It's Time to be Clear

The ministry of Jesus is about healing and freedom. As we read the gospels we find Jesus healing bodies, minds, spirits, and relationships. People are set free from what harms them through healing. I don't know of an incident in which Jesus separates those things. To be freely healed in one part of our lives contributes to healing in them all. Healing may begin with a lame leg or shrivelled hand or relief from convulsions but quickly spreads to the whole person and their community.  

The teaching of Jesus is also about healing and freedom. Jesus announces his ministry in his hometown by claiming for himself in Luke 4 the words from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” Jesus' final teachings are about healing and freedom too, in Matthew 25, when we are reminded that our actions in providing food, water, hospitality, medical care, and support for prisoners all go together and are an important part of our relationship with God through Jesus. Healing and freedom go together in Jesus. Forgiveness is the relationship version of being healed and set free. We need constant healing and forgiveness from one another and from God in order to freely distribute that healing and forgiveness to those around us. Healing and freedom are what we do.

The early church was all about healing and freedom. Acts 4 indicates a whole variety of ways in which people's bodies, minds, spirits, and relationships were healed as the first church came together in newfound freedom so much so that people who were not yet part of the group of believers brought their ill family and friends out into the streets while Christians were going by, hoping that the healing would rub off.

From the very first days, however, there were also efforts to split healing and freedom apart inappropriately. Paul mocks the Corinthian church for their claim that they “have the right to do anything” in 1 Corinthians 6 when some are using their newfound sense of freedom to sue one another and engage in sexual practices that violate relationships. Paul also insists that the purpose of freedom is healing and reconciliation in chapters 9 and 10 where believers are advised to be careful about ensuring they stay on task as they use their freedom in Christ to decide on the best course of action. Rather than “run like someone running aimlessly” with freedom but no focus Christian believers are to use freedom to bring the good news of healing through Christ.

Let's jump forward to our own time. Freedom and healing continue to go together for Christian believers. Freedom that works against healing is not Christian freedom and we should oppose it in the same way that Paul did with freely chosen but divisive, hurtful lawsuits and sexual practices in the Corinthian church. To be specific, we can now get vaccinated against contagious diseases including Covid-19. We can reduce the load on our health care system, we can reduce the need for intrusive public health orders, and we can contribute to healthy bodies and relationships in our wider community by getting vaccinated. We can reduce the risk that we will harm others unintentionally or that their unintentional actions will harm us. We should grab hold of those opportunities for ourselves and encourage others to take advantage of them as part of our larger goals that include healing for body, mind, spirit and relationships.

Not everyone agrees. There are Christian people who commit themselves to individual freedom while opposing the healing possibilities of medical care in the same way that there were people skilfully arguing for freedom separated from healing in the Corinthian church. Our disagreement does not mean we are no longer brothers and sisters in faith but it does mean we need clarity and focus to resolve the disagreement. The Christian church has a long and helpful history of involvement in medical care and treatment. We are firmly within the tradition of the church, the teachings of the early church, the teachings of Jesus, and the example of Jesus by taking good care of our bodies and lessening the risk that we or others will get ill unnecessarily. With scriptural clarity that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we are responsible to live as healthfully as we are able. That includes preventing damage to our bodies through disease when we can by freely getting vaccinated and enthusiastically recommending it to others as part of spreading the good news of freedom and healing for our whole selves. You can be vaccinated and be in good standing with the church and with God through Jesus. In fact, you should be vaccinated if you are able, as part of the larger total healing and freedom that is ours in Christ.