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Should Christians go to doctors?

Answer:

There are some Christians who believe that seeking medical attention is demonstrating a lack of faith in God.

In the Word-Faith movement, consulting a doctor is often considered a lack of faith that will actually prevent God from healing you. In groups such as Christian Science, seeking the help of physicians is sometimes viewed as a barrier to using the spiritual energy God has given us to heal ourselves.

The logic of these viewpoints is sorely lacking. If your car is damaged, do you take it to a mechanic or wait for God to perform a miracle and heal your car? If the plumbing in your house bursts, do you wait for God to plug the leak, or do you call a plumber? God is just as capable of repairing a car or fixing the plumbing as He is of healing our bodies. The fact that God can and does perform miracles of healing does not mean we should always expect a miracle instead of seeking the help of individuals who possess the knowledge and skill to assist us.

Physicians are referred to about a dozen times in the Bible. The only verse that could be taken out of context to teach that one should not go to physicians would be 2 Chronicles 16:12. “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.” The issue was not that Asa consulted physicians, but that “he did not seek help from the LORD.” Even when visiting a doctor, our ultimate faith is to be in God, not the doctor.

There are many verses that speak of using “medical treatments” such as applying bandages (Isaiah 1:6), oil (James 5:14), oil and wine (Luke 10:34), leaves (Ezekiel 47:12), wine (1 Timothy 5:23), and salves, particularly the “balm of Gilead” (Jeremiah 8:22). Also, Luke, the author of Acts and the Gospel of Luke, is referred to by Paul as “the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14).

Mark 5:25-30 relates the story of a woman who had trouble with continual bleeding, a problem that physicians could not heal even though she had been to many of them and had spent all of her money. Coming to Jesus, she thought that if she but touched the hem of His garment, she would be healed; she did touch His hem, and she was healed. Jesus, in answering the Pharisees as to why He spent time with sinners, said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:12). From these verses one might sift out the following principles:

1) Physicians are not God and should not be viewed as such. They can sometimes help, but there will be other times when all they will accomplish is the removal of money.

2) Seeking physicians and using “earthly” remedies are not condemned in Scripture. In fact, medical treatments are viewed favorably.

3) God’s intervention in any physical difficulty should be sought (James 4:2; 5:13). He does not promise that He will answer the way we will always want (Isaiah 55:8-9), but we have the assurance that all He does will be done in love and thus in our best interest (Psalm 145:8-9).

So, should Christians go to doctors? God created us as intelligent beings and gave us the ability to create medicines and learn how to repair our bodies. There is nothing wrong with applying this knowledge and ability towards physical healing. Doctors can be viewed as God’s gift to us, a means through which God brings healing and recovery. At the same time, our ultimate faith and trust is to be in God, not in doctors or medicine. As with all difficult decisions, we should seek God who promises to give us wisdom when we ask for it (James 1:5).

 

Source :       http://www.gotquestions.org/Christians-go-doctors.html

12 thoughts on “Should Christians go to doctors?”

  1. seldom have I heard this question. “should Christians go to doctors”

    I once was led wrongly thinking that “faith without works is dead” and
    that the work here is not going to the doctor.

    Now I understand that “works” if the “work of the faith”.

    so If someone is sick, Its good to see a doctor. It is not a sign of weakness of faith.
    to be sick is not a “sign of sin” – it simply means that God’s power be demonstrated in your life.

    I have seen many times Jesus healing us from diseases and sickness.

    ———————————————————————-
    Remember God does not give sickness or diseases.
    ———————————————————————-

    awesome post bro!

    grace and peace

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    • Sickness, ill health and suffering are all a result of a fallen world which is under the influence of Satan. Just as are death, lies, murder, theft, adultery, idolatry, floods, earthquakes, wars, accidents, and the list goes on.

      God can use all these things, He can choose to protect us from them, or He can allow them to affect us. Whether it is His will to place a sinner or nation under judgement by using one of these, or whether it is His will to remove or protect a sinner or nation from from these happenings, it will be done for His Glory. God is omnipotent and nothing happens without His consent.

      God allowed millions of people to die during the World Wars while they protected the Christian world from something far worse. If the Nazi’s had won the war, taken over control of the world and implemented their evil religion, we would have been living in a world today without free evangelizing Christians. Many more would still be dying today.

      So therefore, God also used the doctors who saved other millions of men from death, due to injuries incurred in battle, to further a greater purpose which Glorifies Him.

      You are right, God does not give sickness or diseases! But, He can choose to allow them to happen to us, or not, according to His will. If we go to a doctor with a medical problem, it is also only according to the will of God that the doctor’s medicine will heal us. If God chooses for us not to be healed by the doctor’s medicine, we will not be healed.

      Either way, it brings Glory to God!

      Finally, the article above makes mention of the Apostle Paul referring to Luke as being a physician. Luke would certainly not have continued as a doctor, had he been instructed by God to stop practicing medicine. God did not instruct Luke to quit being a doctor, but used Luke to bring the Glory of the Gospel and the Book of Acts to the world.

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      • @You are right, God does not give sickness or diseases!
        But, He can choose to allow them to happen to us,
        or not, according to His will
        —————————————————————–
        * not sure which standpoint you are at. God is good or bad.
        * its like
        “God-our Father can choose to allow CANCER to
        happen to His Children, according to His will”
        * this is confusing to me.

        —————————————————————–
        ” all things work together for good to them that love God”
        – Romans 8:28

        * all things-also bad things like diseases – will not be a disqualification but an advantage to God’s children

        * but God-our father will never cause a disease to inflict on His children in order for Him to carry out His goodness.
        * God-our father does not decide to allow disease to inflict on His children, so to further His glory

        “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins
        or his parents’ sins? NEITHER this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life”
        – John 9:2-3

        * Neither the blind man, the parents, neither sin. caused it
        * does God-our Father approves a man to be blind?

        * Is God-our Father good? If God-our Father allows His children to be sick, is He a good father?
        * will a Father allow his children be sick for the children’s goodness?

        * Christians do get sick. but if they are sick, It is an opportunity to experience a miracle. they can take communion

        1 Corinthians 11:28 – positive
        “let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
        For he who eats and drinks in a worthy manner does not eat and drink judgment to himself, discerning the Lord’s body.
        For this reason many are STRONG and HEALTHY among you, and many ALIVE.”

        —————————————————————————–

        “by His stripes we are healed” – Isaiah 53:5
        “It is finished” – John 19:30

        Should Christians go to doctors? YES!
        Should Christians take communion? 🙂

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      • Just a few quick points here:

        Romans 8:28 refers to eternal good for those who love God; it is the eternal state of the soul that concerns the believer, not the temporary state of the body in this life, which includes sickness. The body of even the most righteous Christian will die, due to disease, accident or old age, so “the good” which Romans 8:28 refers to is a spiritual good, not physical.

        Creation will always bring Glory to God, it’s Creator. If illness is allowed by God, and by that illness glory is brought to God, we are not to question whether He was right in allowing it. It is always according to His divine Will, and we do not always understand at that moment why God allows suffering. In the long run, all believers will share in that glory.

        You ask the question: Is God-our Father good? If God-our Father allows His children to be sick, is He a good father? That can be answered by another question: “If God – our Father heals His sick children, is He a good Father?” When He heals those who are blind or sick because of a sinful and fallen world, it brings more Glory to God. We must remember that we are not on earth to be glorified, but to bring Glory to God only.

        The account in 1 Corinthians 11 is a warning to those who would partake of His Body and His Blood in communion, but do so as unbelievers. Those who would do so bring worse judgement upon themselves because they make a mockery of His sacrificed Body and Blood. 1 Corinthians 11:30 refers to those in the church at Corinth who were weak and ill because of their unworthy participation in the Lord’s supper. A little further on in 1 Corinthians in verse 32, it is clear that God disciplines His children, just as a loving and good father would do. He can allow sickness, poverty or other afflictions to be that act of discipline.

        Isaiah 53:5 does not speak of physical healing of disease, it speaks of a far greater healing that is of the disease of sin. Jesus did not die to save us from suffering from physical ailments, but from eternal suffering.

        May I recommend that you read a posting which I put up on this blog quite a few months ago entitled: “If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?”. You can access it here: https://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2011/03/21/if-god-is-good-why-is-there-so-much-suffering-in-the-world/

        Keep in mind that we all deserve eternal punishment and if it were not for His Grace, we would all suffer immeasurably more.

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      • thank you for your comments. I have a long list of answers to your last comment, but I felt the need to stop here.

        some Christians believe in healing, some don’t. It does not matter.

        we are all saved by grace anyway, so as long as that is preached here and not works, I am for ya bro.

        grace and peace

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  2. You know, this is similar to how many Christians view God’s role in marriage. They promote doing absolutely nothing, admonishing singles to “wait for God’s choice” and “be content in their singleness” while insisting that the unemployed actually job hunt. Why not be active about everything and trust God in everything at the same time?

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    • Thank you for reading and commenting here.

      I fully agree with what you say here. It never fails to amaze me how certain select issues such as this are singled out, unduly labelled for a different approach, and uniquely treated by some Christians.

      Not only is it contrary to apostolic teaching, but it also places the Christian under unbiblically restrictive “law” whereby normalcy becomes frowned upon, isolation of the Christian ensues and opens the door to sinful practices, as you rightly point out. Furthermore, it is simply impractical and defies simple common sense, and God is certainly a practical God and the Author and Creator of common sense.

      Your thoughts on 1 Corinthians on your blog are absolutely spot-on, I couldn’t have stated better. Would you mind if we re-posted that article on this blog some time?

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      • Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it. Yes, you may repost it if you’d like. Please just link back to the original post on my blog.

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  4. How do you act when all the people in your church belong to the faith movement and you are thinking about an operation (knee injury) that actually is optional, probably permits you to walk better, practice sports again – and you just dont know what to do? It’s so hard to make a decision when nobody supports you. I know – God supporting me is enough, but – is it really God’s will? ‘Cause that’s all I want.

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    • Rebecca

      As we have indicated, the Word-Faith movement often regards consulting a doctor as indicative of a lack of faith on the part of the sufferer. More often than not, this burden of conscience is placed on the sufferer in an attempt to protect the Word-Faith preacher’s unbiblical stance on healing. When they themselves fail to “channel” healing to the sufferer, as is the case in the vast majority of instances, rather than them risking being exposed as the false healers they are, they attempt to blame their failure on the lack of faith of the patient or the congregation. This heretical and dangerous practice has led to unimaginable amounts of unnecessary suffering and even death of those caught up in the false Word-Faith movement.

      If your pet dog or horse is hit by a car and is suffering from a broken back, do you take the animal to a vet or do you wait for God to perform a miracle? If your child was involved in a road accident and his/her life was being threatened by a broken spinal cord and had minutes to live, would you have the paramedics, doctors and ambulance removed from the scene because you would rather the false faith healing preacher take your child’s life into his hands? I don’t think any true believer would do that, furthermore, if your child died as a result of your actions, I quite sure any proper legal system would find you guilty of manslaughter or murder.

      It is a very difficult situation to deal with when you are caught up in the Word-Faith movement and you have friends and family who are there as well. This we do appreciate. God’s Word is greater than any man-made belief system and for that truth we must be infinitely thankful. The Word-Faith healers would have you believe that you should wait on their unlikely intervention in your physical problem. They cannot heal you. If it is God’s Will that you be healed from your condition, He will do it. God does not require a Word-Faith preacher or anyone else to assist Him in His miracles.

      The fact that God can and does perform miracles of healing does not mean we should always expect a miracle instead of seeking the help of individuals who possess the knowledge and skill to assist us. As with all difficult decisions, we should seek God who promises to give us wisdom when we ask for it (James 1:5).

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