comment, I will blog about it in the next day or two.
Have these people read a damn textbook?! Brain tumors just don't happen out of nowhere -- I'm atheist, and I think that if a lack of faith caused ailments, I'd be dead right now.
I agree with basically everyone here. Who says that God doesn't use His power through people? I believe that successful surgical removal of a brain tumor is as much as a miracle as a diminished-by-prayer tumor. Besides, not even the perfect man lived on earth without suffering. Nowhere does the Bible say that if you repent, believe enough, and pray hard enough, then all your troubles and suffering will vanish and you will be in perfect health. Besides, it takes a lot of faith to put your hands in the lives of others, anyways.
It is disappointing when these kinds of posts get put up because 99.999999% of the Christian community employs the use of doctors... along with prayers.
For the question, yes I would go see a doctor-- EVEN if the family were right and we should just have faith and pray, it still wouldn't matter because if the daughters faith was lacking (which clearly it would have been), she would not heal and would die. Either way, lose lose.
In most of the detailed healing stories of Jesus, we see that people came to Him after they tried all the practical means available to them, or if there were no practical means available to them. They came to Him after doctors did all they could, after trying whatever common home remedies there were, or if there just was no known cure. Jesus didn't chastise any of these people for looking elsewhere first. This doesn't necessarily mean we should only have faith in Him to miraculously heal us as a last resort. But Jesus responded to Satan's temptation to jump off a cliff because God's angels would protect Him with "you should not tempt the Lord your God"...I think the idea behind that is we shouldn't knowingly put ourselves in situations that require God's miraculous intervention if we have other options available to us. I could refuse to brush my teeth and trust that God will preserve my mouth, but I'm pretty sure God would just watch and shake His head while my teeth rot away. That may seem like a lame example, but my point is God has given us intelligent brains that allow for people to discover ways to prevent and treat ailments, and although we shouldn't just delve into treatments and procedures without making educated decisions about them, we should certainly utilize them as much as possible rather than just forcing ourselves into a situation where only God can heal us.
But as for this young lady's situation, it would have to be a difficult call to make. Either go with your family's wishes and at the very least have their support and encouragement until the end-hoping that end will be later rather than sooner due to God's miraculous intervention- or go with what you know for sure will keep you alive more than 6 months, and have to live that life without your family.
I think she made the right choice, its unfortunate(I know that's an understatement) her family responded in such a way. That's a very very sad situation. Hopefully you can be a source of encouragement in her life.
That is so sad. :( I'm so happy that she gained the rest of her life, but how sad to lose the life you knew!
My dad died from pancreatic cancer a little over three years ago. When we first visited with his oncologist, he said: "I'm not God, but I sure talk to him a lot." How refreshing it was to hear a doctor say that. He definitely knew his limitations.
Doctors can certainly correct; but only God can heal. For example, when a person has a broken bone, the doctor can set the bone and put it in plaster; but that's as far as he can go. The rest is up to God.
In Mark 2:17 Jesus says,
"...It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Even though this is used to illustrate a sinner's need for a Saviour, the fact that Jesus uses it in the first place is an indication that he did not condemn the services of a physician. And as someone else already pointed out, the evangelist Luke was also a physician.
Refusing to seek proper medical treatment can be considered "testing God." Jesus tells Satan in Matthew 4:7: "...Do not put the LORD your God to the test."
This girl needs to be assured that she did the right thing in God's
eyes, and she can be thankful to him that he was able to use the
services of a skilled physician to help restore her to health.
God didn't give us doctors for us to rely just on prayer. It's like not eating and hoping God just puts food in your stomach. Or not working a job (on purpose) and hoping God fills our bank accounts. We are supposed to do all that we can first.
I thought Jehovah's Witnesses were the ones who didn't believe in modern medicine. You learn something new every day...
I wonder how the parents would have reacted if Jessica had the tumor as a baby. Would they really expect a newborn to be able to comprehend prayer and having faith? And I wonder if they use seatbelts when they drive, because if they have enough faith, surely God would protect them in the event of an accident. Do they wash their hands after going to the restroom, or do they trust that God will protect them against germs?
I know it may sound like I'm mocking them, and I don't intend to, but my point is that there is such blatant inconsistency with the belief that modern medicine is bad because it intervenes with God's will. If you were to truly live your life by the sentiment that any action on our part could interfere with God's plan, then that completely defeats the concept of free will. In which case, how can you call yourself a Christian then?
they really weren't going to do everything possible to save their daughter's life?
wow. I don't understand how anyone would think that was ok.
obviously prayer wasn't enough if she got the tumor in the first place..
Though I'm not Christian, I think prayer is more suitable for emotional healing than physical. Tumors and other diseases exist because of bacteria and viruses, not because your support for God isn't strong enough. I would have done the same as Jessica, because I would want to extend my life to be with those I love and hopefully those who love me back. If her family doesn't want her, she doesn't need them. There are couples and families jumping at the chance to adopt or take in a wonderful girl like Jessica, who will love her no matter what.
Ahg... things like this make me want to freak out. I don't care about religion. If your daughter is sick, to the point of dying in 6 months! you want to get her the most help you can. How dare they blame HER? How stupid.
Mary Baker Eddy received morphine when she was having pain from kidney stones. I wonder how your friend's parents feel about that.
I think God uses people and tools we have to heal. Prayer is helpful, yes, and necessary, but He also works through resources we have already.
It's like that "story" with the guy who was drowning. I don't remember it exactly, but I'll try.
The guy was drowning and he said God Help Me! God sent a rope, but the man refused it and said God will save me. He said God Help Me. God sent a boat, but the man refused saying God will save me. God help me, he cried. God sent a helicopter, but the man refused saying God will help me. Eventually, he drowned. When he saw God, he said "why didn't you help me?" God replied, I sent you a rope, boat and helicopter, but you refused all of them!
I feel like it's sort of like that. God may not always heal via miracles, maybe he uses his doctors and their knowledge to do it!
I think prayer, healing and medicine can and do go hand in hand.
I think I'd probably go against my family if their beliefs were like this girls family, but I can't say for sure b/c I have never and will never be faced with that exact situation.
I responded before I read the other comments, someone already posted my drowning man story, but it's very true. :)
You know, I understand a lot more about GodlessLiberal now that I've read this.
While Christ-followers all (ought to) believe in divine healing and faithful prayers being sufficient to provide what we need (if asked in humility to our Father according to his will) we are not to use this as the only method of healing. Nothing in scripture leads us to believe prayer is the only method of appropriate/righteous healing. Paul tells Timothy to have a little wine for his stomach (good advice). Clearly there are avenues for physical healing outside of prayer.
Wine, medicine, surgery, can all be useful methods that do not make a believer unfaithful or sinful should they employ them. I'm unaware of any scripture that would lead me to believe otherwise. Blood transfusions are trickier, but I'd still say they're A-OK.
Any time we use the gifts of G-D (blessings of healing) to condemn others or we begin to build rules around these grace-filled miracles we not only put G-D in a box but fool ourselves with legalism and forget love. That's not a very good place to be in.
I hope Jessica is taken care of and filled with joy now as she lives a healthy life.