Mark 2;17 ESV

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick”

Many professors of the faith have at one point gone through this dilemma. Now that I or my relative is sick, should I go see a doctor or I should trust in the unfailing word of God and default to seeing a physician for the ailment for which I or my relative is suffering from? There are several schools of thought regarding this topic of medicine and faith; their intersection and separation. One school of thought holds the belief that miracles (of any form) are a thing of the past. That God is no longer in the business of performing mighty miracles. The signs He has shown are already enough or that even if He does miracles, it is quite rare. For this group they would always seek the help of a physician because they expect nothing from God. Another school of thought poses that God is still doing mighty miracles and we should put our trust completely and wholly on him for the healing of our spirit, soul and body. These set of people do not often see the importance of the physician in health care. Now the opening scripture I used makes reference to our Lord Jesus Christ, speaking to the multitude and telling them that it is the sick that needs a doctor, not the healthy. In my humble opinion, this is Jesus endorsing the physician and also telling us professors of the faith that going to the physician is not a show of lack of trust in the healing abilities of God. It is important to note that at the time of making that statement, Jesus Christ was already performing miracles of healing. Much harm has been brought to people, and much reproach has been brought to the corpus christi by people who have spoken against the use of modern medicine by Christians. Media sources have been replete over the years with articles of how people have suffered and even died needlessly because of this type of thinking. Scriptures are filled with instances where the bible acknowledged the use of doctors and physicians, examples include–the story of the good Samiratan. One of the apostles of the early church and writer of the book of Luke and acts of the apostles was a doctor. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that Apostle Paul after several attempts at his life and public beatings was treated by the “beloved physician”–Luke. For further examples see: Genesis 17:10-14 (God commanding the act of circumcision), Proverbs 17:22 (Here medicine is seen in a positive light), Ezekiel 47:12 (healing medicine being made from a tree in the New Jerusalem). Scriptures are replete with areas of the bible that support in one way or another the use of medicine. Now Faith is not the denial of the problem or the challenge. It is holding on to the saving power of a merciful God. I am a practicing physician and I see myself as God’s apprentice/assistant, in the sense that the ability of God as the ‘Great Physician’ was transmitted into me during the course of my training to be a doctor. It is by the power and will of God that man is able to discover new and better ways to restore health to the human body. It was the patriarch Daniel who said “He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning”. Certainly, every Christian should understand that all healing comes from God, so we can seek medical treatment knowing that the Lord uses medicine to accomplish His healing.

Dr. Ogege Favour Oghenemaro