"To follow more closely ... the man from Galilee"

A survey by a branch of the Gallup Poll organization concluded: "It seems that the people ... are coming increasingly to believe that the problems of the world will not be solved through people's efforts alone but through a change of heart and turning to God. ..."

The urgent need for solving "the problems of the world" may seem too monumental in scope. And yet there is an almost tangibly growing feeling that the solutions to the world's challenges may be much more closely linked to changes and solutions within individual hearts and lives than was imagined in previous decades. The possibility of "spiritual" solutions no longer sounds quite so improbable as it did at the height of mankind's faith in technology and political will to bring about a better world. Even in the wake of recent stunning military events in the Mideast, voices on all sides point to the need for something other than "smart" bombs and superior military arsenals to begin to solve the underlying challenges that lead to conflict and suffering in the first place.

At this time of great spiritual hunger—when faith in materialistic solutions has been shaken—there's a new openness to looking to the churches not just for solace but for the vital spiritual vision that actually makes a difference in people's everyday lives. People are yearning for the conviction that God is real and that this reality has everything to do with meeting the human need for justice, sustenance, love. And from the standpoint of the Church that publishes this magazine, God's realness also has everything to do with the need for health and purpose for all children, women, and men.

Clergy and laity in many denominations are responding to this need for a more living spirituality within the churches, as the following excerpts show. And many are pointing to what Christ Jesus illustrated by his healing ministry as the central dynamic of renewed churches and a renewed humanity.

Some pastors and laypersons have expressed eloquent support for Christian Scientists' efforts to rely on prayer for healing, and we've also included a few of these comments. In doing so, we surely do not mean to imply that these brethren subscribe to the theology of Christian Science or share our views of total reliance on prayer without accompanying medical care. But we do appreciate their support as a sign of the freedom from rancor and prejudice that will surely need to characterize any vision of a "new world order."

Why was the Christian Church of the first century of Christianity such a powerful transforming force? Was it not because it was so amazingly different from the society in which it was working? ...

"Too often today Christians think the same things as their pagan neighbors, hold the same attitudes, possess the same prejudices and follow the same ruling motives of power and prestige. ...

"The Christian Church will regain ... its lost influence in the society ... when it returns to the drawing board of Christianity ... and seeks to follow more closely ... the precepts and practices of 'the man from Galilee'."

From The Napanee and District Weekly Guide Ontario, Canada. Reprinted with permission.

To his contemporaries, both friend and foe, [Jesus] was known above all as a healer. ..."

From The Christian Century August 28–September 24, 1985

Paul Tillich in his book The New Being writes: 'How do we paint Jesus Christ? The stories in the Gospels ... paint him as a healer.' It is astonishing that this color, this vivid expression of His nature, this powerful trait of His character has more and more been lost in our time. ...

"When humanity faces humanity and a need exists, we must heal. ... There is no other reason for a Church. ..."

From a sermon given at St. James's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.

Missionary Bruce Olson prayed often during his nine months of captivity in Colombia. ...

"Olson feels God answered his prayers by sustaining him through primitive jungle conditions, life-threatening illness, psychological pressure, and his mock execution."

From Christianity Today, September 22, 1989

Reprinted with permission.

The generations of Black folks who fought and won to bring us this far had a personal relationship with God. I remember my mother having small intimate dialogues with herself when I was a child. My brother Larry and I would be embarrassed. ... But actually, she was ... talking to her God. Well, this month Moms turns 78 and she's looking good, feeling great, and still in daily communion. In fact, she recently told me about some of those messages she'd received—how God told her to hold on, to keep pressing forward. ... Have we become too sophisticated, or too busy to speak to God—or to listen? ...

"God's love for us is the most potent force in the universe."

From Essence, April 1987

When John sent his disciples to ask [if Jesus were the Messiah], Jesus held up his ministry of physical healing as clear and emphatic proof. The ministry of physical healing therefore stands in the center of our Christian faith. And yet ... most church people seem anxious to dismiss [Jesus' healings] as though they embarrassed us. ...

"But why? ... Could it be that we do not take Jesus' healing ministry seriously because we are simply too proud or afraid to enter the unfamiliar territory of the spiritual world, where we feel inexperienced and without control?

"Because some people kill others does not mean that it is God's will; in fact, God has commanded us not to kill. Similarly, because sickness exists does not mean that it is God's will; in fact, Jesus has commanded his followers 'to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.' ...

"As one sign of God's Kingdom, healing through prayer is no more magic than peace and social justice are magic—and no easier to achieve. Both require the same dedication and commitment against the powers that separate us from God. ..."

From "Recovering Healing Prayer" in The Christian Century, June 9–16, 1982.

Guidance and healing are part of the natural order of things. ... At the core of reality are intelligence, purpose and love. This dynamic we call 'God.'

"What I am suggesting ... is that whatever miracles Jesus is said to have performed were not in violation of natural law but in harmony with it. They were an expression of openness to the caring, redeeming, restoring entelechy at the heart of the universe.

"I, therefore do not pray for a 'miracle' that some physical fact be denied, but that we be open to the healing that is naturally available. ..."

From The Congregationalist, April/May 1984. Reprinted with permission.

When I have heard or read in the past of other examples of Christian Scientists refusing medical care in order to hold to carefully defined beliefs, ... I have accepted the bias of our culture and thought them foolish. But now I am not so sure.

"Though I may not agree with their theology, theirs is a faith in a God who is real for them ... not just a passing acknowledgment of a God who we hope exists. Some would say they carried their religion too far. I am beginning to believe that most of us seldom carry our faith far enough, perhaps revealing, unintentionally, what we really do or do not believe in.

"Furthermore, I don't believe we really want this, but have slid unconsciously into a state of 'semi-belief.' ...

"Facing an erosion in the belief in the reality of God's power, ... the church begins to lose its sense of purpose. ...

"The reality is that the Word of God is the only true light that can break the darkness of the world."

From a sermon at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church Iron Mountain, Michigan. Reprinted with permission.

We are so steeped in the elixir of medical science as the only way to health and wholeness that we are quick to censor alternatives. Agnostic and humanist society will have no truck with extramedicinal healings. ...

"For more than a century, Christian Scientists have been maligned and ridiculed by mainstream religions. ... While we, with our materialistic way of seeing reality, may not be willing to study their idealism, the present strain on our nation's health resources suggests that we might profit by taking a careful look at ... their testimony that their health comes from spiritual thought and communion. If there are spiritual ways of healing, our society is the loser if we don't at least take a second look. ..."

From The Whig-Standard, Kingston, Ontario, March 9, 1990. Reprinted with permission.

This seems certain: Neglect, abuse, and sheer ignorance do not describe ... Christian Science parents. ... Caring compassionately, such parents seek a nonmedical form of treatment that has a history, a record, and place in the law.

"1. Exclusive reliance upon prayer ... dates from New Testament Christianity. ...

"2. That good health ensues in a remarkable number of cases is a matter of record. ... Caricatured by the public as valuing religious freedom more than a child's life, they hold only that the significant successes of Christian Science healing cannot be overlooked."

From Adventist Review, August 23, 1990.

"Spiritual Healing" by Gary Ross.
Reprinted with permission.

I think the two main things [required for the Christian healing ministry] are humility and love. Jesus had total love, total humility and understanding. Jesus was perfectly transparent in the sense that his will was never in conflict with God's will and his prayer was totally in tune with God's will. ...

"Every situation changes when you pray about it, and people change when you pray about them. ... Prayer is trying to get God into all our attitudes and all our perceptions on a day-to-day basis. ...

"I think the reason for the revival of Christian healing is the fact that people have been healed and the Church can't go on ignoring some of these things that are happening. ...

"The most important thing is that God is the central reality of our lives. ... To be changed by God, to be part of His purpose for us, is the most important thing for all of us."

From an interview in the Sentinel, January 29, 1990.

In nearly every book of the Bible there is some kind of reference to God's healing the body. If you think it's strange that I talk with you this morning about divine healing and divine health, in truth you might rather ask another question: In light of the emphasis the Bible gives on spiritual healing, how come I don't preach about it time and again...?

"The Christian church has recognized its role in healing from its earliest days. Jesus told His disciples to preach the gospel and to heal the sick, and they recognized that one assignment was as sacred as the other. ...

"Somehow the church lost some of its belief in the importance of faith in the healing process. In fact, ... the role of spiritual healing was very nearly forsaken. ...

"But in recent years, there has been an awakening within both Catholicism and Protestantism. ...

"I feel the time has come to give greater emphasis to this ministry here in our own congregation."

From a sermon in Cleveland, Ohio, October 11, 1987.
Reprinted with permission.

The essential role and primary purpose of religion is largely neglected. 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord am holy'. ...

"Organized religion seems largely to have given up the task of changing the individual. ... There is a desperate, urgent, need to give people both young and old a sense of goodness—'being' good, not only of doing good."

From The Times, London, August 13, 1988.
Reprinted with permission.

Theologian Richard Neuhaus [writes]: ... 'There was a unique moment in the history of a specific culture, our own, in which respectable people began to say out loud that they did not believe that there is a higher power or powers responsible for the universe. That assertion appeared as a stunning novelty but within a century it would become culturally entrenched. Now that culturally curious moment may be receding, and we are uncertain about what comes next.'

"It is safe enough to say, on the basis of history, that it will have to be real Christianity. ..."

From The Union Leader
Manchester, New Hampshire, June 3, 1986

"Where Did God Go?" by Jeffrey Hart.
Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate, Inc.

It seems that the people ... are coming increasingly to believe that the problems of the world will not be solved through people's efforts alone but through a change of heart and turning to God. ..."

Emerging Trends, March 1986
The Princeton Religion Research Center

Copyright © 1985 Christian Century Foundation. Excerpted by permission.

Copyright © 1989 by Christianity Today.

Copyright © 1987 by ESSENCE Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Copyright © 1982 Christian Century Foundation. Reprinted by permission.