In the early 1990s I preached parish missions which included a healing service on the third night. It was always the most difficult talk for me to give. Don’t get me wrong–I certainly believe that God heals; if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been in such a ministry. Yet healing is a difficult and easily misunderstood subject, and there is no end to conflicting opinions on it. For some, healing is a purely materialistic thing, little different than fixing a malfunctioning machine or clogged plumbing. The holistic healers of the New Age, on the other hand, would have us believe we can heal ourselves because we are part of the divine reality of the universe; we just need to channel our energy properly through use of crystals, perfumes, massage, meditation and soothing instrumental music.
As a preacher and teacher, I’m concerned about the influence these teachings may have had on the people to whom I’m speaking. But I’m even more concerned by confusion that may arise from a very different direction. Many of us have attended charismatic healing services where Christians come up for anointing and expect that they will fall down in a faint (“sleeping in the Spirit,” it is called)–there are invariably a couple of “catchers” to make sure that no one is hurt on the way down.
I am increasingly concerned that such activity might do more harm than good. Even when everyone present understands what is going on, it looks suspiciously like the television performances of some “faith healers”–and the exposes of them on “20/20” and “60 Minutes.” There are too many dealers in snake oil out there who take advantage of people’s expectations and emotions; there are too many cases where people jumping out of a wheelchair actually walked into the auditorium, and were given a wheelchair or a brace by the staff of the so-called evangelist.1
That kind of sideshow charlatanism makes me angry. It gives people false hopes that can be dangerous. People have gone into “revivals” and thrown their medications onto the stage and thought they were healed because the evangelist said so, and have ended up worse than they were at the start. Or–and this is very common–when people aren’t healed, they’re loaded with a guilt trip. “Well, you just didn’t have enough faith,” they are told; “Maybe you should pray harder.”
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