great things

WE CAN EXPECT GREAT THINGS FROM GOD:

THE RELATION BETWEEN FAITH AND HEALING

Beate Jakob

Beate Jakob trained ad a medical doctor and i abo a Roman Catholic theologian. She currently works with the German Institute for Medical Middion in Tbingen, Germany. Her dpecialidt field

of work concern the role of the churched and congregation*) in the field of health and healing, ad well ad ethical questions related to HIV/AIDS.

Abstract

As dign of the edchatological breaking in of the kingdom of God, the healing ofphydieal and pdy-

chological diseases wad an eddential part of Jedud Christ d misdion. Through Jedud peopL came

into contact with the healing power of God that healed them with regard to different dimensions

of their lived. ,

J edad charged and empowered hid disciples to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. Whereas the

apotles and the early church continued to heal, Jesus' command to heal wad negkcted over the

centuried. Yet, in the 19th and 20th centuried, the churched rediscovered their specific tadk in the

field of healing, and the connection between faith and healing wad pointed out by epidemiological

tudies.

During consultations in Ghana and in Chile, member of Pentecodtal, charismatic and histori-

cal churched affirmed their convtion that the Holy Spira is acting in reconciling and healing

today, and they agreed on an extended dfinition of health and healing. All healing come from

God, but there are different approaches to health and healing. Today, Christians often do not

expect God to heal them and Christian communitied face many obtacle on their way to becom-

ing healing communities.

Perdonai experienced in Ghana and in Chile are given as exampled of healing communitied.

At the beginning of the third millennium, the traditional churched in Europe are being member,

whereas new religious movement outide the main churche are growing. There is ome evidence

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Beate Jakob W E CAN E X P E C T G R E A T T H I N G S F R O M G O D

that peopie are attracted by these movementd because in them the healing power of faith is visible

and can be experienced. Therefore, healing is eddential for Christian miion today.

The following contribution will give some reflections on Christ's healings and his command

to heal, and on the understanding of healing as it was outlined during the consultations in

Accra/Ghana and Santiago de Chile1. As an example of this understanding of healing, I will

also describe what I experienced in two congregations we visited during these consultations.

Finally, I shall point out some challenges for the churches' mission today.

Healing as an essential part of Christ's ministry In the Western context many people, including church leaders, are at a loss in answering the

question about the meaning of Jesus' healings for today. Also, these people are not of the

opinion that these healings are as essential in Christ's ministry as the proclamation of the

word. This problem arises if we do not see Jesus' healings in the context of his proclama-

tion of the kingdom of God.

Jesus' affirmations, such as, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand"

(Mark 1:15) and, "The kingdom of God is in the midst of you" (Luke 17:21), scandalized

many of his contemporaries. With these words Jesus wanted to make it clear to everyone

that he was the one who will and has already begun to fulfil their hopes for the promised

time of salvation. He wanted to say that now, with his words and deeds, everything the

prophets had promised for "the last days", that is for the kingdom of God, had become a

reality.

People would not have believed in Jesus' words "had they not seen that, with Jesus, salva-

tion had, to some extent, become a reality in their world. Jesus preached the beginning of

the time of salvation and he brought salvation by turning to people in need and helping

them. This time of salvation is best described by the Hebrew word "shalom". "Shalom"

means "peace" in a much wider sense than the political meaning of peace. It means to live in

peace in a comprehensive sense: The nation as a whole and everybody is living in a state of

general wellbeing and happiness. When Jesus healed the blind, cured the lame and cleansed

lepers, then the time of salvation, of shalom, was at hand. The transformation of the world

towards the fullness of life announced by Jesus (cf. John 10:10) had begun here and now.

Jesus' healings must be interpreted within this framework of his message of the kingdom of

God. Jesus' healing miracles do not primarily present Jesus as a miraculous healer to be

1 International consultations on faith, health, healing and mission, organized by the World Council of Churches, Mission Studies and Health and Healing desks, between theologians, missiologists and people involved in healing ministries from Pentecostal and charismatic traditions, at Achimota, Accra, Ghana, 4-8 December 2002, and Santiago, Chile, 28-30 October 2003.

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consulted in the case of disease. Rather, they show that, through Jesus, God devotes his

attention to this world completely and forever. Jesus himself interprets his healing miracles

by saying, "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God

has come upon you" (Luke 11:20).

As signs of the eschatological breaking in of the kingdom of God, Jesus' healing miracles do

not legitimate him as a healer or even as the son of God. They are not his identity card but

they are signs or signals of God's kingdom. Jesus' healings do not primarily provide physi

cal or psychological health to individuals but rather provide an invitation to turn to God, to

"Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

To consider the cure of isolated physical or psychological symptoms as the only aim of Jesus'

healings would contradict the biblical anthropology. In the Bible, the human being is seen

as an entity of body, mind and soul. Health and disease always affect a human being as an

entity. Therefore, to be healed in the biblical sense could never be understood as the cure of

isolated symptoms.

Consequently, Jesus withdraws if people want to monopolize him as a miracle worker who

has come to cure illnesses (see Mark 1:38), and Jesus does not allow those whom he healed

to go and promote him (see Mark 1:44). Jesus does not want his healings to be misunder

stood and separated from the framework of his message of the kingdom of God. First and

foremost, he wants to bring people into contact with God, the Saviour, and to overcome sin

as separation from God. And when, through Jesus, people found a new relationship with

God, they were made a new creation and astonishing things happened as a consequence of

that. In some cases, we can consider the healings of physical diseases as a kind of "side

effect" of the fact that people came into intensive contact with God.2

Many of our problems with Jesus' healings are related to our paradigm of health and heal

ing that reflects a one-dimensional understanding of healing. When we look at Jesus' heal

ings we take a science-based view on healing that sees healing mainly as the cure of symp

toms.

A short text from Mark can help us to understand Jesus' healings: "People started hurrying

all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to everywhere they heard he

was. Wherever he went, to village or town or farm, they laid down the sick in the open

spaces, and begged him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all those who

touched him were saved" (Mark 6:55-56).

2 See F. Arnold, Der Glaube, der dich heilt. Zur therapeutischen Dimenswn dea Glaubend, Regensburg, 1983, p.80; B.

Flammer, " Jesus der Arzt in der Sicht der Evangelien", in Arzt und Christ, No. 31, 1985, Heft 1, pp. 1-6; .

Hriiig, Vom Glauben, der gesund macht. Ermutigungder heUenden Berufe, Freiburg, 1984, p.37; G. Kruhffer, Der

Mensch -Das Bi Gottes, Gttingen, 1999, p.39.

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This scene summarizes Jesus' wondrous and compassionate activity. What does the evan-

gelist Mark mean by telling us, "All those who touched him where saved"?

It would be too simple to say: Jesus came into the world and all people who had been sick

were cured from their diseases. It would be too simple, and also it would be wrong because

we know that not all people in Jesus' time were healed from their diseases. What, then, is

the meaning of this statement?

Reading different translations of this biblical passage, we see that the translators themselves

had some difficulties in understanding the meaning of the text. This is a good example of the

fact that every translation is an interpretation. The New Jerusalem Bible says, "all were

saved". The King James Version translates this as, "all were made whole", and the Revised

Standard Version says, "all were made well". In German Bibles we find the expressions, "sie

wurden geheilt" or "sie wurden gesund", meaning "they were healed". "To be healed", "to be

saved", "to be made whole", "to be made well": these are expressions with different conno-

tations. In the Greek original we have the verb ozo. This is best translated as, "to save". Sow

means more than physical healing, it means to be saved in different dimensions of life.

Therefore, the translation, "they were made whole" comes close to the original text.

Based on this, we can describe the healings that took place with "all those who touched him".

Christ's healing, or saving power changed people and situations; nobody remained the same

after having come into contact with him. So, we can assume that some were freed from sick-

ness, and some were led to reconciliation with their fellow men and women. My conviction

is that some who had to bear physical diseases kept their physical symptoms but experienced

Jesus' love and sympathy (in the sense of compassion), and this saved them from despair

and let them feel that God was very close to them in their suffering. Whether physically

healed or not, everybody who was open to Jesus was saved with regard to a certain dimen-

sion of his or her life. The people around Jesus experienced and realized that, in Jesus, God

has come close to everyone and to the world.

Christ's command to heal and the healing practice of the early Christians Through Jesus, people came into contact with the healing power of God. Jesus wanted his

disciples to continue his work, that is, to proclaim the kingdom of God and to bring people

into contact with God's healing power. Jesus entrusted his healing ministry to his disciples

and endowed them with the authority they needed.

The missionary instructions in each of the synoptic gospels connect the proclamation of the

word with deeds, and explicitly mention the healing ministry. For example, Matthew 10:1,

5, 7 reports, "Then he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over

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unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity ... These

twelve Jesus sent out, charging them... (to) preach as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heav-

en is at hand'. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons!"

However, now the question arises as to whether Christ's command to heal and the phenom-

enon that people experience the healing power of God was restricted to Jesus' time. The

answer is easy: We are convinced that through Jesus, God devoted attention to the world

completely and forever, and the time of salvation began irrevocably. This implies that these

signs of salvation are not confined to Jesus' time, or the time of the apostles, but are to be

found at any time and also today.3

The apostles and the early church continued the ministry of healing. In the Acts of the Apostles

we read about the apostles' healing activities. A testimony for the situation in the early

Christian congregations is Mark chapter 16. It is a common opinion that this chapter was

added to the primal gospel of Mark in the second century CE, and describes the healings that

took place in the first Christian congregations. In these congregations of the first centuries, the

kingdom of God was both proclaimed verbally in evangelism and demonstrated practically in

healing. Other testimonies are given by the Fathers of the church. For example, Origin and

Augustine point out that the mission ministry of the church was meaningless if within the con-

gregations no concrete salvation was visible.4 Ignatius of Antiochia writes in his letter to the

Ephesians, "There is only one doctor for body and soul... Jesus Christ our Lord."5 For the

early Christians, Jesus, the Saviour, was the one who healed. Christ was addressed as "physi-

cian", and the prayer, "Help us, Christ, you alone are our physician", was common.6

Christ's command to heal was neglected over the centuries The practice of healing and its theological interpretation within the churches changed after

a few centuries. In contrast to the other imperatives, viz. to preach, teach and baptize, whose

implementation presented no problems, the church faced increasing difficulty in knowing

how to fulfil the imperative to heal.

Today, and here I refer to my own church context, a prayer to Christ the physician seems

strange, and many people have difficulties with Christ's healing ministry. This is the result

3 See F.-W. Beare, "The Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Mat thew 10 and Parallels", in Journal of Biblical Literature, No . 89, 1970, pp. 1-13; G.W. Ittel, J ed us und die Jnger, Gtersloh, 1970, pp. 49-59.

4 See G. Lohfink, Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? Zur gedellschaftlhen Dimension des christlichen Glaubens, Freiburg, 1982, pp. 174-176; R. Pesch, "Der Heilungsauftrag Je sus als Teil des Missionsauftrags der Kirche", in Ordenskorrespondenz, No. 32, 1991, pp. 1-16.

5 An die Epheser 7, 2, in J .A . Fischer, Die Apodtolischen Vter 1, Darmstadt, 1956, pp. 148f. 6 See A. von Harnack, Medizinisches aus der alte ten Kirchengeschichte (Texte und Untersuchungen Bd. 8, Heft 4),

Leipzig, 1892; G. Roth, "Christus Medicus. Leitthema der Pastoralmedizin. Geistesgeschichte und Ikonographie", in: Arzt und Christ, No . 31 , 1985, Heft 1, pp . 7-12.

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of a development that began after the first centuries of the Christian era when Christians

took Christ s ministry to proclaim the gospel very seriously, whilst the importance of his

healing ministry diminished.

Let me give a very brief explanation for the neglect of Christ's healing ministry:

To some extent advances in medicine can explain this neglect. From the time of

Hippocrates in the 4th to 3rd centuries before Christ, medical research developed on the

basis of the occidental understanding of science that ultimately led to an emancipation of

medicine from religion, and Christianity did not reverse this trend. Over the centuries

medicine claimed and ultimately received the professional competence for health matters.

Sick people today turn to the medical doctor for a cure. The therapeutic dimension of

faith has been abandoned and forgotten. This dominance of the medical or scientific

approach to health and healing implies that most people today define healing as "being

cured from a disease by medical or psychotherapeutic treatment".7

Another reason for the neglect of the healing ministry is based on Christianity itself.

Under the influence of Greek philosophy, a Christian attitude developed that was nega-

tive towards the body and physical life. Christians stressed the importance of saving the

soul for eternal life more than having good living conditions on earth. Hence, the

accounts of healing miracles in the gospel were increasingly interpreted spiritually as

healing from, for example, spiritual blindness, spiritual paralysis and spiritual deafness.

The church and its institutions concentrated more on charity and care for the sick than

on medical healing.

According to this development, a strict division of labour emerged whereby physicians were

responsible for the body, and theologians for the soul. Saying this, I know that I am looking

at things as a member of the Roman Catholic Church, though with some insight into the

Protestant churches as well, and standing in the European context. In African culture, for

example, the biblical anthropology still prevails and people are not prone to divide humans

into soul and body, and thereby create a dichotomy between the spiritual and the medical

approach in the field of healing.

The connection between health and healing, and the church's healing ministry are rediscovered In the 19th and 20th centuries, Christs command to heal and the church's healing ministry

have been rediscovered in a threefold way.

7 For this development, see E. Biser, "Die Heilkraft des Glaubens. Entwurf einer therapeutischen Theologie", in Concilium, No. 34, 1998, pp. 534-544; E. Biser, Theologie als Therapie. Zur Wiedergewinnung einer verlorenen Dimension, Heidelberg, 1985, pp. 93-102.

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First, the churches of the Western world rediscovered their healing ministry as they sent

missionaries to foreign countries. Sending people abroad with the imperative to proclaim the

gospel, they also felt the moral duty to provide healing for the sick in the countries in which

they operated, and to make medical facilities available to the people there. Thus, missionary

societies founded hospitals and dispensaries all over the world.

This engagement of the churches and of Christians in health care led to the following ques-

tions: "What are the characteristics of Christian healing"; "Does health care provided by the

churches differ from the health care provided by, for example, government hospitals?"; "Do

the churches have a specific task in the field of healing?"

In order to find answers to these questions the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the

Lutheran World Federation (LWF) called for a consultation that was held in the German

Institute for Medical Mission in Tubingen/Germany in 1964. The participants of this con-

sultation, who were medical doctors and theologians from all parts of the world, stated that,

"The Christian Church has a specific task in the field of healing". They also said that the bib-

lical witness showed that healing is a sign of the beginning of the kingdom of God.8

Secondly, the healing ministry and the healing power of faith have been rediscovered by the

Pentecostal and charismatic churches all over the world, especially in Africa, Latin America

and Asia. The doctrine and practice of divine healing9 is a prominent part of the life and the-

ology of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements. These churches stress that we are

neglecting an essential dimension of our Christian faith if we deny the fact and the impor-

tance of healing as a main element of Christian faith, congregational life and mission.

Moreover, they also give us sound theological arguments for the validity of Christ's healing

ministry in our time, as well as convincing testimonies of healings taking place in their con-

gregations.

Thirdly, the healing dimension of faith is pointed out by quite a different source. In the course

of the last decades scientific medicine itself has become increasingly interested in the spiritu-

al dimension of the human person. Several institutes have been founded, especially in the

USA, to study the relationship between faith, health and healing. One of these institutes is

the National Institute for Healthcare Research. During the last few years more than 200 sci-

entific publications have appeared that demonstrate the connection between faith and health.

Let us look at some results of these studies:

In order to examine the correlation between the frequency of church attendance and the

mortality rate for coronary heart disease, 91,000 persons were observed during a period

8 About this consultation, see WCC, The Healing Church. World Council Studies, No. 3, Geneva, 1966. 9 Using the expression "divine healing", I join the representatives of the Pentecostal and charismatic church-

es who generally prefer this term to "faith healing".

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of several years. This study found that in men who went to church at least once a week

the mortality rate for coronary heart disease was 40 per cent lower than in men who did

not attend any religious service. Of course the question arises as to whether or not the

church attendance factor is one among a number of others, for example, less smoking or

. a higher social status and living in a more wealthy environment. However, even after

adjustments had been made for these sociological variables the correlation between

church attendance and reduced heart disease remained valid.10

Another scientific study showed that religious affiliation and religious practice have an

inverse correlation with the incidence of malignant tumours in certain population

groups, as well as with the progress of malignant disease in individual patients. In this

case the avoidance of carcinogenic agents like smoking surely is one of the factors that

contributes to the diminished incidence of tumours in these populations. But since the

development of malignant diseases is a very complex phenomenon, this is surely only

one aspect.11

Many studies examined the relationship between religious practice and psychiatric dis-

orders. Some of these studies concluded that a religious attitude and the practice of reli-

gion lead to reduced rates of depression, neurosis and other diseases.12

The striking results of these studies have led to two central questions: "How can we explain

the effects of faith and religious practice on peoples health?" and, "Which factors associat-

ed with faith and religious practice contribute to health and healing?"

In the above mentioned studies several factors exist which could explain the contribution of

faith to health to a certain degree. These factors are:

Prayer, songs, religious rituals and meditation have multiple effects on various physio-

logical processes in the human organism. During prayer and meditation less stress hor-

mones are excreted in the body, the sympathetic nervous system is relaxed, and blood

pressure is reduced. We can summarize these effects as the reduction of stress.13

Another factor is the social network provided by religious communities that helps and

supports the members of the community in various aspects.1"*

10 See G.W. Comstock, K.B. Partridge, "Church Attendance and Health", in Journal of Chronic Diseased, No . 25, 1972, pp. 665-672.

11 See J .W. Dwyer, L.L. Clarke, M.K. Miller, "The Effect of Religious Concentration and Affiliation on County Cancer Mortality Rates", in Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, No . 31, 1990, pp. 185-202.

12 See D.R. Williams, D.B. Larson, R.E. Buckler, R.C. Heckman, C M. Pyle, "Religion and Psychological Distress in a Community Sample", in Soc. Sei. Med., No. 32, 1991, pp. 1257-1262.

13 See D.A. Matthews, Glaube macht gesund. Spiritualitt und Medizin, Freiburg, 2000, p . 65f. 14 Ibid., p . 65.

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A crucial health-promoting factor is that faith helps people to find the meaning of life. On

the other hand, we know that the experience of meaninglessness contributes considerably

to psychic and also to physical diseases.15

The avoidance of risk behaviour is a further important factor.16

Of course, we do not know exactly in which ways these factors promote healing and also to

what extent they do so. However, summarizing these scientific studies, we can say that epi-

demiological studies, not at all undertaken to prove the importance of faith, show clearly

that faith and religious practice contribute to health and healing.17

The consultations in Accra/Ghana and in Santiago de Chile: A dialogue on our understanding of health and healing, and on our way towards healing communities The consultations in Ghana and in Chile provided an excellent chance for representatives of

Pentecostal and charismatic churches, as well as of the historical churches, to discuss Gods

healing presence in our world and the understanding of healing. Among others issues, we

attempted to clarify how to define "healing" and "healing community", and by what means

God heals today.

Unanimously, we agreed that we are convinced that God, the Holy Spirit, is present and act-

ing today in everyone's life and in the midst of the world. The Holy Spirit is acting in rec-

onciling and healing. Therefore, we can and should expect great things from God.

An extended definition of health and healing At both consultations we agreed that our understanding of healing has to be based on a

holistic anthropology, and must consider a person s body, soul and mind. This requires a

wide definition of healing. In addition, as healing aims at health, we have to look for an

extended understanding of health. Such an understanding is best expressed in the definition

of health developed by the Christian Medical Commission (CMC) of the WCC. The CMC

proposed this definition after a worldwide discussion process on health and healing, and it

was approved by the WCC in 1990. Since then the definition has formed the basis of all

Christian medical work. It is, "Health is a dynamic state of wellbeing of the individual and

the society; of physical, mental, spiritual, economic, political and social wellbeing; of being

in harmony with each other, with the material environment and with God."18

15 This was pointed out again and again by Viktor Frankl, the Jewish psychiatrist and founder of logotherapy, who survived the holocaust. See, for example, his book, Man'd dearch for Meaning, New York, 1984.

16 See Matthews, op. cit., p . 60. 17 All these epidemiological studies are referred to in. M.E. Koenig, D.B. Larson, Handbook of Religion and Health,

Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001. 18 Healing and WhoUnesd - The Churched'Role in Health. The Report of a Study by the World Council of Churches, W C C ,

Geneva, 1990, p . 6.

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According to this definition health includes the wellbeing of the individual as well as socie-

ty. Healing as the process towards health is not one-dimensional; it is a multidimensional

process and includes social and spiritual dimensions. In other words, healing must be relat-

ed to the whole person and to society, and requires a multidisciplinary approach.

As health is defined in a comprehensive way, a "state of health" comes near to what is

implied by the terms "shalom" or "fullness of life". Accordingly, we can define healing as a

journey towards shalom, i.e. the eschatological stage of fullness of life. During his or her life-

time everyone is at the same time sick and healthy to a certain degree. Nobody will achieve

fullness of life. It is always ahead of us but we are on our way towards it.

How does God heal? We have different approaches to health and healing but, and this was stressed during both

consultations, all healing comes from God. Consequently, we can say that God heals in four

ways.

First, God heals through skill and science. God is healing through medical doctors and sci-

entists. There should be no contradiction between faith, or divine, healing and medicine; the

two disciplines should cooperate in their attempts to achieve healing.

Secondly, God gave people spiritual gifts. These gifts are listed in St Pauls First Letter to

the Corinthians. As an example of one group of these, the gifts of healing are mentioned

(1 Corinthians 12:9). God uses humans as tools for God s healing power and those who

are entrusted with these gifts should be very humble in using them. These gifts of God

should never be commercialized or used by those who receive them for their own pur-

poses.

Thirdly, God heals through the prayer of all Christians. God hears our prayers and responds

to them in God's way. We should pray for healing and we can expect great things from God

for us, for our neighbours and for the world. However, we have to know that there is no

direct correlation between prayer and healing. We cannot force God to grant healing, and

we also cannot force God to grant healing in the way we expect God to do. On the other

hand, we have to be careful not to point to someone who is not healed and call that person

a sinner. Even if we assume a general connection between sin and sickness, and regard sick-

ness as a sign of the incompleteness of salvation, we can never draw a direct line from one's

sickness to one's individual sins.

Fourthly, God heals through sacraments. This last point is specially accentuated in the

Roman Catholic tradition. Anointing, for example, was initially a rite for the healing of sick

people. Initially, anointing was not the "last unction" in order to prepare humans for their

journey to eternity. Some churches are rediscovering this primal meaning of anointing today.

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Healing is also a prominent aspect of the eucharist: In a certain way every celebration of the

eucharist is a sacrament of healing: During mass we hear and say several prayers for heal

ing, and the sacrament is a medium of physical and spiritual healing. As another example,

penance is the sacrament that reconciles and heals someone in relation to other people, to

creation and to God.19

Generally, we agreed on these points but there appeared some differences in details.

Members of the Pentecostal and charismatic churches would say that physical healings are

and should be rather prominent in Christian congregations, and that the absence of such

healings is a sign of the lack of faith. We heard several case studies of healings that took

place, for example, in persons with cancer who were healed against all medical prognoses.

Members of the historical churches would not deny that physical healings in the sense of

miracles occur but they sometimes would lay more stress on the spiritual and social aspects

of healing. I would also emphasize that physical healing is a side effect of spiritual healing,

and that people can be healed in a true sense even if no healing of diseases of the body is

seen.

Healing communities

If we are convinced that God heals today and that Christians and the churches have a task

to heal, we are lead to the following questions: "What are the characteristics of a healing

community?"; 'What obstacles are hindering communities from becoming healing commu

nities?"; "What steps have to be taken to enable a community become a healing commu

nity?"

In group discussions the participants of the consultation in Santiago extensively exchanged

their views on these issues. Some of the findings are as follows:

There are many obstacles on the way to becoming healing communities, especially in con

gregations of the Catholic and Protestant tradition in the European context. Christians

today often do not believe and do not take into account that God is present in the midst of

our world, and that the Holy Spirit is acting in the world and in everyone's life. We are not

aware that God today says, "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14), which means, am the one who

is with you'. Usually, Christians expect great things from, for example, medical doctors and

politicians but not from God. Christians can have more confidence in human possibilities

than in the transforming, that is, the healing power of God. It is not common to regard an

experience of healing achieved by medical professionals as the work of God. Therefore, peo

ple often dare not ask God to intervene in their personal needs and in the needs of the world.

As a consequence of this worldview, Christians sometimes live in kinds of separate worlds.

1 9 See M. Pearson, Christian Healing. A Practical and Comprehensive Guide, Grand Rapids, 1995, pp.l8f.

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During the week they live in the world of labour and the family; then, on Sundays they

immerse themselves in the spiritual world. These different worlds are not integrated into

each other, and to some extent they stand incompatibly side-by-side.

Another point is that Christians are not used to sharing their spiritual experiences. In the

time of individualism, we tend to keep our deepest needs to ourselves, and we are hesitant

to open up ourselves in groups. Spiritual experiences are regarded as belonging to the pri-

vate sphere. Contributing to this is the fact that our congregations are often very big and our

services do not give enough room for the active participation of community members, who

are more or less passive observers, or even "consumers" of the liturgy.

We identified the following steps that are necessary in any process of becoming a healing

community: a Christian community must be a place to share experiences as well as

resources. Members of the community should know that the Christian faith has a big poten-

tial to transform individuals and the world. A congregation should also be a safe place where

people can dare to show themselves as weak and needy, and dependent on the assistance of

God as well as of their brothers and sisters. A healing community is a place where every-

body is welcome, and a place where people with various forms of weaknesses discover that

they are of special value in the eyes of God and other people. In a community like this it

becomes clear that faith and life are an indivisible entity.

These communities also should know that their task is for them to be tools of God's power

in order to transform the world. They should bring light for and into the world in order to

transform harmful structures, and in order that people can move towards fullness of life. In

this way, communities are "light for the world" and like a "city built on a hill-top" (Matthew

5:14), to which others are attracted because they are attractive.

Elements of a healing community: two experiences During both the consultation in Ghana and in Chile it was possible to visit congregations

and to take part in services. These visits provided examples of healing, and of healing com-

munities that helped me gain a deeper understanding of the healing power of faith.

In Accra, we attended a service at Legon Interdenominational Church. During the service,

some women and men gave testimonies of how God was acting in their lives. One woman

gave a very impressive example of healing. She looked very sick and weak, and told us, "For

about three months I couldn't attend our services because of a severe disease. I felt weak to

death and was unable to get up. Now I'm so happy to be with you again and I'd like to tell

you about my experiences during the last months. During the first weeks of my sickness I

revolted against it and didn't want to believe that this disease didn't improve for such a long

time. And I also revolted against God and raised the question, 'Why? - Why, Lord, did you

469


allow me to get so sick; why don't you heal me, why don't you hear my prayers for healing?'

This stage was followed by a period of depression. I didn't pray anymore and my relation to

God was very weak. I couldn't accept that God with his power and love didn't hurry to heal

me.

The woman continued, "Then, after a few weeks, I came across the Book of Job. I read how

Job fell sick and how he rebelled and accused God because he didn't understand why he

was suffering. I read that Job asks God the Almighty to give him an answer to the mystery

of his suffering.20 However, God doesn't give Job an answer that explains why he is sick.

Instead, God reveals himself to Job as the one who "laid the earth's foundations" (Job 38:2)

and who is with him21. For me, this was a kind of revelation. I discovered that God is with

me always, and especially in my sickness. I came to a new and very close relationship to God

and now I feel safe in God's hands, whatever will come and happen to me."

As I listened to this testimony, I felt it to be a genuine testimony to healing. The woman had

not received healing of her body, but she had been healed in a crucial way. She had found a

new and deep relationship to God, and felt an inner peace that made it possible for her to

endure suffering, in the knowledge that God's love embraces all human suffering. For other

members of the congregation, this testimony of a sick person might be very helpful because,

in a certain sense, the woman can "heal" others in similar situations, in that her story pre-

vents people from falling into despair, and they are helped to find a deep relationship with

God in their suffering.

My second experience comes from a Pentecostal church in Santiago de Chile. The partici-

pants of the consultation were invited to a congregation of the Iglesia Metodista Pentecostal

de Chile, located in El Bosque, a poor area of Santiago.

Joaquin Atenas, the 80-year-old pastor, described the situation in his congregation, "Many

young people are unemployed; alcohol, drugs and violence are growing problems. Our congre-

gation is a kind of combustion point of social problems. Our first objective is to be present for

the poor and to be 'church' with them, and to show that everyone is welcome and accepted."

At the moment the congregation is building a training centre where young people can serve

apprenticeships in various trades, so that later they will be able to find employment. The

pastor is very proud that a bakery will soon open in the centre, and he hopes that other

enterprises can be established in the near future.

This congregation is working on the social dimension of healing and is a healing communi-

ty - that is the impression we got during our visit. We attended two worship services of the

20 Job 31:35. 21 Job 38-41

470


congregation and during one of them I noticed a young couple looking rather sad and mis-

erable. They both took part in the service but one could see that they were preoccupied with

some severe problems. Perhaps one or both of them was severely sick or they had financial

problems, or whatever. Then, during the service, a community member, a man, moved to the

couple and for some minutes he laid his hands on the young man and prayed for him or with

him. After that an astonishing change took place: The young man who previously looked so

miserable and sad began to shine and, with a strong voice, joined the others who were pro-

claiming "Gloria a Dios", again and again. The man had experienced human assistance and,

through that, also experienced God's nearness in his difficult situation. The situation, of

course, was not changed but his brother's prayer had brought him new courage and hope.

So I felt that for this poor man healing had taken place, and it was healing in a real form.

Healing: a dimension of faith that is essential for Christian mission today At the beginning of the third millennium, the traditional churches in Europe face an alarm-

ing situation: Since the 1960s, the churches have lost many members. Services are not well

attended and the churches as institutions are losing their influence in European societies.22

However, this development cannot be seen as a sign of a decline of religiosity. For many

years "secularization" has been given as the reason for what has happened to the churches.

Now, religious sociologists talk instead about the "desecularisation"23 of our postmodern

society being behind the phenomenon. The need for religion has not declined over the years

but is the same or has even increased, especially among the younger generation. That is why

we have to say that whilst the churches have lost their attraction, the same is not true of reli-

gion as such.24 New religious movements outside the main churches draw large crowds.

Some people even talk about a "religious boom" in our society. Sociologists say that reli-

giosity is leaving the churches and now lives outside religious institutions. We have the phe-

nomenon of "believing, but not belonging". Using the language of marketing, somebody

said, "It is not the market for religion that is diminishing but the churches' share of it."25

What are the reasons for this trend? What are people looking for when they leave the tra-

ditional churches and join other forms of religiosity?

22 To this issue F.-X. Kaufmann, Wie berUbt das Christentum? Freiburg, 2000, pp. 11-19; V. Krech, Missionarische Gemeinden" - Bedingungen und Mglichkeiten aus soziologischer Sicht, in A. Feldtkeller, Th. Sundermeier (Hrsg.), Middion in pluralistischer Gesellschaft, Frankfurt, 1999, pp. 88-106; M . Schramm, Das Gottes unternehmen. Die katholische Kirche auf'dem Religions markt, Leipzig, 2000, pp. 29-36.

23 See P. L. Berger, ed., The Desecularidation of the World. Resurgent Religion and World Politics, Michigan, 1999. 24 See I. Dalferth, Was Gott ist, bestimme ich!" - Reden von Gott im Zeitalter der Cafeteria-Religion", in J .

Beutler, E. Kunz, (Hrsg.), Heute von Gott reden (Religion in der Moderne; Bd. 5), Wrzburg, 1998, pp. 57-77. 25 Krech, op.cit., p . 92.

471


People in our days do not commit themselves to a religious institution because they feel they

are sinners and fear for their eternal salvation. People today look for support for their lives

here and now. They do not identify with the biblical story of sinful humankind. People are

attracted when they learn to know God as the one who is "with us" and "for us".26 They need

systems of orientation and want to know what is the meaning of life. Humans today are long-

ing for support and security in a world that has become confusing and, in a certain way,

threatening for them. A German theologian states, "The Gospel does not any more attract

people who know themselves to be sinners. Receptive to the Good News are people who feel

they live in an unholy world and are intensively longing for healing."27

We can say that it is especially and sometimes only the healing dimension of our Christian

faith that is able to connect with people today. Churches and congregations today attract

people if and when the healing power of our faith is visible among them. People have to be

brought into contact with the healing and life-saving power of faith. As its special task for

today, mission has to make it possible for women and men to experience the healing dimen-

sion of religion.

Paul Tillich was one of the theologians who stressed the healing power of faith. Addressing

graduating students in a theological seminary in 1955, Tillich said, "I believe that, of all dif-

ferent ways to communicate the message of the Christ to others, this way (i.e. the way of

healing) will prove to be the most adequate for the people of our time ... The central mes-

sage for our contemporaries, including ourselves, the message awaited by many both with-

in and outside our congregations is the good news of the healing power that is in the world,

and whose perfect expression is the Christ."28 In another context he said, "Religion without

saving or healing power is irrelevant."29 Paul Tillich s message is almost half a century old

but is still a valid one much and much needed.

Which steps on this way of healing could or should be taken by the historical churches, espe-

cially in Europe? I give an outline of some main points:

The faithful today play a passive role in our congregations; they are consumers of the

churches' services rather than being active members, who participate in the services and

decisions of the congregation.

In order to enable people to share everyday life with each other, it would help if the

churches decentralized their structures and, instead, built small groups/communities

26 See K.-P. J rns , "Was die Menschen wirklich glauben. Ergebnisse einer Umfrage", in Th. Brose, Gewagter Glaube. Gott zur Sprache bringen in dkularer Gedellschaft, Berlin, 1998, pp . 119-132.

27 E. Biser, Heuender Glaube, Mainz, 1990, p . 40. 28 Paul Tillich, "Heal the Sick; Cast out demons", in The Eternal Now, N e w York, 1956 (7. ed. 1963), p . 60. 29 Paul Tillich, "Der Einfluss der Psychotherapie auf die Theologie", in Gesammelte Werke, Band VIII , hg. von

Renate Albrecht, Stuttgart 1970, p . 333.

472

Beate Jakob W E CAN EXPECT GREAT T H I N G S FROM G O D

where the members knew each other and were in close contact with each other. Prayer

and Bible study groups can help people to learn to share their lives with brothers and sis-

ters.

It is necessary to highlight aspects of healing in the services, since the eucharist is essen-

tially a service of healing.-The liturgy should not use so many words. Instead, peoples'

senses should be addressed more. Rituals, such as blessing by the laying on of hands and

anointing are suitable signs of the healing presence of God, and they facilitate experiences

of God s closeness.

It is important for our churches to be present at the edges of our society: The church has

to be present where people are marginalized and in need. The healing power of our faith

becomes visible, for example, in the engagement of Christians in the field of HIV/AIDS,

in the hospice movement, in the counselling of drug addicts, or the prevention of suicides.

There are many ways of healing and, as Christian communities and churches we are near to

the source of all healing and have huge resources of healing. At the beginning of the third

millennium we should rediscover and leverage these treasures, and let the Holy Spirit do the

Spirits work of reconciling and healing in our world.

475

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